Summing up

 

The organizers
 
“For us it was a successful project. In the first place, it functioned with people really committed to their religions rather than with people who pretended to be religious but when it came down to it, would say 'Oh well, we're all alike. Let's just have a good time together.' No, we had some big arguments. After all, this was the first time the theoretical notion of the Global Ethic Project was put to the test in practice in a youth camp.”

“What we achieved in any case, was that the participants learned much about themselves in the discussions with those of other religions and thus came away with many new ideas and experiences. Learning to stand up for one's own religion, with that we made considerable progress, but in the readiness to enter dialogue, there is still some deficits. Surprisingly, it is evidently very difficult to put oneself in the shoes of the other person. Here we have much to learn.”

“But despite all the hurdles, there were many fine human encounters. On the one hand, we had some really hard discussions about religion, where we could observe our own standpoints. But, on the other hand, we could experience how much went on at the human level. Thus we saw how Igor, a Christian and a church musician, and Yellow, a Muslim graffiti-artist decided to do a project together. Something was happening there, people were getting together and beginning to feel like further experimenting with the global ethic notion.”

David (a Jewish boy)
 
“The camp took a positive course. From the beginning, I had no doubts that in small circles the cooperation between the religions would go well. In the camp, the three religions were represented by reasonable people, who were prepared to make compromises.

However, one must not overlook the existence of fanatics in all three religions. The fanatics hinder the trialogue between the three Abrahamite religions and ruin the hopes for speedy peacemaking, e.g. in the Near East and in former Yugoslavia. Nevertheless, one should never give up trying to get on with each other in daily living.”

Judith and Michael (Christians)
 
“The Global Ethic Project took concrete form and manifested itself on the human, personal level – in conversations, at play, while cooking and eating. With the passage of time, personal encounter became more and more familiar and relaxed: What counted was the human level. Many questions regarding the theory and the practice of the Global Ethic Project remained open.

We feel that we simply were living out the Global Ethic Project – without cramp or force, on the personal level. Together we enjoyed an eventful time together, with both many high points and some low points.”

Igor (a Christian boy)
 
“The theoretical and theological questions raised by global ethic took a backseat for me. Downright practical questions like 'What dishes do we use for this or that meal?' came to the fore, questions that gave rise to conflicts.

But these were precisely the questions that brought us together. Thus we managed to stay together the whole time. That was for me the real success of the global ethic idea.”