Pepperdine Libraries to Host Panel Discussion on Professor John Barton’s New Book, Better Religion

The Pepperdine Center for Faith and Learning, in partnership with Pepperdine Libraries, will sponsor a panel discussion at 12 noon on Friday, February 3, to celebrate the publication of the new book, Better Religion: A Primer for Interreligious Peacebuilding, by John D. Barton, professor of teaching of religion at Seaver College and director of the Center for Faith and Learning. The event will be held in the Surfboard Room of the Payson Library and is free and open to the public. 

In his new book, Barton argues that for better or worse, religion will play a major role in shaping the course of humanity throughout the 21^st century, and that for religion’s “better” to be realized, interreligious peacebuilding must honor and directly engage religious differences while allowing each person to remain true to their own deepest convictions. 

Barton will present a brief summary of his book and then invite a discussion of issues of global religious diversity by Rachel Gould, assistant professor of English at Seaver College; Sukhsimranjit Singh, the Judge Danny Weinstein Managing Director of the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at the Caruso School of Law; and Michal Meulenberg, adjunct professor of religion at Seaver College. The panel will be moderated by Jennifer A. Smith, associate director of the Center for Faith and Learning and associate professor of English at Seaver College. 

The discussion will be followed by a reception.