The 11th annual World Religions Conference (WRC) is taking place at the Cochrane RancheHouse on Wednesday, April 10.
The topic of the conference is “Universal Compassion – The Core Human Value.”
The WRC is sponsored and organized by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at, an international Muslim community, and has been taking place in Canada for more than 35 years.
The first Cochrane conference took place in March of 2007.
Attendees can expect to listen to a panel of religious scholars of Judaism, Christianity, Bahá'í faith, and even atheism.
“It is not a religious event, as a matter of fact, these conferences are meant to encourage respectful dialogue among all segments of society,” said Malik Agyemang, communications representative for Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at.
“It is our hope that [guests] will witness [a] peaceful exchange of ideas and realize there is much more commonalities in various theologies and very few differences.”
The panel includes scholars David Lertzman, Leslie Davies, Michael Bopp, Caroline Russell-King and Imam Zahid Aabid.
The organizers hope to promote inter-faith discussion not only from the panel but those in the audience as well.
These deliberations, as they are based on a mutual respect for each other's differences, are an example to all who attend, and a valuable lesson of unity and accepting others,” said Agyemang.
“The guests [will] feel an atmosphere of mutual respect and learning; guests will feel comfortable asking questions which are difficult to ask otherwise.”
The event is free and open to everyone although attendees are encouraged to register online before the event to guarantee entry.
Registration can be done at islamevents.ca.
