Date/Time
Date(s) - 08/03/2023
10:00 - 16:30
Location
Press Club Brussels Europe
Categories
Where ? At The European Press Club , Rue Froissart 95, 1050 Brussels.
When? The 8th March 2023 from 10.a.m till 16.30 p.m.
Who ? Politicians, academics and leaders of different daith institutions in Europe.
Background and context of the Brussels Seminar
While there is no doubt that freedom and respect for human rights are a right guaranteed to all, they form an integrated system that cannot be fragmented. Freedom of expression and at the same time defaming and trying to incite the other are two different things that we can’t combine and are totally two opposites.
That is why, in recent years, the desecration of the sacred has become a vehicle for those who advocate the right of expression to achieve narrow personal and partisan goals, deployed inappropriately, in violation of what is stipulated in international and European constitutions and laws.
Yes, what is sacred may differ across monotheistic and Eastern religions and other philosophical beliefs, and may vary from culture to culture and religion to religion, especially in Europe in terms of practice and implementation, where the concept of freedom of expression has acquired a kind of sanctity that cannot be violated, since this right is a general law. Every citizen guarantees the right to equality between people of different religions and beliefs, which mixes the symbolic dimension, i.e. the sacred nature of some devotional rites, with what is truly sacred and what is not, such as the recent burning of the Noble Quran in Sweden and the Netherlands. Therefore, we should raise and discuss some central questions at the Brussels Forum, and distinguish between the unholy and the obligatory in light of the constitutions that guarantee freedom of opinion and expression with their limits and requirements, provided it does not lead to incitement to hatred and violence.
The repercussions of the burning of the Holy Quran in Sweden and the Netherlands is one of the issues raised today to maintain social cohesion in societies with cultural and religious pluralism and mutual respect because of the human brotherhood that brings together people of different religions, cultures and other philosophical beliefs.
Objectives of the Seminar:
- Introducing the problem of sacred in every religion and the limits of freedom.
- Discussing the eligibility of prioritising the principle of (moral) literature over (legal) observance in every religion, civilisation and culture.
- Bridging the distances between the followers of religions and their leaders, and effectively immunising the youth with science and knowledge to protect them from falling into the trap of extremist groups, and assessing reason and high morality in the face of these repercussions, and viewing the errors and indiscretions of the reckless with the eye of reason and insight.
- Tol ay the intellectual and cultural foundations for a common civilised dialogue between different religions and cultures.
Expected results and outcomes:
- Learning about ways to contain and address the crisis in the European context;
- Installing a charter of respect for the sacred in every religion and work to introduce it among followers and peoples.
- To increase the possibility of building civilised dialogue between nations and peoples
Programme of Action:
3 specific sessions on:
- The sacred between reality and imagination and its legal and ethical dimensions in Europe
- The motives behind desecration of the sacred as a breeding ground for hostile conflicts between religions or as a form of soft violence / symbolic violence. Finding answers in democratic societies ?
- The dangers of the political use of religion in managing regional and international crises
For more information:
Contact EDARA and ISESCO at: info@edara.be