j. gordon melton. we've met him before, he was defending j.z. knight, well not defending, he'd studied her and he spoke about some of her experiments. but he is a premier historian of religion; he's written the encyclopedia of religion and an interesting point, this man is an extremely devout conservative methodist minister. and yet, he has devoted almost his entire life to chronicling other people's beliefs, and with great respect. i learned so much from the man. anyway he just is going to, from the mouth of an expert, explain why it is important to have an appreciation for religious diversity. j. gordon melton. in our quest to understand the importance of the religious diversity, we're at the chicago theological seminary on the university of chicago campus and with us is dr. j. gordon melton the director of the institute for the study of america religion. now gordon could you tell us how important it's really is to understand and appreciate religious diversity? >> i could offer several reflections on