A Wake Forest University comparative religions professor will give a presentation on religion and politics at 7 p.m. today in Molly Shi Boren Ballroom of Oklahoma Memorial Union.

Professor Charles Kimball, an Oklahoma native, said his presentation, "Hope for the Perilous Journey Ahead: Engaging the Volatile Mix of Religion, Politics and Democracy in Christianity and Islam," will focus on religion's force in society.

He said religion has the potential to serve violent and destructive purposes.

Nothing is as evident of that fact as the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York on Sept. 11, 2001, he said.

"Religion was used to justify the destruction that happened on Sept. 11," Kimball said. "This is an example of when religion becomes volatile."

Religion, Politicso Charles Kimball, comparative religions professor at Wake Forest University, will speak on religion's force in society.o Presentation titled Hope for the Perilous Journey Ahead: Engaging the Volatile Mix of Religion, Politics and Democracy in Christianity and Islamo 7 p.m. Tuesday in Molly Shi Boren Ballroom in Oklahoma Memorial Union

Kimball, author of the book "When Religion Becomes Evil," has conducted nearly 500 TV and radio interviews since Sept. 11. He's also instructed at Furman University where he was international education director and has worked with Congress, the White House and the State Department for 20 years.

Kimball said he will focus on the two major missionary religions, Christianity and Islam, and their relationships with politics.

He said recent events, such as the reaction to caricatures of Muhammad published in a Danish newspaper and the rise of Hamas, will be discussed in his presentation.

Kimball has a doctorate in theology from Harvard University and is a Baptist minister.

He said his interest in religious studies stems from both his academic and personal life. He said his family has a rich religious background that drove him to study various religions.

Kimball has been to the Middle East more than 40 times and was one of seven Americans who met with the Ayatollah Khomeini during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis.

He said he aims to use his academic and professional stature to help people understand other religions.

Kimball said this will be his first time speaking at OU.

"It's a nice opportunity," he said. "Especially since it gives me a chance to come back to my home state."

Barbara Boyd, Religious Studies Program outreach director, said Kimball was selected to speak by the Religious Studies Program because he looks at the problems religion can create in the world.

Boyd said the department invites a prominent person of the religious studies world to speak at OU every year. She said Kimball is a busy man, but this year, OU got lucky.

"He's a very sought-after person, but he doesn't wear his ego on his shoulder," Boyd said.

Tonight, Kimball will be the special guest at a presidential roundtable dinner hosted by OU President David L. Boren.
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