This week is World Interfaith Harmony Week and the 2nd anniversary of International Day of Human Fraternity.
These are concepts central to the Scientology religion. In the Creed of the Church of Scientology, Founder L. Ron Hubbard wrote, “We of the Church Believe…That all men have inalienable rights to their own religious practices and their performance.”
Their interfaith activities take many forms, but the common theme is the importance of working together for the good of all.
Whether it’s hosting a Day of Peace for the city’s Interfaith Council at the Church of Scientology Sacramento, an interfaith human rights conference at the Church of Scientology Melbourne, or taking part in a virtual interfaith gathering in Nashville or Pasadena, the message is clear: working together, religions are a powerful and needed force in society today.
From Kansas City, Los Angeles and Orlando, to Milan, Budapest and Tel Aviv, through the darkest days of the pandemic, Scientologists worked with other faiths on food drives and to provide prescriptions and other essential supplies to those in need.
When the pandemic struck, the Church of Scientology International encouraged people of all faiths or none to understand and apply the most effective protocols to prevent the spread of the virus by setting up the How to Stay Well Prevention Resource Center. Educational booklets and dozens of videos in 21 languages make it easy to understand how to protect oneself, friends and families. Scientology Volunteer Ministers distributed more than 10 million copies of these booklets in their communities.
Volunteer Ministers from England to Panama and Germany to Mexico helped houses of worship protect their parishioners by sanitizing churches, mosques and gurdwaras. And protecting people of all faiths and cultures, the Volunteer Ministers of South Africa have sanitized more than 68,000 buildings including government offices, army bases, municipal buildings, clinics, hospitals, orphanages, churches and shelters, and some 1.2 million taxis, buses, ambulances and fire trucks throughout all levels of lockdown.
“Religion is the first sense of community,” wrote Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard in an article titled “Religious Influence in Society,” in which he announced the creation of the Scientology Volunteer Ministers program in the mid-1970s. He described the Volunteer Minister as “a person who helps his fellow man on a volunteer basis by restoring purpose, truth and spiritual values to the lives of others.”
“If one does not like the crime, cruelty, injustice and violence of this society, he can do something about it,” he wrote, and he provided tools to help anyone do so through 19 brief courses based on his research into the mind, spirit and life.
These courses are available in 18 languages free of charge through the Scientology website. Called Scientology “Tools for Life,” they are introduced by a series of videos also available through the Scientology Network.
This article was originally published in the Scientology Newsroom.
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From its beginnings, the Church of Scientology has recognized that freedom of religion is a fundamental human right. In a world where conflicts are often traceable to intolerance of others’ religious beliefs and practices, the Church has, for more than 50 years, made the preservation of religious liberty an overriding concern.
The Church publishes this blog to help create a better understanding of the freedom of religion and belief and provide news on religious freedom and issues affecting this freedom around the world.
The Founder of the Scientology religion is L. Ron Hubbard and Mr. David Miscavige is the religion’s ecclesiastical leader.
For more information visit the Scientology website or Scientology Network.