Inter-Religious Youth Group Celebrates Open Debate

August 13, 2008

Author: Henrik Hansson

Source: World Council of Churches

http://www.oikoumene.org/en/news/news-management/eng/a/article/1722/inter-religious-youth-gro.html

During a youth interfaith seminar outside Geneva last month some participants realized the religious differences are usually smaller than imagined and cultural differences are often more significant than expected.

During three weeks in July 2008, 22 young people from across 4 continents and 3 religions gathered in the Ecumenical Institute in Bossey, right outside Geneva, to share their thoughts, meals and prejudices with each other. The seminar was sponsored by the World Council of Churches.

"I have realized I have much more in common with a Christian from Palestine than [with] a Muslim from the West" - , said Razan Abd el Haque, a Muslim from Jordan, when asked what she would take back home from the seminar. "The differences are mainly cultural, not religious."