［中国汉传密学研究院编译局］宗教在贫穷战中被否认[是扮演]主要角色

BARNEY ZWARTZ撰

2009年12月5日December 5, 2009  

全世界的政治家退缩与贫穷作战，因为他们不理解或信任宗教，一位美藉发展专家昨天在墨尔砵说。

POLITICIANS around the world are holding back the fight against poverty because they do not understand or trust religion, an American specialist on development said in Melbourne yesterday.  

“政治家认为宗教不能帮助，而这真的是一个巨大的障碍。他们不知道宗教是做甚么，而他们对祂感到害怕，” Katherine Marshall在世界宗教国会的开幕节目中说。

''Politicians think religion can't help, and that's a huge handicap. They do not know what religion does and they are scared of it,'' Katherine Marshall told the opening program of the Parliament of the World's Religions.  

美国华盛顿的Georgetown大学的宗教、和平和世界事务柏克莱中心的客座教授Marshall教授说，如果政治家知道更多信仰组织是做甚么的，他们会更开放地与祂们［信仰组织］一起工作。说服他们［政治家］的方法是事实。

Professor Marshall, of the Berkley Centre for Religion, Peace and World Affairs and visiting professor at Georgetown University in Washington, said if politicians knew more about what faith organisations were doing they would be more open to working with them. The way to persuade them was with facts.  

她说大部份的基督徒知道耶苏的名言：“你拥有的贫穷永远与你在一起”，这一直被误解。

She said most Christians knew the famous words of Jesus, ''the poor you have always with you'', but this had been misunderstood.  

“我们经常与贫穷在一起的这个想法，是显著出我们的责任。贫穷不是不可避免的，因而接受它是不道德的。”

''The idea was we are always with the poor, to highlight our responsibility. Poverty is not inevitable, and it is therefore immoral to accept it.''  

澳洲世界视觉首席行政官Tim Costello主持那一场讨论会时──国会里关于贫穷的25个座谈会之第一场──说千年发展目标作出了重要的差异。

World Vision Australia chief executive Tim Costello, who chaired the session - the first of 25 on poverty at the parliament - said the millennium development goals had made an important difference. 

他说八组目标，在2000年共有193个国家签署承诺，包括在2015年时把世界饥饿减少一半。

He said the eight sets of goals, to which 193 countries signed commitments in 2000, include targets such as halving the world's hungry by 2015.  

“我们已经迈出了巨大的前进，直至全球经济危机的打击，根据世界银行，意思是有400,000儿童本来可避免的，却死亡了。这是危机，不是老年退休或你的股票组合，“他说。

''We made a huge advance until the global financial crisis hit, which meant 400,000 children died who would not have, according to the World Bank. This was the crisis, not superannuation or your share portfolio,'' he said.  

世界［朝着］目标进展比预期的落后，但目标令当局能够追纵［检查］。例如，25年前每天有60,000儿童死亡；但两年前已经下降至30,000，而今年是25,000。

The world had fallen a little behind the targets, but the goals enabled authorities to track progress. For example, 25 years ago 60,000 children died every day; two years ago it was down to 30,000 and this year 25,000.  

Costello先生说信仰社团在那些“最麻烦的地方”工作，那些地方是非宗教代理处经常不能说服支援工作者前往的地方。

Mr Costello said faith communities were working in the ''tightest places'', where secular agencies often could not persuade aid workers to go.  

“是那种仆人的态度令到信仰社团肯去，”他说。“他们的足迹是那些痛苦存在的地方。我们所没有做好的，是这个措施如何引伸至政策改变的拥护的基础。”

''It's the servant attitude that gets faith communities to go,'' he said. ''Their footprint is where the pain is. What we don't do well is ask how does this move to an advocacy base for policy change.''  

美国福音领袖Jim Wallis说英国首相Gordon Brown告诉他，他［英首相］和他的前任Tony Blair是为了2000年廿五周年的信仰基础的运动而作出撤销第三世界债务。

American Evangelical leader Jim Wallis said British Prime Minister Gordon Brown told him that he and predecessor Tony Blair would not have cancelled Third World debts as they did but for the faith-based movement Jubilee 2000.  

Wallis先生说他的故乡华盛顿DC有线抵制变化，如美国总统Barack Obama获悉。

Mr Wallis said his home town, Washington DC , was wired to resist change, as US President Barack Obama was learning.  

“作出改变的是社会运动，这就是为甚么信仰社团有这样大的角色，”他说。“全球每一个大型的社会运动都有一个信仰社团在心脏中。”

''What makes change is social movements, which is why faith communities have such a big role,'' he said.. ''Every big social movement around the globe has had a faith community at the heart.  

“我们预测二亿名气候变化难民，这些问题感觉好像高山那样，信仰社团却是移山的事业中。

''We are predicting 200 million climate change refugees, and these problems feel like mountains, but faith communities are in the mountain-moving business.''  

犹太教祭司David Saperstein说在世界中一些最贫穷的部份，宗教机构都是最稳定、最少腐败而又能使用的。

Rabbi David Saperstein said that in some of the neediest parts of the world, religious institutions were the most stable, least corrupt available.  

Marshall教授说她花了十年时间尝试把世界信仰和发展连接在一起。“首先我们要摆脱宗教是引起不和的看法……这国会是关于把世界改变至更好的承诺。太多时候，宗教的声音立场是宗族社会和现状偏见。”

Professor Marshall said she had spent 10 years trying to bring together the worlds of faith and development. ''First we have to shed the belief that religion is divisive … This parliament is about showing the commitment to change the world for the better. Too often religious voices stand for patriarchy and the status quo.''