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Our Work at the United Nations:
Integrating Religious, Spiritual &
Ethical Values
Juliet Hollister founded the Temple of
Understanding in 1960, just fifteen
years after the birth of the United
Nations. Juliet was inspired by the
mission of the United Nations to bring
together nations in a global effort to
solve problems that challenge humanity.
Juliet saw the need to enhance the role
of religious, spiritual, and ethical
values in this endeavor. She had a
vision of a "Spiritual United Nations"
where religious and spiritual leaders
could come together to address the most
pressing issues of the time and to
create a culture of peace. She took her
idea to Eleanor Roosevelt, who had been
instrumental in the founding of the
United Nations and the creation of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Mrs. Roosevelt responded with
enthusiastic support, stating:
"May this greatly needed
Temple of Understanding come into
realization soon, for our world surely
needs the inspiration of such a
'Spiritual United Nations'."
After the founding of the TOU, one of
Juliet Hollister's first actions was to
make sure the organization was
affiliated with the United Nations. The
Department of Public Information (DPI)
soon accredited the TOU as a
Non-Governmental Organization. In the
mid 90s, TOU Representative to the UN,
Fr. Luis Dolan secured NGO Consultative
status with the Economic and Social
Council (ECOSOC).
We have only to review the noble vision
of the United Nations to understand how
important membership is for the TOU. The
collaborative, democratic model of the
UN, founded on values of mutual respect
and coexistence, reflects the same
values that the TOU celebrates. Giving
voices to diverse constituencies and
honoring differences and the uniqueness
of cultures lies at the core of the
model embraced by both the UN and the
TOU. Moreover, these same values remain
at the foundation of interfaith
cooperation and understanding.
The TOU works to support the aims,
principles and activities of the United
Nations by advocating for recognition of
religious, spiritual, and ethical values
in UN documents, committees, programs
and conferences. We sponsor events to
support these values through peace and
security; economic, social and
sustainable development; human rights;
humanitarian affairs; and international
law.
There are three ways in which the TOU as
an NGO at the United Nations
participates in the effort to bring
religious, ethical and spiritual values
to meetings and documents at the UN:
1. by contributing to the World Summit
meetings in different parts of the world
2. by sponsoring programs for NGOs,
staff and delegates at the UN
3. by joining Committees and Coalitions
of NGOs with similar values
The Temple of Understanding has
Representatives to the United Nations in
New York and Geneva.
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