Question 1

“In our camp we became aware that there are many things that separate us. Each one of us has his own truth, his own religion. And there are some propositions that simply cannot be reconciled with each other. Genrich, as a Jew, says, 'Jesus was not the Son of God and not the Messiah.' And I, as a Christian, say he was both. How can we resolve such disagreements?”

Hans Küng:
 
“First as a matter of principle: there are some things in the different religions that simply cannot be reconciled. It is absolutely clear that a Jew today cannot concede that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. By the same token, however, no Christian can simply deny this statement. Each religion has some things specific to it, things that appear to exclude the others.
The Christians say, 'Jesus is God's Son'. The Jews say, 'Israel is God's People'. That statement also makes problems, notably in our own day in the Palestinian conflict. Is there only one nation that can call itself 'God's people'? What about the other peoples? Are they not also God's people? These are questions that Jews have to answer. Islam says, 'the Qur'an is God's Book'. And the others ask, 'Aren't the other books also God's books?' Are they, as the Muslims claim, books that have been changed and falsified by the Jews and Christians?
Thus every religion has something unique – either God's Son or God's People or God's Book. That cannot be reduced to a common denominator. Nevertheless, it is time for us to talk about these points, positively not negatively.”

Question 2

“But for us Muslims the Torah and the Bible have been replaced by the Qur'an.”

Hans Küng:
 
“Yes, that is what Muslims claim. But that is a point, I believe, where we can enter discussions. Admittedly, it is not easy, but let me put it this way: for a Muslim it might be interesting to compare what the Qur'an says about Israel or about Jesus with what stands in the Jewish or the Christian Bible. Then one can see, whether that really is no longer up to date.”

Question 3

"What does the global ethic mean for me concretely?"

Hans Küng:
 
“Concretely, the global ethic means that people come together in a group like this one and talk with each other, rather than bashing their heads in on the first evening.”

Question 4

“To be honest, we were pretty close to doing just that, but we managed to avoid doing so.”

Hans Küng:
 
“I don't think that it was just good luck that you avoided coming to blows. There are fundamental convictions here, that you simply do not do some things. Naturally, somebody could have pulled a knife. But in such matters, the Muslim is glad that the Jew or the Christian, even without the Qur'an, has norms telling him what must not be done.”

Question 5

“How can the global ethic be enforced? Do we need a court and penalties like for the human rights?”

Hans Küng:
 
“No, it would be entirely wrong to use punishments: the global ethic is not a law. Ethic is a conviction of the heart, an attitude, not a legal prescription. Ethic is a matter of conscience, not something to be enforced by the police.”

Question 6

“What then are the chances for realizing a global ethic in public?”

Hans Küng:
 
“The United Nations Declaration of the Human Rights is also, in the first place, a moral appeal. There are no punishments for a country when it does not observe these rights. How then have they gained acceptance? Because some people began talking about them, just as you have done here. Like the human rights, the global ethic is something that must grow slowly from the grassroots. The awareness that every human being has responsibilities alongside his/her rights has to grow from the bottom up.”

Question 7

“When you say 'from the bottom up', do you mean that the goal of the Global Ethic Foundation is to start some kind of grassroots movement?”

Hans Küng:
 
“Yes, the goal is to set a movement in motion, but not in the sense of an organization, but rather in the sense of a change of attitude. Movements like this take time and obey their own rules. The campaign against smoking is an example: How did it come about that people came to regard smoking as dangerous to health? At first, almost everybody thought smoking was something normal. Then some “freaks” in America started preaching that smoking was dangerous to health. And some scientists produced studies to prove it. More and more people turned against smoking, among them some political representatives and then even the President of the USA …
Today, it is the smokers, who have to ask pardon when they want a smoke. Earlier, it was the other way around; the non-smoker had to excuse himself. This is an impressive example of how attitudes change. The campaign against smoking had no president, no board of trustees, no single organization.”

Question 8

“You said, 'Religion gives birth to reason', but, in my opinion, religion gives birth to fanaticism. The Near Eastern conflict is a good example.”

Hans Küng:
 
“Yes, nobody can deny that religion can lead to fanaticism, when it is practiced wrongly. And you are perfectly right in citing the Near Eastern situation. Unfortunately, there are religious fanatics on all three sides. Nevertheless, two things should be noted. First, religion need not necessarily give birth to fanaticism; one can be religious without being a fanatic. If the nations of the Near East had better governments, the overwhelming majority of the people living there would be anything but fanatical. Yes, religion can mean fanaticism, but religion can also mean peace-making, and many of the people who work for peace are religiously motivated. Second, for the sake of completion, one must also note: every good idea can lead to fanaticism, when it is made absolute. National Socialism and Communism murdered millions of human beings, not in the name of religion, but in the name of their ideologies. In the French Revolution people were guillotined even in the name of "Reason". Fanaticism is not the ultimate argument against religion.”

Question 9

“Did this youth camp have meaning for the Global Ethic Foundation?”

Hans Küng:
 
“For us, it is very important. Our founder, Count von der Groeben, is particularly interested in such grassroots work. Without hesitation, he provided the money to set up a kosher kitchen. We of the Foundation want to address people at all levels. That means that the grassroots work with young people like here in this camp is just as important as promoting the United Nation's General Declaration of Human Responsibilities. The answer to the question, how can a global ethic be realized, must, in the last analysis, be answered by the young people! I am convinced, that the coming generation, though it enjoys all liberties and is bound by no rigid rules, nevertheless feels the need to find a way out of the present conflicts.”