Peace King

Dr. Charles Selengut

Professor of Religious Studies, Drew University, USA

Rev. Sun Myung Moon’s leadership in sponsoring and organizing international and inter-religious encounters, conferences and dialogues has had a profound impact upon all who participate. I learned that interreligious encounters change perceptions, and encountering believers from other faiths in frankness and honesty, matters.

At conferences in Cordoba, Spain, and in other places I, an observant Jew, met many Muslim scholars. We knew of the larger pain of the two communities, but what joy I experienced in learning of our often similar religious activities and perceptions! The exciting and at times confusing multiplicity within the Islamic religious culture paralleled the intensity of debate and engagement in my Jewish experience. There was no way Islam could now be simply "the other."

We talked and still talk with openness. We do not always concur, but these are peers and, well, friends are allowed to disagree.

8 THE SPIRITUAL LEADER