Source: The Columbus Dispatch

On August 12, 2003 The Columbus Dispatch reported that "Xavier University professor Paul Knitter says religion is meant to foster peace, not violence... 'By the government insisting that religion cannot really mix with politics, that religion has nothing to say to the state, this has led to the possibility that the state can make use of religion for its own purposes,'... Religion should strive not only to end war, Knitter said, but also to foster a world in which, 'there is justice, there is equity, there is a sharing of the goods of this Earth.' Interreligious efforts would be aimed at easing suffering, he said." Knitter was the keynote speaker a the annual conference of the North American Interfaith Network, held at Ohio State University.