Despite recent conflicts between religions in parts of Asia, the nation's religious leaders and academics still believe that religion can serve as a uniting force in Asia if its adherents and leaders better communicate with each other.
"Some people claimed the 21st century would be an age of cultural conflicts. Above all, what we are seeing is conflict between religions," said Alexander Chen (
"Recently, we have seen such events as the kidnapping of South Korean Christian missionaries in Afghanistan, the continuous conflicts between Muslims and Hindus in India, and the conflict between Buddhists and Muslims in southern Thailand," Chen said. "We therefore ask the question: Is religion a uniting or dividing force in Asia?"
Before responding to the question, Lu Chun-yi (
"Many of the conflicts cited have very complicated political and economic backgrounds," Lu said. "Those who are regarded by Western countries as terrorists are not necessarily terrorists."
"We have devoted ourselves to humanitarian action across the country ... and we have worked well with Catholics and Buddhists in caring for disadvantaged people," Lu said of the Presbyterian Church.
Haj Dawood Ni (
"We Muslims in Taiwan are never a majority," Ni said. "I grew up side by side with people of other religions and we all tolerate and respect each other."
"We don't see Christians -- or believers of any other religion -- as enemies. We simply aren't hostile to them and don't feel any hostility from other religions in this country," he said.
On the other hand, Benoit Vermander, a Catholic priest and chief editor of the institute's Renlai Magazine, said that "a religion must be self-critical so that its members can see beyond the boundaries of religion and country" to promote the greater good.
"Working with other religions doesn't mean giving up one's own traditions," Vermander said. "Religions in Asia can certainly be a force of reform for the continent."
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