Karen HughesAt Conference on Faith and Service

23 March 2006

Remarks at the International Conference on Faith and Service

Karen Hughes, Under Secretary of State for PublicDiplomacy and Public Affairs Omni Shoreham Hotel Washington, DC March 22, 2006

UNDER SECRETARYHUGHES: Thank you all very much. Thank you all so much. It'sgreat to be here with you. And, John, thank you for thatvery kind introduction. John and I had the privilege ofserving together at the White House and he was the drivingforce behind the USA Freedom Corps. And we were justtalking about the fact that I think that's going to be oneof the President's great legacies is a legacy of inspiringpeople to service, to serve our country through the USAFreedom Corps.

I'm delighted to join you here for thisfirst International Conference on Faith and Service. And asthose of you in this room know so well, the two concepts absolutely go hand in hand. As I travel the world, it'soften my privilege to meet people whose faith has inspiredthem to acts of great service and it happens everywhere Igo. In many cases, it's for people across the world, peoplewho are total strangers, people who will never be able toreturn the favor, from Muslim doctors who traveled fromAmerica to help the victims of Pakistan's earthquake toCatholic nuns that I met caring for those left homeless bymudslides in Central America.

The concept of faith andservice is at the heart of one of my all-time favoritestories about a political power play. And this one came notin the New York Times or Newsweek. This one was chronicledin the New Testament and it's when the mother of two ofJesus' twelve disciples essentially pulls an end run. She goes behind the back of all the other disciples and goes toJesus with just a tiny little favor request, that her twosons might sit in the seats of honor at Jesus' left andright when he comes into this kingdom he keeps talkingabout.

Now, I love that story because first of all, it'sa mom. And the mom you know, she obviously thinks it'simportant because she bothers to ask, but she's not askingfor herself. How typical of a mom; she's asking for herboys. She wants the best seats in the house for her boysfor eternity. Only a little bitty favor.

But it's reallynot the question, of course, but the answer that's the important part of that story. And Jesus does not answer witheither a yes or a no. He tells her: No, no, no, you've gotit all wrong, that that's not the way to look at things,that whoever wishes to be great among you, he says, must be your servant, just as he himself came not to be served, butto serve and give his life as a ransom for many.

I foundin that story a lesson for how to approach my jobs ingovernment, first in the White House, now at the StateDepartment, to remind myself every day when you hear thefancy titles and the nice offices and you get the nice seatsat the nice dinners, to remind myself every day and a lotof times, sometimes several times a day that despite allthat, I'm here first and foremost to serve, to serve thePresident, to serve the American people, to serve mycountry and always, of course, to try to serve in keepingwith my faith.

I have to say at the outset that somemight question why a government official, especially onefrom a nation that prides itself on the separation of churchand state, would be asked to speak at a conference oninterfaith dialogue. I faced some similar questions lastfall on my first trip to the Middle East when I met inIstanbul, that great crossroads of history and civilization,with representatives of the rich religious diversity ofthat city, including Muslim, Christian and Jewish leaders.The reporters traveling with me asked why. Why would agovernment a United States Government official convene ameeting of religious leaders? And the answer is both simpleand profound. It's because faith plays such a critical rolein the lives of so many people across our world. Governmentswould be foolish to ignore its power and impact or to leave the floor only to those who seek to use religion as a forceto divide or destroy.

When I started my current job asUnder Secretary of State, President Bush asked me to fosterand encourage the very thing that you're engaged in heretoday: interfaith dialogue and understanding. And I canthink of few more important topics in today's world when weare confronting a violent extremist ideology that seeks toimpose political tyranny through acts of terror. As HisMajesty King Abdullah of Jordan recently said, "In ourgeneration, the greatest challenge comes from violentextremists who seek to divide and conquer." "Extremism is apolitical movement under religious cover," he went on tosay. Its adherents want nothing more than to pit us againsteach other, denying all that we have in common.

Throughout history, as you well know, religion hassometimes been used and I would argue misused as asource of division, even as an instrument of oppression orattempted justification for terrible crimes. We've seenthose forces at work in recent times as well, from theethnic cleansing and war crimes in Bosnia to the acts ofterror against our homeland on September 11th to suicidebombings in the Middle East and sectarian violence in Iraq.The perpetrators of these crimes have all sought at one timeor another to justify or rationalize them because theirvictims belong to a different religion or a different sector a different ethnic group. But as President Bush has saidso eloquently, "Difference is never a license to kill." Andcivilized people of all faiths must come together to saythat no injustice, no wrong, no grievance, no matter howlegitimate, can ever justify the murder of innocents.

Voices from our diverse faith communities, such as thoserepresented here today, are often the most credible voicesto say that terror and violence are not a matter ofreligion at all. When you think about it in its starkestterms, urging young people to strap bombs on their bodies,to kill themselves, and in the process try to kill as manyother innocents as possible, is not a legitimate tenet ofany faith.

