Preface, to Symposium: The Problem of Proselytism in Southern Africa

This is my preface to "Symposium: The Problem of Proselytism in Southern Africa," Emory International Law Review 14 (2) (2000). This volume is part of a multi-year project on "The Problem of Proselytism in the New World Order," a series of conferences, workshops on volumes, focused on the growing clash within and between indigenous faiths and foreign faiths over proselytism and conversion. This volume uses the lens of proselytism to view afresh cultural, ethnic, and religious conflicts in southern Africa. A score of distinguished African scholars, of diverse political persuasions and religious convictions, assess critically the great theological and legal contests within and among various Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, and Traditional communities that have settled in southern Africa over the centuries. It was a special privilege for the Law and Religion Program at Emory to engage Professor Johan David van der Vyver to lead this study and to edit this volume.