For David Biale, religion is a force for renewal, hope and fellowship. But its dark side -- intolerance -- always lurks.

With these thoughts in mind, Biale, the director of Jewish studies at UC Davis, traveled to Serbia for a week in September where he talked about religious tolerance and ethnic conflict.

In Serbia, the most common religion is Serbian Orthodox, followed by Islam, Roman Catholic and Protestant. Members of all of these groups turned out for Biale's talks. The U.S. State Department, which sponsored the trip, is working to foster respect for human rights in the region.

"The State Department has been involved in a very positive way with promoting tolerance, equality and human rights in Serbia," said Biale, whose ancestral origins are in Eastern Europe.

Biale gave three lectures to human rights groups that have received grants from the State Department and two to audiences at the University of Belgrade and the American Cultural Center in the city of Nis. He covered a range of topics, including the history of religious tolerance and ethnic diversity in the United States.

America, Biale says, is arguably the most religious Western democracy, a feature he ascribes to its origins in religious freedom and the constitutional separation of church and state.

"This unique circumstance has protected religions so they could flourish in America," he said. "Highly religious people came here looking for religious freedoms."

In Serbia in recent years, the country has suffered from religious and ethnic conflict. It is a wounded land in need of healing, he said.

Open dialogue

With a delicate topic in a fragile setting, Biale's tone was understated. "I felt it was important not to dictate to them as the American who tells them what to do," he said. "Rather, we talked and shared our experiences, concerns, dreams, expectations and desires."

He added, "The idea was to begin a dialogue that would continue long after I left."

Along with many hard but "heartfelt" questions, Biale said he found "enthusiasm" in his audiences for more tolerance toward ethnic diversity and religion. Serbia has many obstacles to overcome in this regard, but it made him optimistic to see people of varying religions and backgrounds talking to each other after his sessions.

Much depends on how one interprets one's own religion and then acts on it, he said. "Every religion has its intolerant and tolerant tendencies."

In Serbia, he said, a "huge resurgence" among the Serbian orthodox church could be "problematic." This resulted in an attempt to ban the teaching of Charles Darwin, the founder of the theory of evolution. The bid was struck down, but serves as a poignant example of fundamentalism surfacing in Serbia, Biale said.

To illustrate his points, he used examples from his own life where religious togetherness was fostered. The former director of the Center for Jewish Studies at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, Biale described a place where people of different faiths interacted.

"It is a thriving example of what can happen when an atmosphere of open dialogue and exploration is nurtured," he said.

In the days after 9/11, Biale recalled how the Jewish Family and Children Services Agency in the East Bay expressed solidarity with local Afghan refugees at their mosque.

"They were Muslims and rather suspicious about a Jewish organization," said Biale, who is the president of the agency. "In the end, we were brought closer by our respect for one another and hope for a peaceful future."

He said the Serbian people are faced with "historical baggage" in religious and ethnic matters, issues he believes can be overcome. In trying to understand why conflict erupted in the 1990s, Biale says politicians, such as Slobadan Milosevic, "manipulated" those age-old fears and hatreds.

Today, says Biale, most Serbians recognize they were led astray. "People despise him," Biale said of Milosevic, the former Yugoslavian president.

On top of this, Biale explained, when the yoke of communism was thrown off in the wake of the Cold War, the country of Serbia did not enjoy a full revolution. Many of the old power brokers are still in charge even today, he added.

Celebrating diversity

Biale says America is an example -- though not a perfect one -- of religious and ethnic progress. "In America the last 30 years we have moved from tolerating diversity to celebrating diversity," he said. Still, he added, "we have to be very modest in our claims."

In a country like America, religious renewals or "awakenings" are cyclical, Biale said, noting that the last one started in the 1970s. Now it is fashionable for presidential candidates to craft religious images for themselves while campaigning. "This wasn't done 30 years ago," he said.

More than ever, Biale sees the religious divide in the United States between the religious-minded and the secularists, rather than one religion against another.

Culture plays a significant role in religion, he said. That topic is covered in his book published last year, Cultures of the Jews: A New History, a 1,232-page anthology that won a 2003 National Jewish Book Award.

Next, Biale would like to travel to Bosnia, another war-torn country rebounding from years of religious and ethnic wars. "There's work to be done there, too," he said.