The Concept of Truth Under Attack at World Economic Forum

DAVOS 2010

Improve the State of the World

Rethink, Redesign, Rebuild

The Transformation Continues

The World Economic Forum is being held this week in Davos, Switzerland. In addition to climate change, global recovery and global governance, the WEF also looks at global religion. The Open Forum Davos is presented by the Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches (FSPC) and the World Economic Forum.

Today, The Open Forum panel asks the question: Does Religion’s Claim to Truth Lead to Violence?

Religions motivate people to relate to each other, to create understanding and to foster peace. But religions can be abused for political ideologies. Formulated as a universal right to truth, religion can turn into a claim to power, which may lead to violence. Recognizing this, the Ecumenical Council of Churches proclaimed the Decade for Overcoming Violence, which will end in 2010.

Does religion have a tendency to impose its claim to truth through violence? Under what conditions?

How is communal life possible in a society with multiple claims to truth?

Do political views promote a claim to truth, especially when they legitimatize themselves religiously?

The answers seem to have already been provided the Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches in this Davos document. Here's some highlights:

"All around the world, Christian churches have spoken out time and again on matters of economic ethics. The terms economic and ecumenical are in fact closely connected, both containing the Greek root oikos (“house”) as both address the “global household” in different ways. The economy is thus to be understood as the pursuit of an upstanding household in a house with particular house rules. If one is to play in the house, one must respect rules that protect the rights of each player. The formation and examination of these rules promote ethical reflection. This is also a task for the churches as a service to the common good. "

"Multiculturalism and religious pluralism are challenging social concepts. It means that we can deal constructively with the tensions inherent in conserving that which is ours, while remaining open for that which is strange to us."

"Reverend Thomas Wipf suggests that the religions come together to design and sign a basic consensus on what we need to live together in society."

"Religion is anchored in God’s revelation. In its orientation toward God’s revelation, religion also remains an historical reality on a continual basis, and one which is fraught with human weakness. Religion must therefore not become absolutist, but must always listen anew to God’s revelation, questioning itself from this perspective. Religions should not oppose each other and persist in an absolute claim to truth, nor should they make claims to power and seek to wield it over others. Religion must instead serve God and the people for the good of all. "


This global religious thinking bears a striking similarity to the non-theology of the Emerging Church Movement.

Rethink, Redesign, Rebuild, Transformation? Sounds like folks at Davos have been reading Brian McLaren's book , "Everything Must Change".