All of us should be aware of the existence of an event called the "Parliament of the World's Religions." After all, it originated in Illinois.
The first "World's Parliament of Religions" took place Sept. 11-27, 1893, in Chicago, during the great world's fair called the World's Columbian Exposition. According to Wikipedia, "Today it is recognized as the occasion of the birth of formal interreligious dialogue worldwide."
The Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions organized a successor event which was held in Chicago in August-September 1993. I was among the approximately 8,000 participants.
You may wonder about the name "parliament" and want to ask whether such a diverse group can actually enact laws which are binding upon various religions. The short answer is "No." A more nuanced answer is attained by considering the effort, associated most of all with Catholic Father Hans Kung, to establish a "global ethic": that is, a set of ethical principles which would be agreed upon by all the peoples of the world. A "global ethic" was issued by the 1993 Parliament; the text can be found at religioustolerance.org/parliame.htm.
There were numerous educational events at the 1993 Parliament. I particularly remember signing up for the program "What Is Wicca?" (nature religion, also known as paganism), and a new meeting room had to be found because six times as many people as the capacity of the room showed up. You might say that the Parliament was a buffet at which one could sample any number of religious traditions which one might consider "exotic."
I was very happy to see Father Kung at the Parliament. I have a short list of other notable religious leaders whom I remember seeing there: Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, the Dalai Lama and Louis Farrakhan. I also remember Arlo Guthrie, although his role was entertainment rather than religious expertise.
Since the 1993 event, Parliaments have been held in Cape Town (1999), Barcelona (2004), and Melbourne (2009).
I was surprised to learn that the 2015 Parliament (Oct. 15-19) will be held in Salt Lake City. My surprise is that the Parliament would be held in a city which is strongly identified with one religion, Mormonism. This is akin to hosting such an event in Rome or Mecca. (Any city is free to submit a bid to host a Parliament; bids are now being accepted for 2017. (See parliamentofreligions.org.)
Our area is tied with the history of Mormonism. In the territory of the Peoria diocese, in Carthage, Joseph Smith, the founder of the Latter-day Saints, was killed by a mob at the jail where he was being held in 1844. The nearby town of Nauvoo, on the Mississippi River, is likewise significant to Mormonism; it was the Mormons' largest settlement before the religious community headed west.
Most Christians, of course, find it very challenging to engage in theological dialogue with Mormons, since the Mormon style of Christianity makes a number of "exclusive truth claims" which are quite a contrast to Christianity as it has been lived for centuries.
Anyway, I do plan to go to the Parliament in Salt Lake City. And of course, I will report in these pages about what I experience there.
We remember the words of Hans Kung: "There will be peace on earth when there is peace among the world religions. … No world peace without peace among religions; no peace among religions without dialogue between religions."