Religion is the one of the most potent forces shaping world affairs. It is universal in scope, with a wide variety of spiritual beliefs, teachings and practices nurturing the human spirit throughout the centuries in countless civilizations. Much of the charity as well as the strife in the world today is inspired by religion.

When religion can be such a force for love, compassion and spirituality, why is it also such a cause of strife and war? One specific aspect of some religions is the root cause of the problems: exclusive truth claims which teach that other religions are false and have to be eradicated through conversion, discrimination, incarceration, and even killings.  It is the root cause of 9/11,  the Jewish holocaust, the Rwanda genocide, the Spanish inquisitions, the Goa (India) Inquisitions,  the Burning of Witches, the slavery and subjugation of Africans, women, gays, and lesbians, separation of millions of children of native cultures from their parents and the continued destruction of cultures across the world.

Rabbi Harold Kushner summarized the "Only my religion is right" phenomenon as: 
 

"There's a sense that in order for me to be right, everyone who disagrees with me is wrong. It makes religious interfaith cooperation more difficult. If I believe that, I have to believe that other people's religions are worthless, invalid."

 "You have to understand that religion is not about getting information about God. Religion is about community. The primary purpose is not to get us to heaven but to put us in touch with other people. I can have fierce loyalty to my family without denigrating other people's family. I can have fierce loyalty to my own religion without denigrating other people's religion. In the same way, my neighbor can say that his wife is the most wonderful woman in the world. I can take that as a statement of love, not fact." 
 

Diversity is the rule of the creation.  Only in diversity can the human mind survive. Such diverse religions include the Zoroastrians, the Baha'i, Gnostics, Druids, Hellenism, Romuva and Wiccans; the indigenous religions of Africa, Americas and Australia; and Buddhism and the ancient and subtle I-Kuan Tao. All of these faiths are different shades of a grand prism expressing unique understandings of creator, creation and the sacredness of being that unites every individual, every creature, and all levels of creation itself.
 

But a great amount of this diversity was destroyed and continued to be destroyed by religions professing exclusive access to the divine and labeling all other spiritual traditions as evil. Though there are agreements and disagreements among religious philosophies, some religious groups express their intolerance to the extent of destroying other religions in order to establish their exclusivist claims of truth.  Mahatma Gandhi called the religious conversions conducted by missionaries who convert and spread hate as the deadliest poison that ever sapped the fountain of truth. Furthermore, such aggression has left deep, lasting scars around the world, to the point where only exclusivist groups have representation in all forums where religion is discussed—in politics, in academia, and in cultural heritage.

The Papal visit to United Nations, where the leader of the only religious organization that is considered a nation state is given privileged access to world leaders, will provide a great opportunity for ethnic religions of all kinds to bring international attention to the threat of religious exclusivism and its consequences for the world religions and humanity.

What is being planned?  The plan is to do a Demonstration during Pope's visit to UN on April 18^th honoring native cultures of the world and highlighting each culture that was destroyed and the atrocities committed.  We also plan to meet United Nations Secretary General to present our case.  The message is not against Christianity or any other religion, but against the practice of intolerance under the mask of exclusive faith claim which happens to be the root cause.
 

Why is this important?  History showed to us that change never happens by itself.  It requires a collective and determined action to bring about that change.  Today, most conversions activities are planned, executed and supported by funds from the West--particularly the United States, where non-Christian religious groups only make up less than five percent of the population. Many times, funds are contributed by unwitting church goers who have little idea as to what their contributions are causing.  The Roman Catholic Church along with various Protestant and charismatic groups are the prime movers of the global conversion enterprise.  Media management by the Church promotes the image that missionary activity simply is spreading a gospel of love and compassion to the unfortunate peoples of the world. There is no public voice for the victim's story. 
 

Why now? The pope's visit to UN attracts worldwide attention, and we plan to use this occasion to present the victim's side of the effects of missionary activity. Through this demonstration and parade, we plan to bring international attention to the relentless onslaught of religious conversion activity, what it has done and continues to do to the cultures of the world.  Our goal is to create a counter discussion to missionary activity and the international conversion industry, to raise awareness that these endeavors have a darker, more complicated side. Just as multinational corporations utilize their ample resources and political influence to unfairly exploit impoverished communities, multinational evangelical groups siphon away followers from smaller, less aggressive religions to further their own exclusivist agenda without a single thought given to the rich, unique traditions they are destroying in the process.

Who is organizing this activity?   The initiative to hold a demonstration is sponsored by World Congress of Ethnic Religions and supported by 'Union of Slavic Communities of the Native Slavic Faith',  Hidden From History organization that is uncovering the separation and murder of Canadian Natives children and several other organizations.