Islam, Christianity, Judaism, indeed all theworld's great religions, view life as precious and thetaking of innocent life as wrong. Terrorists have bombed weddings and funerals and Iraqi children who were lining upto try to get candy. They've destroyed mosques, killedinnocent Muslims and Christians and Jews people of allfaiths and dozens of different nations from Jordan to American, Indonesia to Spain.

Extremist violence is notevidence of any clash of civilizations. That is the language of the extremists themselves, and people of goodwill and all faiths must emphatically reject it. Extremistviolence is instead an attack on civilized peopleeverywhere. As Dr. Martin Luther King said, "Civilizationand violence are antithetical concepts."

I believe faithcan be a powerful force for good. And I know you believethat, too. That's why you're here today, to come togetheras people of different faiths to motivate our young people,to go out and perform acts of good. And that's the waywe're going to overcome evil in this world is through the gathering momentum of millions of acts of good, performedone at a time.

Faith is a call to our conscience, a callto what President Lincoln called "the better angels of ournature." And that's why I'm here today. The people in thisroom, as religious leaders, as leaders of grassrootsorganizations, of those who care passionately about theseissues, can play such an important role in promoting theinterfaith dialogue we need so desperately and underminingthose who would seek to divide us, whether based onreligion or ethnicity or race. You can make it clear thatno political grievance or goal should ever justify thetaking of innocent human life.

I want to challenge thoseof you who are here today, especially the young people, tobegin an interfaith grassroots campaign. You all representmillions of people, both here and in countries around theworld. I want to challenge you to do to terrorism what wasdone to slavery in the 19th century, when slavery went frombeing a widely accepted practice to an international pariah.

I recently asked our State Department experts to do someresearch for me on the history of the antislavery movementto see what parallels and lessons we might be able to drawfrom that experience. The antislavery movement was borne in dissident protestant groups in England and it spread here toAmerica. It drew its strength from religious convictionsabout the equality and worth of every person and eachperson's right to live in freedom.

In 1833, one of everyseven adults in Britain signed a petition against slavery.That's twice the number of people who were entitled to voteat that time. It was the largest public petitioning ofparliament to that date the first example that wewitnessed in modern history of what we might today call agrassroots citizens campaign.

Now, I imagine some of theyoung people in this room, if you're anything like my son,you know how to get on the internet or text-message yourfriends and you could start a 21st century version of thatantislavery campaign and make it an anti-terror campaign,perhaps an electronic petition drive. But I know that ifyou put your imagination and your efforts toward it, thatyou could launch, from this room, a grassroots effort todelegitimize and say that terrorism is never justifiable intoday's world, no matter, again, how legitimate the grievance you think you're trying to address.

Faithconvictions, as you well know, can be powerful forces forgood. In South Africa, Archbishop Desmond Tutu attacked thedoctrine of apartheid as evil and unchristian. And howeloquent was he on that video where he talked about, "WithGod, there are no outsiders, only insiders." What abeautiful, beautiful concept of inclusion. The CatholicChurch called for sanctions against the apartheid regime,while African-American religious leaders provided a theological critique.

The world's other great religionshave also been forces for progress, for peace and forreconciliation. When Christian countries in Europeexperienced some dark chapters in their history, it was anIslamic leader who exhibited and inspired tolerance andenlightenment. In 1492, Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain issued a decree forcing all Jews to convert to Christianityor leave that country, giving several hundred thousand Jewsonly three months to dispose of their property and leave acountry where they had lived for centuries. The Ottomanruler at the time,Sultan Beyazit II, extended an invitationto the Jews to live in the Ottoman Empire and practice theirfaith freely. He sent the Ottoman navy to bring thousands ofthem safely to their new homes, ordering his provincialgovernors not to refuse the Jews entry or cause themdifficulties, but to receive them instead cordially.

Gandhi drew on the traditions of Hinduism for hisinspiration in leading the nonviolent struggle forindependence in India. He inspired people throughout theworld, including in the United States, where the ReverendDr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and others campaigned for civilrights for African-Americans.

I recently attended aconference in Doha and had the privilege of meeting anotherprominent cleric in this great tradition. Dr. Mustafa Ceric,the Grand Mufti of Bosnia, is a force for reconciliationwho has called on his fellow Muslims to condemn intoleranceand promote forgiveness for the crimes of the past.

Wecan draw inspiration from all these examples and from theexamples of countless others who have used their beliefsnot to justify hate or division, but to promoteunderstanding, respect and peace. That is why I applaud thework that you're doing here to build bridges throughinterfaith dialogue. All of us must work together to fostercommon interests and common values between diverse peoplehere in America and across our world.

