Religions

and Humanitarian Aid: the Challenge of Believing in God

By: Benjamn Laniado K.
"God is dead" For those of us who profess a religious creed based on Gods very
existence, this well-known statement by Nietzsche can prove to be irritating,
even insulting; however, had we witnessed first hand the Crusades, Stalins
Purges, the Holocaust, or any other of the most ruthless events in the history of
mankind, we could understand the profound meaning of such words and even
the sensations of devastation and despair they evoke.
Many of these horrific events have precisely had God, and the "defense" of the
"legitimate" faith, as motivation. Predominant religions and their different
doctrinaire and ideological derivations have claimed it to the bitter end, even to
death, throughout the centuries. As a result, far from achieving their mission as
moral and ethical compasses for humankind and from creating peace within the
individual, among men and among world nations, religions, to a large extent,
have become a reason and excuse for war itself.
Despite the previously said, and precisely because of what those moral and
ethical compasses stand for, we must acknowledge that religions have been the
source of development for great ideals and virtues that have allowed men to
raise as "human": brotherhood, compassion, generosity, love of others, the
search for the truth, for freedom, for hapiness, for peace and for collective
wellbeing.
In this regard, British Rabby Jonathan Sacks points out several important issues
in an article recently published in London, which I will share with you, in
combination with my own reflections on the matter.
Revelation was bestowed upon mankind in order to help it stand at the head of
collective progress through the transmission of messages and tools that can
contribute to the improvement of both individual and family life and to the
development of communities and nations. It seems, however, that at some point
direction was lost, and instead of standing at the forefront, mankind stands in the
background.

If religion is the source of all truth, why have religions fought so much and
sacrificed so many lifes by imposing each others truth as the only truth? If
religion is the source of freedom, why is it that throughout history religion has
been used by individuals, empires, monarchs and dictatorships as an instrument
for power, dominance and opression?
By limiting universal truths to a unique truth, the very notion of God is restricted
to a supreme being who only relates positively with those who follow a certain
creed, who conditions this relationship to the admission of an assumed and
imposed truth and who subjugates the freedom of human beings to the forced
acceptance of canons dictated by man himself, and not by God.
Consequently, religions have failed in their role as instruments for progress,
since often enough religions have been raised as walls placed between man and
the search of his own truth; between man and his encounter with universal
truths; between man and scientific discoveries and social advances which lead to
evolution and collective well-being. If there is no freedom, there is no chance of
progress.
That is why, over the centuries, the core source of altruism moved away from the
bosom of religion into the secular world, where it started to integrate as an
elemental principle of human work, without the need for a theological or
religious driving force and transforming itself into the inmense field of action of
humanitarian aid which today for those who play an active role in this sphere
inspired by our religious values can make us feel like we are playing as visitors
instead of locals.
There is a great gap between the ideal and the real, between what religions
think, say and do... and that is why the following question arises: What is the
current role of religions in the wellbeing and improvement of human life and the
pursuit of happiness?
While it is possible to understand that at some point religions lost their way,
each one in different contexts and at different ages, and that secularization arose
as a result of the ineffectiveness of religious systems regarding their goal of

contributing to humankinds progress and wellbeing, we must not lose sight of

the potential damage the absence of religious conscience entails for the world.
In our fast-paced, global and impersonal world it is essential to preserve our
history, our culture, our rituals and our religious traditions in order to remember
who we are and what is for us to share with civilization.
By losing sight of our roots we could also lose the outline of history of mankind,
because science, politics and economics do not teach us the reason and purpose
of our existance, do not answer why we are alive and what is the purpose of us
being here. That is what religions are for.
Religious communities represent a highly valuable means to protect humanity
from the despersonalization of the modern world, where frenzied and constant
changes dilute the past and the private sense of identity turning us into
anonymus elements who consume whatever promises to make us fit or belong,
from products to ideas, no matter if by doing it we suffer or lose our individual
essence.
Religious circles represent, today more than ever, one of the main sources for the
transmission of values, for building families and communities in which love and
co-resposibility, tolerance and inclusion prevail, promoting in this way the
creation of a meaningful world with transcendence, were human existance is
dignified and truly reflects its image and resemblance to God.
Niether has the goverment, searching for power, nor the market, seeking wealth,
been able to slow down social fragmentation and the pathologies it creates,
crime, corruption, inequality and violence among them. More over, their attempt
at correcting it would be unfeasible, since the nature of power is to divide, and
not to multiply like faith, love, kindness and help all indispensable to cure any
social illness can.
Due to the above, the timing is exactly right for religions to pick up their original
course and the purpose for which they were created, in order to restore their
standing as a positive influence and help transform a system that has failed in

establishing equal opportunities for satisfying the most basic and innate rights of
every human being, food among them.
Nations participanting in the recent World Humanitarian Summit which took
place in Istanbul expressed their commitment to erradicate hunger throughout
the world... Why dont we make use of the networks built by religions and by
faith, which constantly drives us to detach from ones egocentric self and move
towards the altruistic us with the purpose of joining these and other philantropic
efforts?
Building bridges for dialog between every religious creed and synchronizing
them towards the achievement of common goals in favor of collective well-being
is crucial today, more than ever, because if the purpose of faith is to praise the
Creator, this is the ideal way to accomplish it.
How do we build a common language for the different religious systems? How do
we motivate them to face the challenge of humanitarian aid? How do we wipe off
the fear of collaborating with each other? By practicing principles that must be
imperative both from a religious and a humanitarian perspective: inclusion,
impartiality, neutrality, joint responsibility, humanitarian aid; commencing by
eliminating fragmentation among religions themselves; fighting together against
internal fanatisms that only provoke massive hate and division; producing
evidence that confirms that it is possible to join efforts and spread this evidence
in an effective manner.
Early on, CADENAs efforts have been based on universal humanitarian
principles established in the Mosaic faith, promoted and safeguarded both in our
aid missions and in any local or international forum in which CADENA takes part.
CADENA, as an organization representing the Jewish iniciative for philantropy
and humanitarian aid in the Joint Learning Iniciative, participated in a summit on
religions, which took place in London, with the purpose of sharing different
points of view on how religions can assume a more strategic role in the sphere of
humanitarian aid and promotion of peace throughout the world.

This kind of events allow us to share conclusive testimonies that prove that
eliminating barriers, paradigms and prejudices is actually possible; that in order
to reinforce our religious identity, whatever that is, we must practice the above
mentioned imperative principles while opening up to ecumenical dialog and
collaboration with other institutions both religious and secular.
We have all witnessed how human suffering does not respect race, culture or
religious belief; consequently, humanitarian aid must not differentiate either.
The greater part of the worlds population, roughly 90% of human beings, belief
in one God. Is this not a revealing fact which manifests that we already possess a
common language, and that should we decide to communicate throught it we
might open a great many opportunities for change, of synergies and cooperation
networks that would allow us to reach goals and synchronize the whole of
humankind?
If, as Nietzsche declared: "God remains dead. And we have killed him", it falls on
us to revive Him by transforming those systems already created in order to
praise Him and use them as communication bridges, as common good catalysts,
as an adhesive that binds the whole of humankind without distinction.