Interfaith Dialogue 2003

About

Meeting of Representatives of World Religions

We live in a world experiencing a radical socio-cultural change called globalization. A typical characteristic of globalization is the interconnectivity of various nations, races, cultures and religions including those that have so far lived relatively separated. This increasing interconnectivity obviously is not and will not be idyllic; it might cause a number of conflicts, even of worldwide extent.

In this new civilization religion plays new and very important social roles. Through the process of globalization, many large entities fear the possible loss of their identity and it is religion which often becomes the main expression of this identity and the means of the struggle for its preservation. We often witness how feelings of frustration and injustice, which in the 19th and 20th centuries were expressed by national, racial and class hatred, are now expressed in the language of religious hatred. During the time of modernization and secularization of Western countries, it seemed that the whole world would follow this pattern of the retreat of religion from public life, but recently we have observed a worldwide radical encroachment of religion into politics.

Many personalities and groups, inspired by their religious traditions, are now working to counteract the misuse of religious ideas and symbols for the purposes of group hatred by calling for friendly dialogue between representatives of different religions and cultures. The fact that religions might become catalysts for international conflicts or bridges over global gaps should be a sufficient reason for us to see the inter-religious dialogue as one of the most important tasks of our times…

Participants of the discussion will attempt to answer the following questions:

  • Is it desirable and possible to strictly separate religion and politics as liberalism and secularism have attempted to do in Western countries over the last several centuries?
  • Does the connection of religion and politics necessarily lead to disastrous results, or is there also the possibility for fruitful cooperation?
  • On what level and in which fields should the dialogue proceed? What are the barriers preventing the dialogue and how can we surpass them?

Transcript


Photogallery


Previous years

2010
Interfaith Dialogue 2010
October 11, 2010 - October 12, 2010
2009
Interfaith Dialogue 2009
October 9, 2009 - October 9, 2009
2007
Interfaith Dialogue 2007
October 9, 2007 - October 9, 2007
2006
Interfaith Dialogue 2006
July 3, 2006 - July 4, 2006
2004
Interfaith Dialogue 2004
July 3, 2004 - July 4, 2004
2002
Interfaith Dialogue 2002
July 3, 2002 - July 4, 2002
2001
Interfaith Dialogue 2001
October 16, 2001 - October 17, 2001
2000
Interfaith Dialogue 2000
October 17, 2000 - October 18, 2000
1999
Interfaith Dialogue 1999
October 12, 1999 - October 13, 1999
1998
Interfaith Dialogue 1998
October 12, 1998 - October 13, 1998
1997
Interfaith Dialogue 1997
September 5, 1997 - September 6, 1997