Amid the current international turmoil, many Muslims and Christians on campus are trying to close the gap between their cultures -- with the help of 1997 Nobel Peace Prize nominee Bill Baker.
Baker -- who spoke to a crowd of about 125 people -- was invited by the Muslim Students Association as guest lecturer of the Islam Awareness Week's final event.
The lecture, entitled "More in Common Than You Think," focused on the similarities between Islam and Christianity, as well as on the possibility of "building bridges of understanding" between the two religions, Baker said.
"Because we are here [at Penn], we have a responsibility to work with one another toward peace," MSA President and Wharton and College junior Muhammed Mekki said.
Baker began by saying that Islam and Christianity together count among their devotees more than half of the world population, and that an understanding between them could potentially help resolve other ongoing conflicts around the globe.
"There should never be a pretext for Muslims and Christians to go to war ever again," Baker said. "Now more than ever it is imperative that we build a bridge between Muslims and Christians... because we are in the nuclear age. It's a time to start emphasizing connection."
Baker said that his main concern now is a "nuclear confrontation beginning in the disguise of religion."
Therefore, he said, people must be educated in the teachings of both religions.
To support his idea that Muslims and Christians indeed share common ground, Baker pointed to the teachings imparted in both the Bible and the Quran, such as justice, tolerance and the concept of creation by God.
Baker said that he considered ignorance of Islam to be a cause of the current widespread animosity between the two religions.
"Ignorance is the enemy of truth," he said. "As long as you are ignorant, you can be manipulated."
However, there was some controversy surrounding Baker's lecture. According to the Zionist Organization of America, Baker -- founder and president of Christians and Muslims for Peace, as well as an ordained Christian minister -- holds anti-Semitic views.
Members of the organization were handing out flyers associating Baker with neo-Nazism. Those handing out flyers, however, would not comment on the organization's position.
The speaker's alleged anti-Semitic position "is irrelevant to the discussion," Mekki said. "There can be misunderstandings, but criticism must be raised in a civilized manner."
Wharton junior Joey Johnsen jumped up on a chair at the event to raise his criticism.
"Mr. Baker did not present true Christianity," Johnsen said.
Others did not agree with Baker's views on conflicts springing from religious divergence.
"It's important to recognize that conflicts in the world are not based on religion," College senior Sarah Matthews said. "Muslims and Christians cannot be reconciled as a religion -- but surely they can as people."
Baker's hope for connecting Islam and Christianity was upheld by some attendees.
"They are separate religions, but I wish people would not focus on the distinctions," College sophomore Sabah Khan said. "The underlying theme is the same -- that was the point of [the discussion], and that people are divided is unfortunate."
