The challenges facing the globe today have been shaped by the choices of past generations, but they will be managed by future ones. Addressing these issues will not happen overnight, making it crucial for the current generation to equip emerging generations with the necessary tools. Teachers, wielding immense power to influence the hearts and minds of young people, play a pivotal role in this endeavor. Children often listen more to their teachers than to their parents. As Mahatma Gandhi once said, “If we want peace, and want to wage a real war against war, we shall have to start with the children,” and Nelson Mandela famously stated, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” Teachers hold in their hands this most powerful weapon—education of both the heart and the mind.
Empowering Through Education
If the moral and spiritual precepts common to all religions can be united with the power of teachers to influence young people, the effect can be doubly powerful. Schools are lighthouses of society, and in many places on earth, especially in India, schools are multi-religious communities. Every classroom is a mosaic of different faiths—Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian, Buddhist, Baha’i, and more. Schools and teachers have the unique ability to nurture children against religious hatred and fanaticism, consciously fostering attitudes of respect for other religions, harmony, love, and brotherhood.
The Role of Interfaith Dialogue in Education
The objective of the CMS Annual Conference on ‘Interfaith Dialogue in Multi-Religious Communities’ is to bring together international, national, and local leaders of religion and expert analysts to dialogue before an audience of children, teachers, and other stakeholders. In this open dialogue, they will acknowledge the profound influence that religious leaders exert on the thinking and motivations of countless people, recognizing the immense responsibility this influence places on their shoulders. The conference agenda will promote consultation about the directions ahead and the values on which future directions should be based.
Engaging the Youth
The participation of school children aged 12 and upwards in the interfaith conference will become a means of true education about some of the most important issues of the age, seen from the lens of religion. The event will help children understand the diversity of thinking within and across faiths, promoting critical thinking and greater awareness of the complexities of the world around them. Most importantly, it is hoped that participation as an audience and in the youth forum will give young people positive directions to work for the transformation of self and the community, becoming part of the solutions to the problems besetting their communities and the world.
In conclusion, equipping future generations with the tools to manage global challenges starts with education. By uniting the moral and spiritual precepts of all religions with the influential power of teachers, we can create a doubly powerful force for good. Schools, as multi-religious communities, have the potential to foster harmony, respect, and brotherhood among students of diverse faiths. The CMS Annual Conference on ‘Interfaith Dialogue in Multi-Religious Communities’ is a crucial step towards this goal, providing a platform for dialogue, consultation, and true education. By engaging the youth in these conversations, we can inspire them to work towards positive change in their communities and the world.