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Antelias: Dialogue with the youth - no.6

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  • Antelias: Dialogue with the youth - no.6

    PRESS RELEASE
    Catholicosate of Cilicia
    Communication and Information Department
    Contact: V.Rev.Father Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
    Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
    Fax: (04) 419724
    E-mail: [email protected]
    Web: http://www.cathcil.org/

    PO Box 70 317
    Antelias-Lebanon

    Armenian version: http://www.cathcil.org/v04/doc/Armenian.htm


    BEIN G DIFFERENT IS GOD'S GIFT AND CALL


    (Dialogue with the youth- Number 6)

    It has been a consistent truth that when individuals and communities have
    blindly affirmed their 'difference', they have generated religious, national
    and cultural tensions. This exclusive behaviour has more times than not led
    to alienation. We should avoid this sort of exclusive and alienating
    behaviour. In fact, acknowledging diversity is an important aspect of
    Christianity.

    Diversity is manifest in God's nature as Trinity and is an essential part
    of His revelation and work. For Christians, therefore, diversity is a
    profoundly important concept.

    1) Diversity is God's Gift. God created for us a world of diversity.
    God-given diversity is sustained by coherence and interaction, wholeness and
    integrity. Diversity, which is a dominant feature of the human race, has
    produced identities and roots.

    2) Diversity is God's Call. God called people to be the steward of His
    creation, to be His 'co-worker'. What a distinct privilege, indeed. We are
    called to witness the richness of diversity and preserve and enhance it for
    the fulfilment of God's design for humanity and creation.

    Today we are living in multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-religious
    societies. As Armenian Christians how should we respond to God's call to
    preserve and protect diversity? The direction we should take to deal
    responsibly with pluralism in the context of our Christian
    self-understanding and vocation is clear, we must:

    a) Affirm our identity. Roots shape identity, ensure continuity, safeguard
    integrity and give security. Because identity is not only a social necessity
    but also a vital dimension of human existence and self-understanding, in
    order to occupy a specific place in human society, we must remain faithful
    to our identity. In order to give substance and meaning to our life, we must
    attach ourselves firmly to those values, traditions and beliefs that
    constitute our specific identity.

    b) Respect the other's identity. While we should remain faithful to our
    identity, we must respect the other's identity. Affirming our identity does
    not mean becoming its prisoner. The other is not our enemy; he or she is our
    neighbour, our fellow human being. Hence, we do not have the right, under
    any circumstances, to impose our values and reject those of the other.
    Mutual respect and mutual acceptance must determine the way we treat each
    other.

    c) Understand ourselves in relation to the other. The globalised and
    interdependent world of today compels us to broaden our sense of identity. I
    am because you are, and you are because I am; we are, indeed,
    interconnected. Self-centred and self-contained identity breed intolerance.
    When we recognize the values of the other, we gain strength and become
    responsive to the challenges of our times.

    d) Work towards deepening common values. Living together with others as a
    community means that our values and perspectives, our traditions and beliefs
    are in harmony with the other. Living together may produce harmonious
    community in one place; yet, in other place, it may engender fragmentation.
    Therefore, we must commit ourselves to a dialogue of values; we must also
    deepen the core values rooted in our belief systems, in our cultures and our
    common humanity.

    e) Learn to live as a community of diversities. God not only created us to
    be different, He also called us to live together peacefully with our
    differences. This is precisely the Christian understanding of community
    which implies diversity. When diversities creatively interact, then
    community is built; when diversities collide, then community is destroyed.
    Societies cannot progress without diversities. And the community is enriched
    and strengthened by reconciled diversities.*

    In our 'global village', we have become global citizens; we have become
    interdependent. We are no longer strangers; we are neighbours. We share many
    things with our fellow human beings. We have commonalities, but we also have
    differences. Because God created us different, we must respect the other's
    right to be different. Rejecting the other as an expression of our
    faithfulness to our values and identity will polarize us and lead to
    violence. By rejecting the other, we deny his or her humanity. Rejection
    creates exclusiveness and exclusiveness fragments the community. Our
    differences must interact, not collide; they must lead us to dialogue, not
    isolation. We must transform living together into a source of mutual
    responsibility and accountability.

    The Armenian people have a long and rich experience of living together
    with others. Interaction with our environment has fostered our resolve to
    preserve our identity. It has also helped us to broaden our perspectives,
    enhance our knowledge and enrich our experience. Indeed, the very fact that
    a church of apostolic origin, the Armenian Church, and an ancient people,
    the Armenian people, have survived the upheavals and vicissitudes of history
    is an eloquent testimony to the courage, openness and commitment to live as
    community in the midst of diversities. The same vision should guide us
    today. The youth have a pivotal role to play in this respect.


    ARAM I

    CATHOLICOS OF CILICIA
    5 November 2006
    Antelias-Lebanon

    -------------------------------- --------------------------------------------
    * I have elaborated some of these thoughts in my new book, For a Church
    beyond its walls, which is under publication.
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