S-13. The Templeton Prize

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Hello. I'm Ruby Jones.

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And I'm Marina Santee. Welcome to Spotlight. This programme uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.

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"Please welcome the winner of the Templeton Prize 2007 Charles Taylor."

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"I want to say how deeply honoured I am. To have my work recognised fills me with joy and humbleness."

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In today's Spotlight we tell about Charles Taylor. We find out why he won a prize. But first we tell more about the Templeton Prize. What is it? And how was this award created?

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Sir John Templeton is the man who had the idea for the Templeton Prize. He is a famous businessman and philanthropist. A philanthropist is a wealthy person who gives money and aid to help others. But no one knew John Templeton would become so wealthy or famous. He was born in a small farming community in Tennessee, the United States.

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John decided to try and get a good education. He was accepted at Yale - one of the top universities in the United States. And he worked to support himself while he was studying there.

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Finally, John decided to go into business. He took big risks. And he was very successful. After some time, John moved to the Bahamas. And he became a naturalised citizen of the United Kingdom. John enjoyed his work. But he was not only interested in business. He also loved helping other people. And he had a deep desire to learn more about God. In 1972, John started his first big philanthropic project - The Templeton Prize. This prize is an award for people who help to develop religious and spiritual understanding. But this was not his only project. He also gave money and aid to many other philanthropic projects. So, in 1987, the Queen of England knighted him - she gave him the title 'Sir'.

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Although Sir John supports many projects, the Templeton Prize will always be important to him. In particular, Sir John hopes to find links between religion and science. He understands that great progress is made through research. And he believes that people should research God too, like people research medicine and technology. However, many scientists do not believe that religion and science can exist together. In the west, most scientists do not consider religion at all.

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Sir Templeton hopes his prize can help to change this. The Templeton Prize is the largest monetary award in the world for an individual - one and a half million dollars. The value is always more than Nobel Prizes. This is to show how important the subject is. Sir John Templeton does not choose the winner. Instead, an independent group of judges choose the winner. Both judges and winners of this award have been from all the world's major religions - Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Judaism and Buddhism.

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Some of the past winners include Reverend Doctor Kyung-Chik Han, Baba Amte, and Doctor Inamullah Khan. Reverend Kyung Chik-Han was a Christian minister in South Korea. He worked to help refugees. Baba Amte was a wealthy Hindu lawyer in India. He left his job to help the poor. Dr. Inamullah Khan founded the Modern World Muslim Congress in Pakistan. He worked to encourage peace between Christians, Muslims and Jews. To receive the Templeton Prize is a great honour. And the award is presented by Prince Philip in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace, the United Kingdom.

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This year's winner, Charles Taylor is a Canadian university professor and philosopher. He investigates questions about human existence, truth, knowledge, and morals. He is seventy-five years old. And for the last forty years, he has worked hard on his projects. He wants to help people understand how religious and spiritual ideas are important to the world. Professor Taylor believes that social scientists and historians in the West are blind about the importance of religion:

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"They try to explain everything humans do by talking about economic issues, political issues, [and people's] need for power. These things are important. But they leave out what I call the spiritual element."

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Charles Taylor feels that ideas about human behaviour are not complete unless they include this 'spiritual element'. These incomplete ideas affect the culture in the west. They are spread by television and newspaper reporters. And they greatly influence the opinions of educated people. Most cultures in the West do not feel the need to consider God or religion in politics. They are secularists. Often secularists feel that religion causes many problems in the world.

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And secularism considers itself to be completely reasonable. Some secularists feel that the violence and war of the twentieth century was not caused by people like them. They think that not having religious beliefs makes them open-minded. And they feel this makes their ideas better.

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Professor Taylor says that these people are not considering the facts. Many wars of the twentieth century were started by people that were against religion. He says that secularists need to try to understand people with religious beliefs.

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But he says that religious people also need to examine themselves. They may think they are truly good. And that they would never do anything bad. But they forget about the times when people used religion to cause harm.

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Professor Taylor argues that no one is free from the desires of human nature - not secularists and not religious people. He talks about two particular traps of human nature.

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The first trap is the temptation to blame. Many people blame another group of people for all their problems in life. This is dangerous because people do not examine themselves. They do not look at their own ways. It is easier to blame someone else. Then people do not have to make an effort to change themselves.

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The second trap is for people to think they are pure - because they use their power to fight what they believe is evil. But maybe these people are reacting too quickly. Professor Taylor feels it is very important to try and understand other people, instead of just fighting them. Fighting often leads to more problems.

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Professor Taylor is very thankful for this award. He will continue to encourage people to examine themselves - to find a better way. And now he can expand his work. He can support other philosophers who are working on similar projects. He said:

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"I feel satisfied that this whole area of [study] will be recognized through this prize. I am so thankful to Sir John and the Templeton Foundation."

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The writer and producer of today's programme was Rachel Hobson. All quotes were adapted for radio. The voices you heard were from the United States and the United Kingdom. Spotlight's email address is radio @ english.net. Our website is at www . radio . english . net. This programme is called 'The Templeton Prize'.