Francisco Dinis, member of Portuguese Parliament, described the Bahrain-EU Conference on Freedom of Religion and Belief as unique and objective in creating religious harmony.
Speaking to the Bahrain News Agency (BNA), he said that he was honoured to be part of a conference in which the Kingdom of Bahrain and the European Union, once again joined forces for discussing and cooperating in a constructive manner to respond to the needs of religious freedom.
“When we talk about fundamental rights, it is inevitable to also refer to a religious aspect, the belief of the human being,” he said. “In this sense, freedom of conscience, religion, and worship, must be inviolable and guaranteed to all as basic pillars of religious freedom.”
Dinis reiterated the message that has echoed in the conference on ignorance being the cause of discrimination and hate speech.
“The answer to that ignorance will have to be success; success in implementing better policies, success in stopping hate speech, success in improving conduct, success in improving our lives for equality and freedom,” he said.
“We must start together from a narrative based on three points, inclusion, tolerance and proximity.”
Dinis underscored the importance of education, press and the inclusion of youth in the fight against discrimination and prejudice.
“In ethical educational aspects all religions have enormous potential for the reeducation of human beings, helping to correct individualistic, selfish and destructive habits, and providing community and solidarity,” he said.
Dinis added: “Freedom of the press is not unconditional freedom. If the freedom of one begins where the other ends, we cannot allow it to insult and offend individual and collective rights.”
Dino also spoke on the role of inter-religious in addressing the challenge of climate change.
“Only through dialogue will it be possible to find solutions to a threat that is global,” he said. “We must look at principles, values, differences, and cultural attitudes as means to channel efforts.”
He added: “The contribution is indispensable, not only from states for better policies, but also from the several religions in the mobilisation based on their ethical and moral capacities.”
He said History has shown that habits, personal behaviour, values, and social principles are strongly influenced by religions.
“We will have to reinforce a new connection between human beings and nature as a mission,” he urged.
Source: Bahrain News Agency