Everyone Matters – Toowoomba, a Model City of Peace and Harmony

Toowoomba Interfaith Working Group

The Toowoomba Interfaith Working Group (TIWG) established in 2016 aims to achieve the following mission:

1. To nourish understanding and cooperation among diverse religions and faiths and be a visible example of acceptance and respect between people.

2. To promote awareness of the tenets and beliefs of the diverse faiths in the Toowoomba region.

3. To provide opportunities for the community to participate in interfaith and community education programs.

4. To practice, by word and deed, the values of kindness, compassion, and respect for the common humanity of all.

5. To work for peace, harmony, and goodwill between people of diverse beliefs.

The True Meaning of Religion

The Chinese word for “religion’’ is zōng jiào. zōng means vital, important and revered.jiào means education, teachings and civilisation.

When combined, zōng jiào means the vital education, important teachings and revered transformation of humanity that is based on a foundation of love and benevolence, branches of moral ethics, virtue and causality, blossoms of precepts, meditative concentration and wisdom, and ultimately, the realisation of enlightenment.

According to British philosopher Arnold J.Toynbee, religion remains ever vital to human life.