Countering Religious Extremes

​A nationally renowned author, activist, speaker and peace advocate, Dr. David Carlson seeks to create solidarity and bonds of peace among peoples of faith and others in an ongoing campaign to work together to advocate for world peace. Through his frequent speaking engagements and prolific writings-both in book and article formats, Dr. Carlson continues to forge a spiritual friendship movement that transcends religious boundaries to witness for peace while offering a meaningful response to religious violence. Dr. Carlson's message of reconciliation and understanding through interfaith dialogue speaks to the scores of people who desire to know followers of other religions in their quest to live in a more peaceful world.

Based on the universal belief that the neighbor has sacred value, Dr. Carlson harnesses the power of the spiritual friendship movement between Muslims and Christians to quell suspicion and hostility and instead encourage people of diverse walks of life to come together with humility and grace. Against the backdrop of violent extremism, most notably perpetrated by ISIS/ISIL and other more recent terrorist groups, Dr. Carlson writes and speaks on the topic of collectively grieving whenever our American Muslim neighbors are treated with suspicion and even hatred, especially in the aftermath of the tragedy of 9/11 and more recent terrorist incidents. In his eloquent prayer offerings and thoughtful radio and TV interviews, Dr. Carlson urges against anti-Muslim sentiment and hate-filled acts in our country. Instead he suggests we respond to the divine in others so we can build bonds of trust and mutual respect among peoples of different faiths and belief systems.
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As exemplified in his 2011 book, Peace Be with You: Monastic Wisdom for a Terror-Filled World, Dr. Carlson advocates for discovering a new yet ancient basis for genuine peace between Christianity and other religions - especially Islam. "It is time for Christians to use their power to change the conversation and to ponder Jesus' command to treat the stranger as our neighbor and to treat our neighbor not only as ourselves, but as God in our midst," Dr. Carlson writes in his trailblazing book.
An author and religious studies professor at Franklin College - an Indiana liberal arts college, Dr. Carlson continues to underscore this same theme of interfaith dialogue and religious comity in his recently released nonfiction book, Countering Religious Extremism: The Healing Power of Spiritual Friendships, which was published in April 2017.  

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