CFP: Religion and Human Rights: Compatibility, Conflict, and Resolution

Religions have been a primary source of guidance and normativity for
their followers for centuries. They emerged to cater for the needs of
the communities of different eras and locales by providing systems of
norms and rules on how to live a moral and spiritual life. These
religious normative systems were very successful in fulfilling the
needs of their communities; indeed, their systems of social
organisation, and spiritual practice became established to the extent
that they continue to be significant and authoritative for the
overwhelming majority of the global population. Paradoxically, human
history attests that religions have also been a source of division
and discord between adherents of different faiths, resulting in some
of the bloodiest wars and killings, and oppression based on doctrinal
discriminations against the ‘other’.

In the wake of the number of human lives lost in the first and second
world wars, the advent of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
as international law for its plenipotentiaries was a hallmark in
human history, whereby discriminatory treatment of individuals could
be outlawed. Although intended as a legal measure to prevent the
escalation of nation-wide discriminatory events to mass genocide, its
implications extended to curbing the norms and laws of nation states
founded directly upon religion. Moreover, it seemed to challenge many
long-standing and entrenched practices and beliefs of all the major
world religions. Traditionally institutionalised hierarchies and
patriarchies of the varied theologies and religious systems were
apparently contravening human rights. Thus the conflict and
antagonism was born between human rights and religion, and debates
ensued within religious seminaries and religious departments in
universities regarding the compatibility of individual religions and
human rights.

To explore this further, Al-Mahdi Institute is hosting a workshop
bringing together human rights specialists and scholars from
different world religions with expertise on issues relating to the
intersection between human rights and religion.

Plenary sessions will include papers from:

Prof. Esther Reed (University of Exeter)
Prof. Abdulaziz Sachedina (University of Virginia)
Dr Asher Moaz (Tel Aviv University)
Prof. Seyed M. Ghari Fatimi (Al-Mahdi Institute)

Abstracts for papers on any aspect of the relationship between human
rights and religion are invited from both emerging and established
scholars in the field. A limited number of travel grants are
available for scholars attending the workshop from within the E.U.
Those wishing to present a paper at the workshop should submit an
abstract of 300 words to Dr Hashim Bata ([email protected]) before
Sunday the 22nd of June.


Contact:

Dr Hashim Bata
Al-Mahdi Institute
Selly Oak
60 Weoley Park Road
Birmingham, B29 6RB
United Kingdom
Email: [email protected]