Competencies

INTRODUCTION

• Participants read Commitment VII before considering the importance of each element. They brainstorm ways to capture these elements in a concise statement.
• Facilitator may pose questions under the Discussion Questions tab to stimulate ideas. 
• Participants may choose to create a Tweet or a Translation, which they can post on a social media platform as well as share within their faith communities. Participants might discuss together effective ways to share their statements online. 

ACTIVITY

Commitment VII: We pledge to publicly denounce all instances of advocacy of hatred that incites to violence, discrimination or hostility, including those that lead to atrocity crimes. We bear a direct responsibility to denounce such advocacy, particularly when it is conducted in the name of religion or belief.

Tweeting: 

• Participants summarize Commitment VII within 140 characters.

Example Tweet:  We commit to publicly denounce all instances of advocacy of hatred that incites to violence, discrimination or hostility in the name of religion or belief.

• Participants post this statement on Twitter or another social media platform, where appropriate. They may discuss possible Twitter hashtags, ideally using the standard hashtag #Faith4Rights or #FoRB.

Translation:

• Participants “translate” Commitment VII into simple terms suitable for a youth or lay person.
• Participants may also create a concise statement in their local dialect.
• Participants consider sharing this statement online or within their faith communities (such as during a religious meeting).

CONCLUSION

• Participants share their created statements with the group.
• If time allows, participants may explain why they chose to write their statements and how their statements educate others about avoiding incitement to hatred in the name of religion. They may explain on what platform they can post their statement to achieve the greatest positive impact. 

Before creating their statements, participants may choose to discuss the elements of Commitment VII. The following questions may guide discussion: 

• Are there differences in meaning among the terms violence, discrimination, or hostility?
• What does the term advocacy mean in this context?
• How would a person “publicly denounce” hatred in a way that is both effective and appropriate within the local community?

Commitment VII: We pledge to publicly denounce all instances of advocacy of hatred that incites to violence, discrimination or hostility, including those that lead to atrocity crimes. We bear a direct responsibility to denounce such advocacy, particularly when it is conducted in the name of religion or belief.

Participants can visit Twitter’s online help center to learn how to sign up for an account and how to post a Tweet. 

• Twitter Help Center

Social media is a powerful platform for encouraging positive change. However, social media can also be a platform for inciting hatred. Laws governing freedom of expression in public forums vary across the globe. Participants may discuss how they can use social media to promote Faith for Rights principles while complying with local laws. 

Additional Tips for All Peer-to-Peer Activities 

• The #Faith4Rights modules are flexible and require adaptation by the facilitators before their use. Case studies related to peer-to-peer exercises in the 18 modules need to be selected by the facilitators from within the environment where the learning takes place. The #Faith4Rights toolkit is a prototype methodology that requires contextualization, based on the text of the 18 commitments, context, and additional supporting documents.
• Not all issues raised need to be resolved. This would be an impossible and even a counterproductive target. The aim is rather to enhance critical thinking and communication skills, admitting that some questions could receive many answers, depending on numerous factors.
• Tensions may occur during discussions related to “faith” and “rights.” Most of these tensions are due to human interpretations. Learning sessions are spaces for constructive dialogue in a dynamic process where tensions can be reduced with the help of clear methodologies, including pre-emptive situation analysis and evidence of positive results in areas of intersectionality between faith and rights.
• When preparing the sessions, facilitators need to factor in the profile, age, and backgrounds of participants. Focused attention on the learning objectives can transform tensions into constructive exploration of new ideas.
• Meaningful engagement requires democratically pre-established rules. Facilitators should dedicate time with participants to elaborate these rules together at the outset and act all along the training as their custodians.
• The time frames suggested in this #Faith4Rights toolkit are merely indicative. Facilitators may adapt them freely to suit the needs of their group of participants. The key balance is between respecting the overall time frame while not cutting short a positive exchange momentum.
• To ensure optimal and sustainable benefit, facilitators may create a “training notebook” for participants during their peer-to-peer learning sessions. It would contain a compilation of templates to help participants keep track of what they have learned throughout the program and eventually use this notebook as their personalized follow-up tool.
• When technically feasible, facilitators are also advised to project the module under discussion on screen in order to alternate between discussions thereon and showing the audio-visual materials listed in each module or any other items selected by the facilitator.

• “Now this is the command: Do to the doer to make him do.” (Ancient Egyptian Middle Kingdom)
• “Repay injury with justice and kindness with kindness.” (Confucius)
• “What is hateful to you, don’t do to your friend.” (Talmud, Shabat, 31,a)
• “Whatever words we utter should be chosen with care for people will hear them and be influenced by them for good or ill.” (Buddha)
• “By self-control and by making dharma (right conduct) your main focus, treat others as you treat yourself.” (Mahābhārata)
• “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against your kinsfolk. Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Leviticus 19:18)
• “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.” (Matthew 7:12)
• “Ascribe not to any soul that which thou wouldst not have ascribed to thee, and say not that which thou doest not.” (Baha’u’llah)