On June 2-4 2008 religious leaders and human rights attorneys from around the world gathered at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (the State Department) in The Hague, Netherlands to draft a statement regarding the relationship between religions and religious communities and human rights.  This year is the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  Paul Alexander, as a Pentecostal Christian, was invited to provide a keynote speech addressing the ways religious leaders could support human rights.  

Paul says, "There’s a lot of suffering and pain in the world and I think religious people can and should work together for justice, peace, and reconciliation.  I especially encourage Christians to stay faithful to Jesus and be who we are called to be, people of Spirit-empowered self-giving transforming love who take up our crosses.  This allows us to work freely with people of all faiths and to do much more than support human rights, we can far surpass their minimal expectations as we prophetically challenge injustice and create communities of hope.  We do not expect too much of religious leaders and religious communities when we ask them to support human rights, we expect too little."

Paul also reported that he thoroughly enjoyed the conversations, work, meals, and emerging friendships with the Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, Baha’i, and other Christians who were there, and that many of them plan to continue to work together on projects that cross religious lines and that promote human gifts.

(Pictured l-r above: Dr. Recep Senturk Sayyed (Turkey), Dr. Ozcan Hidir (Turkey), and Dr. Paul Alexander (USA).