Can Religious Leaders Bring Peace to the Middle East?

In the Middle East, the tensions between India and Pakistan and the delivery of 20,000 more American troops to a Taliban-controlled Afghanistan are just three examples of trouble spots in the world whose maladies emanate from religious intolerance and outright malevolence.

The clashes, steeped in thousands of years of religious conflict, are already casting a pall over the upcoming presidency of Barack Obama, threatening to pull him into a variety of religious conflicts that has been plaguing American foreign policy for decades.

But in regions so dramatically divided along religious lines, it logically follows that it’s that religious leaders – not diplomats – would be the most effective brokers of peace. A worldwide organization called the Elijah Interfaith Institute promotes that very idea, suggesting that religious leaders of the world should set aside their ideological differences and tackle the issue of world peace. In his book The Thirteenth Apostle, Langdon Street Press (www.arkadybooks.com) researcher and author Arkady Povzikov reveals the potential for success in this worldwide vision. His controversial theories are certain to rattle the churches, temples and synagogues of the world’s religions, if for any other reason, they make sense.

Christians tend to think that if only Islam would shed its more radical elements and gravitate to a more moderate position, perhaps the major problems of the world could be solved.

"The problem, of course, is that Christians can be radical too," Povzikov said.

Those who practice other religions have their own lists of how the world would be a perfect place if the other religions would fall in line behind theirs.

"Everybody thinks their religion is the One," Povzikov said. "But if the religions of the world would agree to tackle serious world problems together, you could bring millions of hearts, hands and minds together to find a solution."

Povzikov thinks that this could happen, and explores the topic in his book. After he recently finished his book, he was surprised to find out that a group exists that proposes religions find common ground to solve worldwide problems. It is made up of more than 40 religious leaders in 15 countries representing Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jewish and Muslim faiths gathered to seek world unity and peace. The name of that group is “The Elijah Interfaith Group,” and while Povzikov supports the ideals and goals of the group, he is not an official member.

"I was stunned when I found out a group was actually doing what I had envisioned, but the problem remains that too few people know about it," he said.

In his book, Povzikov layers a fictional story over a foundation of truths, similar in style to the DaVinci Code. The truths concern world religions, Russia as it existed before the Soviet Union and as it exists today, and a quest to find the truth about the heritage of his main character. His book uncovers a jarring world secret through loss, love and human experience, and weaves an intricate storyline.

"Any true campaign for peace in many o the troubled regions of the world must include a seat at the table for religious leaders, but it cannot be a stage for them to spout the same old demagoguery and hatred,” Povzikov said. “We must remember that it is only the extremists who advocate violence, and that the millions of followers of Islam and other non-Christian religions favor peaceful coexistence to violence and chaos. If we can gather leaders from both the spiritual and political elements of these countries, we may have the first real chance for peace that these regions have seen in a thousand years."

Povzikov was born in Leningrad in the former Soviet Union. After studying economics, he immigrated to Canada in 1973. After graduating from high school and the Industrial College he served in the Soviet Army. In1987 Arkady began writing his first novel Goodbye to the Nevsky, a fiction based novel that told the story of his own unique experiences in life, and it was published in 1991. Arkady's second novel The Purpose was published in 2005. His third and most recent novel The Thirteenth Apostle was published in May 2008 through Langdon Street Press.