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I am not here as a public offcial, but as a citizen of a troubled world who finds hope in a growing consensus that the generally accepted goals of society are peace,freedom, human rights, environmental quality, the alleviation of suffering, and the rule of law.
During the past decades, the international community, usually under the auspices of the United Nations, has struggled to negotiate global standards that can help us achieve these essential goals. They include: the abolition of land mines and chemical weapons; an end to the testing, proliferation, and further deployment of nuclear warheads; constraints on global warming; prohibition of the death penalty,at least for children; and an international crimial court to deter and to punish war crimes and genocide.Those agreements already adopted must be fully implemented, and others should be pursued aggressively.
Despite theological differences, all great religions share common commitments that define our ideal secular relationships. I am convinced that Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Jews, and others can embrace each other in a common effort to alleviate human suffering and to espouse peace.
At the beginning of this new millennium I was asked to discuss, here in Oslo, the greatest challenge that the world faces. Among all the possible choices, I decided that the most serious and universal problem is the growing chasm between the richest and poorest people on earth. Citizens of the ten wealthiest countries are now seventy?five times richer than those who live in the ten poorest ones, and the separation is increasing every year, not only between nations but also within them. The results of this disparity are rootcauses of most of the world’s unresolved problems, including starvation, illitaracy, environmental degradation, violent conflict, and unnecessary illnesses that range from Guinea worm to HIV/AIDS. But tragically,in the industrialized world there is a terrible absence of understanding or concern about those who areenduring lives of despair and hopelessness. We have not yet made the commitment to share with others an appreciable part of our excessive wealth. This is a potentially rewarding burden that we should all be willingto assume.
Ladies and gentlemen,
War may sometimes be a necessary evil. But no matter how necessary, it is always an evil, never a good. Wewill not learn how to live together in peace by killing each other’s children. The bond of our common humanity is stronger than the divisiveness of our fears and prejudices. God gives us the capacity for choice.We can choose to alleviate suffering. We can choose to work together for peace. We can make these changes and we must. Thank you.
