Religious And Ethnic Diversity

I- Introduction.

The question of religious and ethnic minorities is a question that has been on the agenda of the United Nations (UN) since the signing of its charter in 1945. Maybe the core reason why religious and ethnic diversity is seen as such an important part of society, is the tendency that countries respecting and including a multitude of different cultural backgrounds are often more stable than those, which are not as inclusive.

Although the international community has already made great advancements to promote religious and ethnic diversity and recognize that societies are not homogenous, there is a great deal more to be done. Cultural diversity cannot only stand for recognizing the fact that there is a plurality of people, religions

The Kurds do not form a homogenous whole. Those north of the Greater Zab River speak Kirmanji Kurdish, as do most Turkish Kurds, while those south of it speak Sorani and have greater affinity with Iranian Kurds. The majority is Sunni, but about 150.000 in Baghdad and the Southeast are Shi’a (locally known as Faili). In Baghdad the Failis were important both as traders. They government expelled most of them in the 1970s.

Shabak

The Shabak are an ethnic and cultural minority located in a handful of villages east of Mosul, and a small group in Mosul itself. Their language is a confection of Turkish, Kurdish, Arabic and Persian. About 70 per cent of the group is Shi’a and the rest is Sunni. Shabak have been in Iraq since 1502.

Turkomans

The Iraqi Turkomans claim to be the third largest ethnic group in Iraq, residing almost exclusively in the North of the country. There were anything between 600.000 and 2 million Turkomans before the war that began in March 2003. They are probably descended from Turkic garrisons or, in the Shi’a case, fugitives from early Ottoman control. However, they claim to be descendants of earlier Seljuq Turks. Approximately 60 per cent of the Turkomans are Sunni. The Turkomans speak a Turkish dialect and have preserved their language, but are no longer tribally

Three core principles establish a basis for Baha’i teachings and doctrine:

• The unity of God: there is only one God who is the source of all creation;

• The unity of religion: all the major religions have the same spiritual source and come from the same God;

• The unity of humanity: all humans have been created equal;

• The unity in diversity: diversity of race and culture are seen as worthy of appreciation and acceptance.

According to the Baha’i Faith’s teachings, the human purpose is to learn to know and to love God through such methods as prayer, reflection and being of service to humanity.

Mandaeism

Mandaeism is a gnostic religion with a strongly dualistic worldview. Its adherents, the Mandaeans, revere Adam, Abel, Seth, Enos, Noah, Shem, Aram, and especially John the Baptist, but reject Abraham, Moses and Jesus. The Aramaic manda means “knowledge”. Mandaeism is based more on a common heritage than on any set of religious creeds and doctrines. A basic guide to Mandaean theology does not exist. The corpus of Mandaean literature, though quite large, covers topics such as eschatology, the knowledge of God and the afterlife – in an unsystematic