November 20, 2003
Religion and International
Policy
Audio News Conference
Theologians and activists engaged in a lively discussion on the role of religion in international politics and culture at an audio news conference today. Their remarks included:
“If
we're to set international policy, it is incumbent upon us to hear as
many voices as possible. Yet the U.S. government refused visas to people
who were scheduled to attend the ‘Contesting Religion’ conference.
These voices need to be heard.”
—Sheila Davaney, professor of theology
at the Iliff School of Theology.
“There
is really no such thing as Islam, only Muslims. Islam is a thing that
has many interpretations.”
—Ebrahim Moosa, Associate Research Professor
at Duke University.
“Every verse in the Koran has a twin: if you read only the first verse, it can seem very radical. Today there are scholars discovering new ways of reading the Koran.” —Murat Cizakca, professor of Islamic Economy and Comparative Financial Institutions at Bahcesehir University, Turkey.
Other speakers included:
- Mona Siddiqui, Head of the Department of Theology and Religious Studies and Senior Lecturer in Arabic and Islamic Studies at the University of Glasgow.
- Edward Phillip Antonio, Assistant Professor of Theology and Social Theory at Iliff School of Theology, where he also teaches African Studies. Before going to Iliff, he taught at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa.
- Gary Laderman, Associate Professor at Emory University. He is also associate editor of the Journal of the American Academy of Religion. He co-directed the conference “Contesting Religion and Religions Contested: The Study of Religion in a Global Context” with Shelia Davaney.
A complete transcript of the audio news conference is here
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