30 people participated in the first Family conference in Scotland as part of the Global Peace Festival build up. Entitled "What role does the family play in today's world", and held in Edinburgh, there were four key speakers representing the Unificationist, Christian and Moslem faiths.
Dr Hasan Beg,consultant at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary,then gave a paper on the role of the family from a Moslem perspective and reiterated that the family is the fundamental building block of the community and nation and also talked about the tradition of arranged marriages.
Rev Brian Cooper,retired Baptist minister,discussed that in the context of religion,the fundamentals of the family are essential for society and went on to demonstrate the effects of wars on family suffering and how governments need to work towards removing family poverty in society.
Imam Dimashqiah,from Potterow Mosque,Edinburgh, gave the concluding speech and emphasised how man is a combination of both spiritual and physical elements and how now in current society the spiritual aspect has been neglected and needs to be restored.
Questions and answers were then taken from the audience and the programme concluded with a video presentation of Dr Hyun Jin Moon's words of encouragement.