［中國漢傳密學研究院編譯局］宗教在貧窮戰中被否認[是扮演]主要角色

BARNEY ZWARTZ撰

2009年12月5日December 5, 2009  

全世界的政治家退縮與貧窮作戰，因為他們不理解或信任宗教，一位美藉發展專家昨天在墨爾砵說。

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.  

“政治家認為宗教不能幫助，而這真的是一個巨大的障礙。他們不知道宗教是做甚麼，而他們對祂感到害怕，” Katherine Marshall在世界宗教國會的開幕節目中說。

''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.  

美國華盛頓的Georgetown大學的宗教、和平和世界事務柏克萊中心的客座教授Marshall教授說，如果政治家知道更多信仰組織是做甚麼的，他們會更開放地與祂們［信仰組織］一起工作。說服他們［政治家］的方法是事實。

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.  

她說大部份的基督徒知道耶蘇的名言：“你擁有的貧窮永遠與你在一起”，這一直被誤解。

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

“我們經常與貧窮在一起的這個想法，是顯著出我們的責任。貧窮不是不可避免的，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.''  

澳洲世界視覺首席行政官Tim Costello主持那一場討論會時──國會裡關於貧窮的25個座談會之第一場──說千年發展目標作出了重要的差異。

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. 

他說八組目標，在2000年共有193個國家簽署承諾，包括在2015年時把世界飢餓減少一半。

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.  

“我們已經邁出了巨大的前進，直至全球經濟危機的打擊，根據世界銀行，意思是有400,000兒童本來可避免的，卻死亡了。這是危機，不是老年退休或你的股票組合，“他說。

''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［朝著］目標進展比預期的落後，但目標令當局能夠追縱［檢查］。例如，25年前每天有60,000兒童死亡；但兩年前已經下降至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先生說信仰社團在那些“最麻煩的地方”工作，那些地方是非宗教代理處經常不能說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.  

“是那種僕人的態度令到信仰社團肯去，”他說。“他們的足跡是那些痛苦存在的地方。我們所沒有做好的，是這個措施如何引伸至政策改變的擁護的基礎。”

''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.''  

美國福音領袖Jim Wallis說英國首相Gordon Brown告訴他，他［英首相］和他的前任Tony Blair是為了2000年廿五週年的信仰基礎的運動而作出撤銷第三世界債務。

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先生說他的故鄉華盛頓DC有線抵制變化，如美國總統Barack Obama獲悉。

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

“作出改變的是社會運動，這就是為甚麼信仰社團有這樣大的角色，”他說。“全球每一個大型的社會運動都有一個信仰社團在心臟中。”

''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.  

“我們預測二億名氣候變化難民，這些問題感覺好像高山那樣，信仰社團卻是移山的事業中。

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

猶太教祭司David Saperstein說在世界中一些最貧窮的部份，宗教機構都是最穩定、最少腐敗而又能使用的。

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

Marshall教授說她花了十年時間嘗試把世界信仰和發展連接在一起。“首先我們要擺脫宗教是引起不和的看法……這國會是關於把世界改變至更好的承諾。太多時候，宗教的聲音立場是宗族社會和現狀偏見。”

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.''