I believe peoplethe world over, moms and dads the world over, share the samefundamental desires. We all value education and we want itsbenefits for our children. We value science and technologyand want to explore new frontiers together. We want toprotect our families and live safely in our homes andneighborhoods. We want to be free to worship as we choose,to speak freely and to participate in choosing ourgovernment. We all aspire, at the core, to live decent andhonorable lives, lives that we hope can make a differencefor good. All of us must work to foster greater interfaithunderstanding and dialogue, not to minimize genuinedifferences but to discuss them openly and honestly in aspirit of respect.

People's faith convictions are deeplyheld and precious. I know that because mine are to me. Iworry that America's freedom of religion is sometimes taken to mean freedom from religion and mistaken to be that.Americans believe in the separation of church and state,which means our government does not dictate how Americanscan worship. People are free to worship as we wish, yet manyAmericans are deeply committed as people in this roomknow, we're deeply committed to our faith and all people offaith have a great deal in common.

As a Christian, mySavior says my highest commandments are to love God and lovemy neighbors and I know my Muslim and Jewish friends sharethat belief. Americans respect people of different faithsand, of course, as a government official, I representpeople of all faiths as well as those who have no faith atall. In a country as diverse as ours, we must honor thebeliefs held sacred by each other and the best way to dothat is what you all are doing here today, through talkingand sharing and discussing and dialoguing with eachother.

As we promote interfaith understanding, we mustalso promote the bedrock on which it rests: freedom ofreligion. As Under Secretary of State, one of my strategicimperatives is to help America offer a positive vision ofhope and opportunity to people throughout the world, avision rooted in our enduring commitment to human freedom.We promote the fundamental rights of free speech andassembly, free press, rule of law, limits on the power ofthe state, rights for women and minorities, and one of themost important freedoms of all: the freedom to worship asone chooses. It's not because these are America's values,but because these are universal human rights given to everyman and woman by our Creator. It's sometimes called "thefirst freedom." The right to worship is a fundamental humanright, enshrined in international increments such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which Americastrongly supports.

We encourage other countries andpeople across the world to join with us to promote thisright. In Afghanistan today, a man is being prosecuted forhis religious beliefs. This case clearly violates theuniversal freedoms held dear by democratic peoplesthroughout the world. And we believe it violates the Afghanconstitution which guarantees the right of an individual tofreedom of religion. We are deeply concerned and haveexpressed those concerns to the Afghan Government. Freedomto worship according to one's own conscience and convictionis a fundamental human right that must be upheld by all ofus all the time. (Applause.)

Promoting religious freedomis a central element of the President's agenda for democracy and freedom across our world. The Administrationhas taken on ambitious new challenges to help others gainthe liberty to freely hold and practice their beliefs. Andwe've had historic success in promoting freedom andreligious freedom across the world. We must not rest in thiseffort, nor ever forget those who are persecuted for theirbeliefs and denied the rights of conscience that wesometimes take for granted here in the United States.

Iwant to enlist your help today to help ensure the voices ofrespect and understanding and civility speak out forcefullyagainst terror, against the perversion of religion andagainst the denial of fundamental freedom. Who better to dothis than those of you in this room today? You know that youcan make a difference because you've already done so in somany communities and countries across the world. The spiritthat brought you together today is the same spirit that canbridge the differences that threaten peace and freedom in our world.

I've told friends that I view my job as wagingpeace, and I say "waging" because I want it to be veryintentional. It's something we all have to wake up andcommit ourselves to doing every day. And I want to encourageeach of you to view your roles in the same light. As agovernment official, my job is to help or to find ways toamplify your voices and ensure that the message of respect, even celebration of our differences, is heard loud and clearacross the world.

I'm especially glad that so many youngpeople are here today because you are truly our future. Youare the ones who can make the difference in your work throughout our world. One of the most powerful things youhave to offer is the power of your example. And I hopeyou'll think about that as you go back to your homecommunities and around the world to participate in serviceprojects.

Ours is a rich and diverse society in whichpeople from different faiths and cultures and backgroundsand countries all over the world live and work and worshipfreely together. We maintain our own faiths and our ownidentities yet thrive in an atmosphere of respect andappreciation for each other.

And as you go out, as theyoung people here today go out to serve others across ourworld, by your very example, by the respect that you showfor each other, for your friends of different faiths, youwill be setting a wonderful example for the entire world.We live in a country that's known as a land of opportunity,where people have the opportunity to work hard and achieveour dreams. One of the things that has always defined ourcountry is our willingness to make a difference in thelives of others.

And I want to thank all of you foreverything you are doing to do that here today. I know thattogether with our combined efforts, we truly can make adifference and change the world one life, one heart, oneconscience at a time.

Thank you so much and may Godbless you for your important work and what you're doing.Thank you all very much.

(Applause.)

2006/299

ENDS

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