Welcome to day 3!

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10) Religious Rights & Freedoms within the Baptist Tradition: Principles & Practice [10:00 – 11:30am]

Session Purpose: To gain an appreciation for the manner in which ‘religious freedom’ has been understood from within the Baptists tradition, looking at its theological, biblical and historical development and its application to those of other faith traditions and/or religious minorities.

Presentation: Paul Fiddes

Questions Being Addressed:

• What led to the development of “religious freedom” as a central Baptist doctrine, historically, Biblically and theologically?
• How has the principal of “religious freedom” been understood and applied within the Baptist tradition? What are some examples of “good practice”?
• How has the principal of “religious freedom” been applied to non-Christian faiths and/or religious minorities, specifically Islam and Muslims?

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11) The Development of the Human Rights Paradigm: Where We Have Reached [10:00 – 11:30am]

Session Purpose: To provide an overview of the emergence of the human rights paradigm/agenda as a dominant discourse within the 19th and 20th centuries, leading to the eventual development and implementation of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and its subsequent influence since adoption.

Presenter: Habib Malik

Questions to Address:

• What historical developments prompted the emergence of the human rights paradigm? Specially, how did the UDHR come in to existence?
• What key philosophical ideas provide the foundation for the human rights paradigm as it exists today?
• What were the challenges in developing such a global framework?
• What has been the impact of the UDHR both globally, regionally and within Lebanon?
• How does the UDHR compare with the later development of similar charters within Islamic countries?

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12) Interfaith Small Group Discussion [3:00 – 5:00pm]

Session Purpose: To provide a context whereby Christian and Muslim guests can interact on a more personal basis, exploring issues related to the various dimensions of MEC 2013 in line with the IMES mandate to bring about positive transformation in thinking and practice between Muslims & Christians in the Middle East and beyond.

Participants:

• Middle East Conference 2013 Participants
• Al-Marbarrat Association

Questions Being Discussed:

• What are some of the human rights issues you see as significant within your own context?
• Do you think there are significantly different views on the nature and role of human rights from a Christian-Muslim and/or East-West perspective?
• What do you see as the main similarities and differences between the concepts of human rights and social responsibilities?
• How do you understand the concept of religious freedom?

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14) Implications for Human Rights & Interfaith Relations within Societies Emerging from Arab Uprisings: Case Studies from a Changing Region [8:00 – 9:30pm]

Session Purpose: To investigate, given the dramatic changes taking place within the MENA region and the emergence of new political actors, the manner in which a human rights agenda may or may not be a central focus for the pursuit of peaceful inter-group coexistence, examining a variety of context specific case studies from around the MENA region in order to highlight the ways which human rights are being defended and/or abused.

Discussants:

• Ehab el-Kharrat
• Ziya Meral

Questions Being Addressed:

• What are some of the new challenges and opportunities for human rights within the emerging MENA context?
• What are the implications for human rights and interfaith relations in the post-Moubarak Egyptian context?
• How might different contexts look in relation to similar questions?