INTERROGATING AND PROMOTING TOLERANCE IN PLURALISTIC SOCIETIES THROUGH RELIGIOUS EDUCATION
In Madrid from 23 to 25 November 2001, the International Consultative Conference on School Education in Relation with Freedom of Religion and Belief, Tolerance and Non-discrimination was held. The conference was organized by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion and Belief, Prof. Abdelfattah Amor, in collaboration with the Spanish government. The conference, was not intended as a theological meeting, rather it was convened to create an international educational strategy focused on the right to freedom of religion, thought and conscience. The United Nations Secretary General Kofi Anan, in a message delivered at the Opening ceremony by Mrs. Mary Robinson, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Conference aim was “to break new ground” through a discussion about how education, about religion and belief can contribute to building global tolerance”. In its religious dimension, one of the most vital elements that is to make up the identity of believers as well as their conception of life, although a precious asset for atheists, agnostics, skeptics as well as the unconcerned. Thus, the pluralism indissociable from a democratic society, which has been obviously won over the centuries, rely on it.
Keywords: Religious Education, Human Rights, Freedom of religion, Tolerance, Conference.