IMES’ Middle East Conference (MEC) 2013, “Your Rights & My Responsibilities: Biblical and Islamic Perspectives on Human Rights” has thus far proven to be a very illuminating, yet at times a challenging conference.
Please return for session updates and audience reflections related to Day 2.
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6) Religion, Identity and Conversion: Perspectives from Social Sciences and Human Rights [10:00 – 11:30am]
Session Purpose: To develop an awareness of and sensitivity to the implications, importance, and possible repercussions of religion, identity, and conversion within the MENA context, as viewed through the dual perspective of social science and human rights.
Presentation: Zeya Meral
Questions Being Addressed:
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7) Apostasy Laws vs. No Compulsion in Religion: Exploring Islamic Objections to Religious Freedom [12:00 – 1:30pm]
Session Purpose: To gain deeper understanding as to the apparent tension between the Islamic doctrine of “No Compulsion in Religion” and traditional “Apostasy Laws”, acquiring insight into Qur’anic and Islamic teachings related to apostasy and its potential consequences, and the role of non-Islamic religions in Islamic thought and practice.
Presentation: Sheikh Dr. Muhammad Nuqqari
Questions Being Addressed:
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8) The Defense of God vs. Freedom of Expression: Understanding Islamic Responses to Blasphemous Publications [5:00 – 6:30pm]
Session Purpose: To explore issues related to the apparent tension between the Islamic doctrine of the ‘defense of God’ and the principle of ‘freedom of expression’ (a doctrine unto itself in ‘liberal Western’ discourse) and for participants to grow in an awareness and understanding of the issues that have recently provoked such passionate and at times violent reactions in response to material deemed offensive and blasphemous within the Muslim community.
Discussants:
Questions Being Addressed:
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9) Balancing ‘Freedom of Expression’ with a Christian Concern for Social Responsibility: A Christian Response to Material Considered Blasphemous to Muslims [8:00 – 9:30pm]
Session Purpose: To explore potential inner-Christian tensions between a commitment to ‘freedom of expression’ and a concern for ‘social responsibility’, seeking to understand why many Christians have apparently reacted to material considered deeply offensive or blasphemous differently to the way Muslims have at times reacted.
Discussants:
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