Stephanie Duarte
Staff Writer
Promoting peace on campus and throughout the world has long been a tradition of the University of La Verne. Last summer, ULV students had a chance to explore ideas of peace for one week by traveling to Barcelona, Spain, for the 2004 Parliament of the World’s Religions on July 7.
Among the group were Kristin Alcorn, DeAngela Cooks, Gwen Franco, Sonia Gonzalez, Seth Roberts-Kinzie, Clarence Luckey, Manuel Perez, Joey Sandoval and Dane Sawyer. Professors Steve Kinzie and Richard Rose facilitated the trip.
“The conference emphasizes the sharing of religions – not conversion,” said Kinzie, adjunct professor of humanities. “Peace and justice were important subtopics of the conference beneath the sharing of religious ideas.”
Consisting of a series of workshops from worldwide religions, the conference covered a broad range of religious ceremonies and practices such as meditation. Various workshops also included inter-faith discussions with religious leaders and theologians.
“One of my favorite sessions was on Taoism and the art of war,” said Sawyer, senior religion and philosophy major. “The speaker illustrated a need for us to find balance in our lives [by] dealing with dialectics.”
Rose, associate professor of religion and philosophy, hosted a workshop called, “A Constructive Theory of Religion: Moving From Deconstructive Critique Toward Constructive Understanding of Religious Thought.” The session focused on seeing religion as a positive proponent for peace instead of an element that divides nations and triggers fighting.
Rose is not new to the Parliament of the World’s Religions. His first experience with the conference was in 1999 when the event was held in Cape Town, South Africa.
ULV students were required to attend two sessions each day and keep a journal of their experiences.
As a part of last spring’s Core 320 class, Pathways to Peace, the students were also able to gain credit for the trip. The spring class covered the five major world religions and prepared the students for the summer conference.
Located just 30 minutes from the convention site, the Autonomous University of Barcelona housed the students and faculty during the trip. In addition to the conference, some students chose to do some sight-seeing of Barcelona’s vast architecture and experience a European lifestyle.
“It was my first time to Europe, and I experienced an illuminating culture shock which I enjoyed and benefited from. Nobody had cell phones, few had cars, and people walked everywhere,” Sawyer said.
“The clubs stay open all night, never stop serving alcohol, and many don’t open until 12 or 1 a.m.”
The first Parliament of the World’s Religions gathered in 1893 in Chicago and marked the first formal gathering of religious leaders from both eastern and western traditions.
Since then, the Parliament has held gatherings in 1993 and 1996 in Chicago, 1999 in Cape Town, South Africa and 2004 in Barcelona, Spain.
The most recent conference gathered 8,000 religious leaders and lay people, according to the Parliament’s website, www.cpwr.org/2004parliament.
“A Catholic theologian, Hans Kung, said ‘There can be no world peace until you have peace between religions,’” Kinzie said. “This statement provides the framework for the Parliament of the World’s Religions and what it hopes to achieve.”
Stephanie Duarte can be reached at duartes@ulv.edu.
