William Sutherland's photos with the keyword: Tolerance

St. Nicholas of Myra Byzantine Catholic Church, White Plains, NY It was encouraging to see Pope Francis demonstrated courage to attend the 2022 Kazakh Interfaith Summit despite objections from the dying minority that cling to the archaic and obsolete “one true religion” view that is antithetical to God's love, limits the power of the resurrection, monopolizes Jesus Christ’s saving grace and has caused so much human grief and suffering through the ages. During this conference, participants referenced the historic “Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together” signed by Pope Francis and Sheikh Ahmed Al Tayyeb, the Grand Imam of al-Azhar in Abu Dhabi, UAE (February 2019). During his closing speech, Pope Francis reinforced Point 10 of the summit’s declaration – “We note that pluralism and differences in religion, skin color, gender, race, and language are expressions of the wisdom of God’s will in creation. …any incident of coercion to a particular religion and religious doctrine is unacceptable” [1] – declaring “extremism, radicalism, terrorism and all other forms of violence and wars, whatever their goals, have nothing to do with true religion and must be rejected in the strongest possible term.” He also called on “world leaders to ‘abandon all aggressive and destructive rhetoric which leads to destabilization… and to cease from conflict and bloodshed…” [2] _________ [1] Hannah Brockhaus. Kazakhstan interreligious congress adopts declaration calling religious pluralism ‘God’s will.’ CAN (Catholic News Agency). 21 September 2022. www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/252298/kazakhstan-interreligious-congress-adopts-declaration-calling-religious-pluralism-gods-will [2] Nicole Winfield. Pope criticized over interfaith event. The Journal News. 10 September 2022. 3A.

With the proliferation of novel coronavirus cases (2019-nCov) -- officially named Covid-19 (Coronavirus disease-19) racism and xenophobia have cropped up in several Asian and European countries as well as the United States and Canada. Restaurants refuse to serve Chinese tourists, people cross the streets to shun Chinese people, refuse to patronize Chinese establishments and in one case a crowd even gathered in front of a hotel to demand its Chinese guests immediately leave and return to China. Such xenophobia and racism are repugnant and unacceptable without exception. It is because of this and to stand in solidarity with these victims and the Chinese people who are being unjustly discriminated against I created this derivative panoramic image from a photo I purchased from Shutterstock® and switched the 1st and 3rd letters of the city where 2019-nCov (placed over the facemask) originated and flipped the “W” over to spell the word “human” since these people are not a virus as clearly and concisely stated by the #JeNeSuisPasUnVirus ( #IamNotAVirus ) movement that originated out of France – but are human beings deserving of the same inalienable rights and dignity as every unaffected person. People get sick. Period! Such people deserve the best medical treatment possible and compassion instead of misguided blame and condemnation. Period! Wuhan:huMan. Let’s never forget that! Note: For those who elect to purchase and wear a facemask, it should be "N-95" rated.

Created utilizing free clipart, public domain clipart and the mosque outline image purchased from Shutterstock. The ribbon heart symbolizing love between peoples of different faiths -- all children of the same, one God as well as God's eternal love for all of us, regardless of our faith, was added since it resembles Arabic calligraphy with its distinct, rich, cursive form. The Arabic statement directly under the mosque's outline reads: "We are one with God!" A cross and Star of David were imposed on the mosque's minaret to symbolize religious unity which I am a strong believer in and hope one day will be achieved. I also avoided the use of color so as not to distract from the distinct message and used simplicity since simplicity can often be equated with beauty. Last but not least, I condemn this barbaric unspeakable act of evil in the strongest of terms and pray for the innocent victims and their families.

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year filled with Happiness, Prosperity, Good Health, Happiness and Peace. Created using free online clipart and images purchased from Shutterstock to incorporate elements of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and Taoism for the promotion of religious tolerance. I also included the universal symbol of peace in one of the snowflakes since when religion truly serves God there can be nothing but world peace and a heart since God is Love [1 John 4:8] and the Word was made incarnate during the nativity as an expression of His boundless unconditional love for each and every work of His creation.