Eva Panjan, Slovenia
Religion should not be blamed for acts of violence. Young Europeans agreed that the tensions between different cultures and religious could only be released with proper education.
Within the past few months, Europe has been shaken by terrorist attacks in France, Belgium and Denmark. The shootings at the headquarters of Charlie Hebdo, the Jewish synagogue in Copenhagen and the bombings in Paris and Brussels left their mark. Experts, however, argue that religion should not be blamed for such acts of violence.
“I don’t think that religion is violent; the problem is not down to religion. It’s down to people. When you look up the religious texts, it is all about context and history; I think every single holy book that has some form of violent text it has its specific context and it requires interpretation,” said Mariam Inayat, the British Youth Council’s Youth Ambassador, in an interview after a panel discussion.
In her opinion, people – not religion – should be held responsible: “I think every single holy book that has some form of violent text, has its specific context and it requires interpretation.” She added that for every violent verse in the Koran, there are many more suggestive verses about peace and respect.
The discussion took place on Friday afternoon and highlighted the importance of interpreting what tolerance and respect mean for our society.
Speakers also agreed that there is a fine line between freedom of expression and violence. “A peaceful demonstration could be offensive to someone, but I would never deny somebody’s right to do that,” said Inayat.
“I would draw a line when violence starts.” Natacha Van Weezel, a filmmaker from Mo&MoosMokum in the Netherlands, pointed out that social media can also be violent. “Twitter can be so hateful, aggressive and really one sided,” she said.
In Inayat’s opinion, education is the solution. “If you look up the word xenophobia, it is literally the fear of the unknown. I think that education is key in schools, through politicians and decision-makers on local, regional and national level. We need a more unified approach.”
