JOHN DANFORTH IN CT
(Friday) "Danforth said the conflicts of the 21st century are going to be different from a generation ago."
 
"'We've gotten beyond conflicts between nations and we've gotten beyond basically the arrangement of the world in which the United Nations operated in the past. Many of the conflicts now are not between nations, they are between belief systems.

"'It could be that all 191 of the members of the United Nations would agree on something. Yet if you had virtually any number of people who believe that it was their religious calling to strap bombs to their bodies and blow up innocent civilians, we would have a chaotic world situation.

"'If you believe that the role of religion is to monopolize all truth and therefore conduct jihad or crusade depending on how you see yourself against the rest of the world, then we have got serious problems. On the other hand, the meaning of the word religion, the root, comes from the word ligament. To hold things together. If you believe that the role of religion is to hold things together, to hold diverse interests together, and different kinds of people together, and do so with a degree of tolerance and a degree of humility about your own limitations, that's an entirely different understanding of religion. It depends on how you see your faith.'"
 
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