Makronesia.id – A Doctor Honoris Causa degree in Religion was awarded to Princess Cheryl Halpern by the ISSTO in recognition for her dedication to advancing interfaith harmony and tolerance. In her remarks thanking the Chancellor and the members of the Faculty for the honorary doctorate, Princess Cheryl acknowledged her parents who were religious leaders and explained, “Who I am is largely a reflection of what I learned in the home in which I was brought up. Our home was open to people from all walks of life and where respect for diverse cultures and religions was the norm. It was in this home that I was exposed to the universality of the Golden Rule, also known as the Ethic of Reciprocity, ‘Do unto others as you would want done to yourself.’ This universal tenet is a divine commandment that embraces the values of loving and doing.”
Princess Cheryl’s commitment to this ecumenical precept provided the motivation for her founding of the Visions of Peace Initiative with a mission to promote the Golden Rule. Princess Cheryl continued, “It is incumbent upon each of us to recognize that we have the responsibility to care for each other and to do for each other regardless of gender, race or religious beliefs. By behaving according to the principle of the Golden Rule we are sanctifying God, and in so doing we are also sanctifying ourselves.”
Princess Cheryl also holds an honorary doctorate in education in recognition of the multiple educational programs that she developed and supported in Africa, the Middle East , the United States and including the Visions of Peace Initiative that she co- founded in 2017 in Indonesia.
Princess Cheryl expressed her personal dedication and explained, “For me, I chose to commit myself to encouraging empathy and challenging intolerance and prejudice through education. I have used every platform that has been available to me, including radio, tv, print, film and the arts to teach the Golden Rule and to promote a vision of a more peaceful and civil society. Every day presents an opportunity to listen, to learn and to engage respectfully with each other. Through their participation in the Visions of Peace Initiative’s programs, Indonesian youth, aged 5 to 18, have learned to embrace the Golden Rule as the universal value of interfaith tolerance and social civility.”
Since the establishment of the Visions of Peace Initiative, schools, orphanages, and social organizations, representing public, private and religious affiliations as well as diverse ethnic denominations, have participated in the more than 200 Visions of Peace Initiative’s events and programs. By encouraging youth to share their concerns and express their visions for a peaceful tomorrow through the art modality of their choice, the Visions of Peace Initiative has helped them to identify areas of alienation and distrust and has fostered more open, honest, and tolerant attitudes from the participants.
A ‘World Peace Award’ was also awarded to Princess Cheryl Halpern on May 29th by the Universitas Islam As-Syafi’iyah, “for her incredible contribution to peace and tolerance in the world” and recommended her for the Nobel Peace Prize. This recommendation followed a similar Nobel Peace Prize nomination that was made by the Jember Islamic University earlier this year.
Humbled, Princess Cheryl concluded, “As I stand here today, I reaffirm my commitment to educating the younger generation, here and around the world, to the principle of the Golden Rule and the Ethic of Reciprocity. May we be blessed to work together and make the vision of a peaceful tomorrow a reality.”
