Amazingly some 15 people turned up for my talk at the University of Hertfordshire’s chaplaincy yesterday afternoon. It was the first of a first series of activities at the university intended to stimulate inter-faith dialogue on campus.

The topic I choose to speak on was A world-devouring fire: religious extremism and what we might do about it. The phrase “a world-devouring fire” is one that Baha’u'llah uses to warn about the dangers of religious fanaticism. I thought it would be good to explore our understanding of religious extremism - and it turns out to be rather more complex that one might at first suppose.

For example, in some people’s eyes I am an extremist because I am fasting and because I don’t drink alcohol. The late and much missed Rabbi Hugo Gryn, a man who had been through the concentration camps and who had lost most (if not all) of his family in the Holocaust, thought that all religious believers should be fundamentalists - utterly committed to the fundamental teachings of their faiths. In those terms, I am an extremist, a fundamentalist. If I were faced with that most extreme of challenges - your faith or your life - I hope that I would take that most extreme of actions and give up my life. Baha’i friends of mine in the UK have family members who have made that extreme choice.

But the kind of world-devouring fire that Baha’u'llah warned about doesn’t come just from extreme religious devotion, I think. There have to be some other factors, such as:

Lal Fernando has drawn my attention to another useful website, Spiritual Education. The site gives access to lesson plans on spiritual education for a wide age range, from age 5 to adult. The lesson plans, which come in the form of a series of downloadable books, are designed for use by parents and educators of children with little or no formal training.

This site is dedicated to providing materials for the education of tomorrow’s peacemakers - our children. The lesson plans on this site are being used by parents and educators all over the world.

The lesson plans and supplementary materials on this site are a response to a need for all-inclusive non-sectarian spiritual and moral education programs. Bringing children and parents from diverse religious and ethnic backgrounds together to learn about religion in a holistic manner fosters mutual trust, promotes community building, and helps replace fear and fanaticism with empathy and cooperation.

The lesson plans are still being developed and I’m sure the wonderful people who are working on this excellent project would welcome our input.

As one user from Australia has commented:

“The materials for children’s spiritual education are practical, easy to follow, and professionally presented …”

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