On October 23rd another Internet chat in the "Bridges of Tolerance" series took place in the Consulate's American Information Resource Center. Stefan Wilkanowicz was the guest of the chat, which attracted nearly 100 participants. Questions asked by participants focused mainly on threats of religious fundamentalism, the process of ecumenism and inter-religion dialogue.
Some Krakow media representatives observed the event in AIRC and later interviewed Wilkanowicz. Wilkanowicz is editor-in-chief of "Forum" Internet magazine, vice-president of the International Auschwitz Council and president of "ZNAK" Christian Culture Foundation.
"We certainly cannot tolerate Islamic terrorists' actions. But influencing them is a different matter. It is probably almost impossible in the case of fanatics, but it is vital to influence those people who have not yet become fanatics or terrorists but incline towards those attitudes. The most successful in performing this task would be people of the same faith who however do not share the fanatics' beliefs. This is what makes a dialogue with Muslims who are open and understand humanity's common good so important" - said Stefan Wilkanowicz answering a question on whether tolerance towards Islamic extremists is possible.
The "Bridges of Tolerance" series is organized by Public Affairs Section of the US Consulate General in Krakow in co-operation with Christian Culture Foundation "ZNAK" and Onet.pl.
Links:
Bridges of Tolerance website
Polish Tolerance website
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