VOA慢速英語:Blair Urges UN to Support Tolerance Programs

From VOA Learning English, this is the Education Report.

這里是美國之音慢速英語教育報道。

Former British prime minister Tony Blair recently urged governments around the world to support tolerance programs for young people. Mr Blair told the United Nations Security Council that such programs make it possible for students to accept people of different cultures and religions.

英國前首席托尼·布萊爾(Tony Blair)日前督促世界各國政府支持針對年輕人的包容課程。布萊爾對聯(lián)合國安理會表示，這類課程使得學生們能夠接受來不同文化和宗教的人群。

The former British leader described education in the 21 century as a security issue. He made the appeal last month at a meeting of the Security Council's Counter-Terrorism Committee.

布萊爾稱21世紀的教育是一個安全議題。他上月在安理會反恐委員會的會議上做出了上述表示。

Tony Blair served as prime minister from 1997 to 2007. He currently heads the Tony Blair Faith Foundation. The group seeks to help prevent prejudice, conflict and extremism. It operates tolerance programs in more than 1,000 schools worldwide.

布萊爾于1997年到2007年期間擔任英國首相。目前他領(lǐng)導著托尼·布萊爾信仰基金會。該組織尋求幫助預防偏見、沖突和極端主義，并在全球1000多所學校開設(shè)了包容課程。

Mr Blair said the world faces extremism based on what he called "a perversion of religious belief." He said this way of thinking abuses religion to justify violence against innocent civilians.

布萊爾表示，全球面臨著基于他所謂的“曲解宗教信仰”的恐怖主義。他說，這種思維方式濫用宗教為針對無辜平民的暴力行為辯解。

The former prime minister said people like to belong to something. And that belonging can provide a sense of identity. But he believes that misguided sense of belonging can make people think of others who are different as a potency. He said the wide contacts of today deepen and add greatly to extremism, because people now meet many others who differ from themselves.

布萊爾說，人們喜歡歸屬于一些信仰，這種歸屬感能夠提供一種認同感。但他認為，這種被誤導的歸屬感會讓人們將與自己(信仰)不同的人視為敵人。他說，如今社會聯(lián)系更加廣泛，也深化和加劇了極端主義。因為現(xiàn)在人們能見到了更多與自己不同的人。

"The challenge then is to show our young people, who are vulnerable to appeals from terrorists, that there is a better way to live your life, a better path to having your voice heard, a more meaningful way to engage with the world. And we must address the extremists' funding and support so that they have less ability to teach and promote hate, persecution and murder," said Blair.

布萊爾說，“隨之而來的挑戰(zhàn)就是向容易受到恐怖分子言論影響的年輕一代表明，有一種更好的方式來過你生活，有一種更好的途徑讓你的意見被大家所聽見，有一種更有意義的方式與世界溝通。我們必須解決掉恐怖分子的資助和支持，這樣他們鼓動仇恨、迫害和謀殺的能力就會降低。”

He also said the Tony Blair Faith Foundation has operated its school programs for 4 years. This Face to Faith program as it is called now reaches 50,000 students between the ages of 12 and 17. Some of the students live in western countries, such as Australia, Canada, Italy and the United States. Others live in Egypt, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Pakistan and Philippines.

他還表示，托尼·布萊爾信仰基金會運作該課程已達4年之久。這一他們自稱為“從表到里(Face to Faith)”的課程目前影響了5000名年齡在12到17歲的學生。這些學生有些住在西方國家，如澳大利亞、加拿大、意大利和美國。其他人居住埃及、印度、印度尼西亞、約旦、巴基斯坦和菲律賓。

Mr Blair said the students learn the skills needed to prevent conflict by breaking down religious and cultural misunderstandings. He says Face to Faith teaches what he calls "religious literacy." Basically, it works, he said, they love it and it changes their minds and the mindsets.

布萊爾表示，這些學生們學習了一些通過打破宗教和文化誤解預防沖突的技巧。他說，從表到里(Face to Faith)課程講授他所謂的“宗教素養(yǎng)。” 他說基本上該課程行之有效，學生們喜歡這一課程，而該課程也改變了他們的思想和心態(tài)。

He said many tolerance programs exist, but Mr Blair urged governments to start many more.

他說，現(xiàn)在有很多包容課程存在，但布萊爾督促各國政府開設(shè)更多這類課程。

"Let the young people in your country experience firsthand an opportunity to learn about the world and to form a relationship with someone far away who may not look like them, but for whom, once they have been schooled in cross-cultural education, they may see themselves in," said Blair.

布萊爾說，“讓你國家的年輕人親身體驗了解世界并和遠方可能不同于自己的人結(jié)識的這么一個機會。但對他們來說，一旦他們經(jīng)歷這一跨文化教育的教育，他們就會更了解自己。”

And he said his Foundation is willing to work in any country that invites it.

布萊爾還表示，他的基金會愿意到任何邀請它的國家去運作。