Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The 2014 Slomoff Symposium: Bridging Global Religious Divides Conference Report, April 7- 8, 2014, Center For Peace, Democracy, And Development, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Center for Peace, Democracy and Development Publications

Religion has quickly proven itself the defining conflict issue of the Twenty-First Century. Religion and conflict are frequently linked in popular discourse, yet from the beginning, religions have typically held peacemaking as a central value and obligation to their members. This ancient tension between religion as a vehicle of peace and religion as a source of division has taken on global dimensions in recent decades, particularly across a belt of countries roughly crossed by the Tenth Parallel, where Islam and Christianity meet, but in many other parts of the world as well, including Boston. Increasingly, conflict resolution activities must better …