Teaching children about tolerance and respect was the focus of recent discussions with Seventh-day Adventist Church representatives, the International Religious Liberty Association and government officials in Chile.

Senate president Andrés Saldivar and minister Heraldo Mufoz met with Adventist church members Dec. 5 to 8 at the invitation of Guido Quinteros, president of the Adventist Church in Chile.

“It’s so important to teach children to have respect and tolerance towards other religions,” said John Graz, secretary-general for the IRLA and director of public affairs and religious liberty for the Adventist world church. “It’s also important for children to be knowledgeable about various religions, rather than grow up with biases and misconceptions toward others. Education opens the minds of people, and public schools have the responsibility to cultivate respect and tolerance toward differences. It’s better to teach respect and tolerance to young children rather than wait until they are adults.”

Graz and organizers in Chile are preparing for an international congress to take place in August 2003. The congress will address education in public schools.

Saldivar assured the IRLA of his government’s support toward the congress and to the mission of the IRLA, and affirmed the importance of associations, such as the IRLA, that work with various religions in promoting respect and tolerance. While government officials recognized that discrimination toward minorities still exist in their communities, they agreed to continue their work in educating the mindset of citizens. Protestant minorities have been discriminated against in the past in many aspects of public life. In 1999, Chile passed a new law that improved religious freedom for religious minorities.

The Adventist Church in Chile has nearly 100,000 members in a population of more than 15 million.