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It seemed comforting, the idea that we share common values. But when the participants gathered in Kuala Lumpur for the AR-WACC Consultation on Asian Diversity and Common Values for Human Dignity, they found the issues far more complex than the low-key title suggested. Do we really have values in common? What are they? Across the great divides of culture, religion and ethnicity that enrich Asia, but also fuel its conflicts, can we find a shared ethical foundation to promote justice and peace? As communicators in a world revolutionized by the new information technology, what roles can we play in the struggle for human dignity and the creation of a culture of peace?
These were some of the issues explored at the AR-WACC Consultation, held March 16-20 at the Grand Olympic Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The seventeen participants are communicators working in six countries, stretching from Pakistan, India and Bhutan to Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. The gathering was organized by the Asia Region of the World Association for Christian Communication, in cooperation with the Council of Churches of Malaysia, to further explore WACC's theme of gCommunication for Human Dignity.h
While the event was sponsored by a Christian organization, which sees the concern arising from a Christian mandate, human dignity is an aspiration of people of all faiths. The participants themselves came from different religious communities. Again and again, questions arose about how we understand our own faith commitments while working together with those from other traditions, in order to develop a shared vision of humanity.
In his keynote address, Dr Hermen Shastri, General Secretary of the Council of Churches of Malaysia, highlighted Christian meetings, from the New Delhi World Council of Churches Assembly in 1962 to the World Missionary Conference in 1996, that call for an understanding of world community that is inclusive and affirms diversity. Fr. Ruedi Hofmann, from Indonesia, compared such a community to a garden of different kinds of flowers, where each flower adds to the beauty of the garden, not by copying the others, but by truly being itself. Addressing the problem of fundamentalism, he said, gIn a garden where there are many different flowers we can admire a rose even if this rose is convinced that ideally all the other flowers should become roses too.h
The tension between exclusive and inclusive theologies, between those who affirm a single path and those who celebrate diversity, is often felt more intensely within a religious community than between religions. The Consultation participants, despite their different faiths, quickly realized they stood on common ground when addressing issues of justice and peace. Mr. Khalid Ahmad observed, gWe came to this meeting because we know something about WACC and expected to find people who shared those same valuesh...which they did. While the participants-coming from diverse communities-share a common vision of human dignity, the challenge remains to bring that vision to their own communities.
A Malaysian scholar, Dr. Chandra Muzaffar, brought the problem of religious tolerance into perspective by tracing the history of Muslim relationships with people of other faiths. During the long rise of Islamic societies, most Muslim states, whether founded on religious tenants or secular ones, maintained cordial relations with people of other faiths, protected their freedoms and fostered diversity. But with the rise of nation states, tolerance and social justice have suffered. The problem arises less from the content of religious teachings than from the attitudes of particular leaders, particularly those who promote nationalism, and let one group define the character of a nation. A human community should be built, not around specific religious, language or ethnic identities, but upon mutual commitment to values of tolerance, peace and justice.
When it came to identifying the meaning of such common values, there were some surprises. In his paper on gObstructions to Common Values in a Globalising Economy,h Dr. M.R. Narayana defined common value as the price of a commodity or service when it is the same in both domestic and global markets. That was an unexpected use of the term. Yet it became clear that the economic complexities of globalization were critical to issues of human dignity. Problems of economic justice, and the widening gap between rich and poor, were highlighted by several speakers.
The participants found it easy to name general values for human dignity, such as love, peace, justice, tolerance, equality, freedom of expression and the rights of minorities. But when it came to identifying actions that promote these values, the path was not always clear. Does globalization enhance personal freedom and social welfare, or does it increase oppression and destroy local culture? How do we enhance opportunities for the advancement of oppressed groups while holding to a principle of equality for all?
Ultimately, questions became focused on what the participants themselves, professional communicators, can do to foster values for human dignity. Using an example from the Philippines, Prof. Richard Dorall pointed out that while providing marginalized groups with access to information helps in their development, providing them with the tools to produce their own information is radically more powerful. Digital technology makes it possible for the most remote and most disenfranchised groups to exchange information, obtain satellite photo data, or produce their own video programs. On site training enables people to utilize modern technology within their own situation and for their own needs. The Tehrik-e-Niswan Cultural Action Group in Pakistan uses locally produced community theatre as a strategy for the self-empowerment of women.
If alternative media can be utilized by the marginalized, it is equally important for all people to understand commercial media. Rev. Suresh Kumar explained how Tamilnadu Theological Seminary in India has expanded its media and ethics program from simply training church leaders in the use of media to providing communication education to the wider society, so that people can better understand the forces of mass media. Information sharing and networking among communicators, especially across lines of religion and nationality, promote understanding and dissemination of the most effective practices. Thus, the AR-WACC Consultation itself became an opportunity to foster the very quality it was examining: common values for human dignity. 
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