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THE INTERFAITH CALL FOR UNIVERSAL FREEDOM OF WORSHIP AND FOR HUMAN RIGHTS IN TIBET
An invitation from the Council for the Interfaith Call:

THE INTERFAITH CALL FOR UNIVERSAL FREEDOM OF WORSHIP
AND FOR HUMAN RIGHTS IN TIBET

THE INTERFAITH CALL is a passionate campaign by the world's faith traditions affirming the rights of freedom of worship and human rights for the endangered people Tibet -- and for all people. It is also a denunciation of genocide in all forms. In 2000, there was an explosion of support for the Call; more than 150,000 people joined it, an amazing increase from the 8,000 people who observed it the year before.

IN 2001, the Call is happening twice: the annual worldwide observance on the weekend of October 2l8 in thousands of houses of worship and on university campuses, along with a smaller event in the U.S. on Sunday, March 25 by at least 70,000 people. The second Interfaith Call is part of the Season for NonViolence, a prestigious 64-day campaign based on the philosophies of Gandhi and King. Presented by the Gandhi Center and the Association for Global New Thought (AGNT), the Season has embraced the Interfaith Call as a vehicle of interfaith outreach for the Tibetan people and for universal religious freedom and human rights.

WE INVITE YOU to urge your spiritual leaders and religious organizations to endorse the Call. Analysts predicted recently that the religion and culture of the people in Tibet could be wiped out within five years -- unless the world stands up to support the Tibetan people. The more religious groups we can convince to support the Interfaith Call, the more pressure we'll put on the Chinese government to stop their genocidal practices toward the Tibetan people.

THIS CALL was created by Brahma Das (Richard Rosenkranz, President of the World Tibet Day Foundation). With the encouragement and inspiration of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the Call grew out of World Tibet Day (WTD), held in 2000 in 54 cities in 19 countries (www.worldtibetday.com), and which will be held in 2001 on July 7. While the Interfaith Call focuses on issues of religious freedom and human rights, WTD also strongly emphasizes fundamental rights of the Tibetan people to political freedoms as well.

IF YOU WANT TO JOIN the Interfaith Call, please let us know so we can list your observance on our site -- which will help increase the impact of our campaign. Please write or e-mail the Council for the Interfaith Call if you want any advice, drafts of media releases or other materials -- and also if you can help in some other way. Our address is brahmadas@aol.com. Our website: www.interfaithcall.com.
With the blessing and encouragement of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Brahma Das (whose English name is Richard Rosenkranz) founded the Call in 1998. A human rights activist and President of the World Tibet Day Foundation, Brahma Das said one reason for starting the Call was the strong sense of urgency he felt "after recent predictions that the religion and culture of the people in occupied Tibet could vanish in less than five years unless the world takes a stand, particularly the world's religions." After the Chinese army invaded Tibet in 1949, over one fifth of the population died under their occupation and more than 6000 monasteries were destroyed.

According to Brahma Das, "The rise in support is absolutely incredible, with all these faith practitioners having clearly decided it's time to make a strong statement to the Chinese government that the world actually does care what happens to the Tibetan people." He added, "Along with Tibet, the world's faith traditions are also making a very strong statement affirming freedom of worship and human rights for everyone while opposing genocide everywhere."

As a member of Association for Global New Thought (AGNT), Arun Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, explained why the Association endorsed the Call. "Everyone must enjoy the right to believe in and practice their religion. A denial of this unalienable right can destroy a nation's humanity. To be a silent witness to the deliberate destruction of an ancient culture is like being a party to a holocaust."

Brother Wayne Teasdale, a renowned Catholic theologian and a Trustee of the Parliament of World Religions, said religious leaders should join the Interfaith Call because they cannot ignore the plight of the Tibetan people. Teasdale is probably the strongest critic within the Church of the Catholic Church's silence on Tibet. He said, "What happens to the Tibetan people has become the test which God has given us. Spiritual leaders failed the test during the Holocaust in Europe. Now God is giving this test about responding to the genocide facing the Tibetan people, and for spiritual leaders, it should be a clear moral absolute."