Liberal Religion
Soon
after the liberation of Holland on May 4, 1945, the IARF
Secretariat reopened and began relief work in distressed
parts of Europe. The 13th Congress of the IARF was initially
to be held in Prague in 1948, but that proved difficult
so the Congress was convened at Amsterdam in 1949. The
theme of the 1949 Congress was "The Mission and Message
of Liberal Religion." At the time of the 13th Congress
the IARF had member groups in Belgium, Czechoslovakia,
Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, India,
the Philippines, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland and the
United States of America.
"As religious liberals," the Congress participants
affirmed:
"We stand for Religion against the rising tide
of secularism in a world that has very largely accepted
a materialistic, if not an atheistic philosophy. We
stand for Tolerance in a world that is increasingly
dominated by sectarianism and bigotry. We stand for
Liberty in a world that has at many points surrendered
to arbitrary authority. We stand for Reason in a world
that has succumbed to an alarming degree to blind emotionalism.
We stand for Individual Responsibility in a world that
puts its trust chiefly in mass movements and a regimenting
State. We stand for the Ethics of Jesus in a world that
seems to have reverted to the ethics of the jungle."
In August 1952 the IARF Congress met in Oxford, England.
The theme was "Authority and Freedom in the Modern
World," and the Congress was divided into five
sections: Theology, World Religions, Sociology, Religious
Education, and Science and Religion. In 1953 the Association
sponsored a conference in Geneva on tolerance, and in
1955 the IARF held its 15th Congress in Belfast, Northern
Ireland. Also in 1955 the IARF published The I.A.R.F.:
Its Vision and Work.
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