Selections on humankind as one family from World Scripture: A Comparative Anthology of Sacred Texts, with commentary

1. One Human Family under God Selections from World Scripture: A Comparative Anthology of Sacred Texts with commentary Universal Peace Federation - International Leadership Conference

2. Hinduism We are birds of the same nest. Wearing different skins, speaking different languages, believing in different religions, and belonging to different cultures – yet we share the same home, our earth. Born on the same planet, covered by the same skies, gazing at the same stars, breathing the same air, we must learn to progress happily together or miserably perish together. For humans can live individually but can survive only collectively. Atharva Veda: Bhumi-Sukta

3. Confucianism Wh en the Great Tao [Way] prevailed, the world was a common wealth; men of talent and virtue were selected, mutual confidence was emphasized, brotherhood was cultivated. The Book of Ritual, Chapter IX, Li Yun

4. Jainism Co nsider the family of humankind one. Jinasena, Adipurana

5. Christianity He made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the surface of the earth. Acts 17:26

6. Islam Oh men! Behold, We have created you all out of a male and a female, and have made you into nations and tribes, so that you might come to know one another. Verily, the noblest of you in the sight of God is the one who is most deeply conscious of Him. Behold, God is all-knowing, all aware. Qur’an 49:13

7. Commentary Divine love and compassion is often expressed by the relationship of parent and child. The Jewish and Christian scriptures call God our Heavenly Father; in the Lotus Sutra the Buddha is called the Father of the World, and similar statements are found in the Vedas and the Confucian classics. Andrew Wilson, Editor, World Scripture

8. Judaism You are the children of the Lord your God. Deuteronomy 14:1 Have we not one father? Has not one God made us all? Malachi 2:10

9. Christianity Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Matthew 6:9 Is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of the nations also? Romans 3:29

10. Islam Anas and ‘Abdullah reported God’s Messenger as saying, Al l [human] creatures are God’s children, and those dearest to God are the ones who treat His children kindly. Hadith of Baihaqi

11. Sikhism Thou art Father, Mother, Friend, Brother. With Thee as succorer in all places, What fear have I? Adi Granth, Majh M5

12. Hinduism God! Give us wisdom as a father gives to his sons. Guide us, O Much-invoked in this path. May we live in light. Rig Veda 7.32.26

13. Buddhism You men are all my children, And I am your Father. For age upon age, you Have been scorched by multitudinous woes, And I have saved you all. Lotus Sutra 3

14. Baha’i All are servants of God and members of one human family . God has created all, and all are His children.

15. African Traditional Religions We are the children of our Maker And do not fear that he will kill us. We are the children of God And do not fear that he will kill. Dinka Prayer (Sudan)

16. Native American Religions Mother Earth have pity on us and give us food to eat! Father, the Sun, bless all our children and may our paths be straight. Blackfoot Prayer

17. Commentary A human being is part of a whole, called by us the Universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. Albert Einstein, physicist

18. Commentary The first day or so we all pointed to our countries. The third or fourth day we were pointing to our continents. By the fifth day, we were aware of only one Earth. Sultan bin Salman Al-Saud, astronaut

19. Commentary For the nonviolent person, the whole world is one family. He will fear none, nor will others fear him. Mahatma Gandhi Spiritual leader and activist

20. Commentary The whole of humanity is…one human family. This planet is our only home. Tenzin Gyatso 14th Dalai Lama

21. Commentary There can be hope only for a society which acts as one big family, not as many separate ones. Anwar Sadat President of Egypt

22. Commentary The large house in which we live demands that we transform this world-wide neighborhood into a world-wide brotherhood; together we must learn to live as brothers or together we will be forced to perish as fools. Martin Luther King, Jr., Civil rights leader

23. Commentary God created us for fellowship. God created us so that we should form the human family, existing together because we were made for one another. We are not made for an exclusive self-sufficiency but for interdependence, and we break the law of our being at our peril. Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Anglican Church

24. Commentary It is paramount that those who adore the One God should show themselves to be both grounded in and directed towards the unity of the entire human family. In other words, fidelity to the One God, the Creator, the Most High, leads to the recognition that human beings are fundamentally interrelated, since all owe their very existence to a single source and are pointed towards a common goal. Pope Benedict XVI, Roman Catholic Church

25. Commentary The most basic and central truth of the unvierse is that God is the Father and we are his children. We are all created as children of God. There is nothing closer, nothing deeper, nothing more ultimate than when father and son are one: One in love, one in life, and one in ideal. Sun Myung Moon Founder, Universal Peace Federation

26. For Further Reflection World Scripture: A Comparative Anthology of Sacred Texts http://origin.org/ucs/ws/ws.cfm Universal Peace Federation http://www.upf.org/education/interreligious-understanding