After contrasting the search for global harmony among nations at U.N. headquarters in New York City with the relative tone-deafness of religions to one another, Swing awoke one morning to dedicate the rest of his life to creating something like a United Nations of religions. In the past four years, he has presented his idea to every group and individual who will listen. His three-month odyssey in the winter of 1996 took him to the doorsteps of some of the world's most respected religious leaders, thinkers, and philosophers, including the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Coptic Pope, the Dalai Lama, the Grand Mufti, the German philosopher Hans Kung, Mother Theresa, and the Shankaracharya of Kancheepuram. Most were wholeheartedly in favor of his proposition, but not all. Catholic leaders in Rome, Unitarians, and fundamentalist Christians particularly were edgy, citing fears of an appearance of syncretism among traditions, a disinclination to include spiritual movements, and a disavowal of any faith other than Christianity as the stairway to heaven.
Swing is undaunted by skepticism or outright negativity.
This past summer he hosted a week-long conference at Stanford University for two hundred delegates selected from one hundred historic religions and spiritual movements, many of whom he had met on his travels. Participants included a Buddhist peace and justice activist from Bangkok, a Hindu convert from Brooklyn working with abandoned children and AIDS sufferers, Sikh and Zoroastrian leaders from India, and the Anglican Church's observer at the United Nations. Assisting in the conference organization was David Cooperrider, an associate professor at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Cooperrider specializes in large group facilitation and keeps his eyes open for organizations pioneering new forms of human cooperation. When he read about Swing's proposal in the Cleveland Plain Dealer , he called and offered his services.