Religion: Cause or cure for inequalities in society?
Discussion at Global Media Forum 2018 with Prof. James D. Bindenagel, Dr. Ahmed Shaheed and Prof. Dr. theol. Dr. phil. Thomas Schirrmacher
Ethics · Society · Theology · Mission · Sociology of Religions
Discussion at Global Media Forum 2018 with Prof. James D. Bindenagel, Dr. Ahmed Shaheed and Prof. Dr. theol. Dr. phil. Thomas Schirrmacher
As was announced only now due to security reasons, the Syrian-Orthodox Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II and the Associate Secretary General of the World Evangelical Alliance, Bishop Thomas Schirrmacher, two days before Christmas 2017 addressed the highest Muslim leaders of 40 countries and called upon them to protect their Christian minorities.
Thomas Schirrmacher published his speech at the opening of the religious freedom chair at the Gießen School of Theology. In it he thanks Hermann Gröhe for the “most momentous rebuke in all my life”.
In this article I am concerned with the question whether apologetics of the Christian faith towards other religions and world views is basically compatible with an interreligious dialogue.
A professorship dedicated to the topic of “religious freedom and research on persecution of Christians” is a novelty in German speaking areas. At the inauguration special emphasis was placed on the universality of the human right to freedom of religion or belief and its positive implications.
On April 7th, the “Stephanus-Prize for Persecuted Christians” was awarded in Bonn to Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, the former bishop of Hongkong, for his courage and his persistence in decades of strong engagement for the rights of freedom, notably of religious freedom.
The Institute of Human Rights along with the Institute of Religion and Beliefs co-organized a scientific seminar titled “Limits of Religious Freedom Rights” on March 6th, 2018 with the participation of lecturers and researchers from these two institutes, a large number of master’s students majored in Laws of Human Rights and Religious studies.