Rome, July 30 – The Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama today rejected the concept of a clash of civilizations, calling it “false and dangerous.”
“In every religion there are people who create problems,” he told reporters in the Adriatic Sea beach resort of Rimini, where he accepted an invitation from city fathers to visit for the third time since 1991, and where he has been made an honorary citizen.
“There are radical Muslims, radical Buddhists and radical Hindus,” he said, calling it “wrong to generalize and criminalise” a religious community because of the actions of some of its members.
The Dalai Lama, a winner of the Nobel Prize for peace, said “I criticize those who speak of a clash of civilizations between Islam and Western civilization. I think it is false and dangerous.”
He acknowledged that the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States and other terrorist actions were tragic and world-shaking, but suggested that for the vast majority of people, life goes on as usual.
“To tell you the truth, we did not feel all these shocks in Dharamsala,” he said. “And you in Rimini, do you feel that something has changed, or do you not lead the same life as always.
