2010 Ikeda Forum: Developing the Democratic Spirit

The Ikeda Center's seventh annual Ikeda Forum for Intercultural Dialogue—called "This Noble Experiment: Developing the Democratic Spirit"—explored democracy not as a form of government but, in Daisaku Ikeda's words, "as a way of life whose purpose is to enable people to achieve spiritual autonomy, live in mutual respect, and enjoy happiness."The day's six presenters were: poet LR Berger, the Ikeda Center's Virginia Benson, Professor Sarah Wider of Colgate University, Professor Fernando Reimers of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Professor Anita Patterson of Boston University, and Vincent Harding, Professor Emeritus of Religion and Social Change at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver, Colorado, and co-founder and chairperson, the Veterans of Hope Project.