TUESDAY
January 5, 2000
volume 11, no. 3

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    LONDON (CWNews.com) - British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Tuesday called for a return to religious values in the new millennium.

    Addressing a multi-faith gathering in the Houses of Parliament, Blair said that, while technological would always be important, the values of religious teaching should form the basis of any civilized society.

    "This new millennium will be a time, I have no doubt at all, of great discoveries and huge scientific advances," he said. "We will no doubt again do things that people could not possibly have dreamt of 10, 20, 30 years ago. But if this gathering means anything, it means an affirmation of the fact that we need direction and purpose and values too."

    Blair stressed that "justice, mutual respect, compassion, community" were values shared by all the faiths represented at the 400-strong gathering."

    "These are all values that all [faiths] share in common," he continued, "and they are not values that are not incidental to their religious belief, but central to them." He also emphasized the need for tolerance and respect between different faiths and cultures and called for the human race to accept its own frailties.

    Representatives of all Britain's major faith attended the gathering which included prayers, readings, and speeches. Together they promised to "build a better society, grounded in values and ideals we share" and to work together "to help bring about a better world now and for generations to come."

    Anglican Archbishop George Carey of Canterbury stressed the Christian basis of the millennium celebrations but acknowledged "the increasingly important contribution of other faiths." He added: "This event will, I believe, be seen by future generations as truly historic."

          

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