KUALA LUMPUR, June 16 (Bernama) -- Religion is a matter that should be put into concrete practice in order to discover the truth, said well-known author on world religions, Dr Karen Armstrong.

She said people should not stop with just having thoughts of the religion they professed but must put that into practice.

"Religion makes sense when you practise it," she told an audience of about 1,500 at a public lecture on the "Role of Religion in the 21st Century", here today.

The public lecture was part of the two-day International Conference on Islam and the West: Bridging the Gap, organised by the Institute of Diplomacy and Foreign Relations Malaysia (IDFR), which ended today.

England-born Armstrong, a former nun, has written on Islam, Christianity, Buddhism and Judaism. But several of her books had been banned in Malaysia.

"Religion is not about thinking alone...put those thoughts into concrete practice," she stressed.

Armstrong said despite whatever changes and challenges the world were undergoing today or would be in future, religion would not disappear from this world.

"Each tradition has challenges...and of course religions have to adapt to changing times."

All over the world, she said, the people would like to see religion reflected in their lives.

"But wars in places like Lebanon shows how human beings have forgotten that every single human life in sacred," she added.

She also pointed out that it was important that young people be taught about the traditions of others, so that they would not harbour any ill feeling or hatred towards others.

"Violence which is happening today should not be solved with violence but an opportunity for revolution of spiritual awakening."

She said like-minded people and those from different religions should sit together and joins hands to solve global problems such as poverty, conflicts and injustice.

"By doing so, they can discover what humanity is all about."