The Institute of Interfaith Dialog organized a panel discussion on Islam and Democracy. The panel discussion was moderated by Dr. Lynn Mitchell from the University of Houston ,and the panelists were
1-) Dr. Gumilar Rusliwa Somantri, President, University of Indonesia
2-) Dr. Adem Akinci, Religion Consultant, IID
3-) Dr. Nasaruddun Umar, Assistant Secretary, Department of Religious Affairs
4-) Dr. Ali Unsal, Director, Fethullah gulen Chair at Jakarta State Islamic University
Dr. Somantri talked about the history of Indonesia. There have been problems among faith communities caused mainly by differences in political powers but as democracy develops people realize that religion is not a main source of conflict and Islam actually supports democracy. Dr. Adem Akinci talked about Islam and democracy by analyzing verses from the Quran. He gave detailed interpretation of the verses and concluded that Islam and Democracy are actually compatible. He also gave examples from the early Islamic period. Dr. Nasaruddun Umar talked about Islamic Theology and had a comparative analysis of the Islamic Theology and how it has been practiced in the past and in Indonesia nowadays. Dr. Al Unsal talked about the global Gulen Movement and how the movement combined islamic values and democracy and blended it with the local culture. He explained how important it is to have dialog activities to understand the East from the West and the West from the East. He concluded that the essential character of Islam is compatible with modern, secular, democratic conceptions of the state.
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Houston
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The Institute of Interfaith Dialog organized a panel discussion on Islam and Democracy. The panel discussion was moderated by Dr. Lynn Mitchell,and the panelists were
1-) Dr. Gumilar Rusliwa Somantri, President, University of Indonesia
2-) Dr. Adem Akinci, Religion Consultant, IID
3-) Dr. Nasaruddun Umar, Assistant Secretary, Department of Religious Affairs
4-) Dr. Ali Unsal, Director, Fethullah gulen Chair at Jakarta State Islamic University
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The IID General
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 Institute of Interfaith Dialog organized a lecture together
with Congregation Beth Yeshurun. Rabbi Reuven Firestone, Professor of Medieval
Jewish and Islamic Studies, HUC-JIR/Los Angeles, gave a lecture entitled
"Anti-Semitism, Islam phobia and Opportunities for Dialog and
Understanding" on Tuesday, May 25, 2010 at Congregation Beth Yeshurun.
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The IID General
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Institute of Interfaith Dialog organized a lecture
and panel discussion together with the Center for Faith and
Culture, St Thomas University. Fr. Thomas Michel from Georgetown
University gave a
lecture entitled "Present and Future of Christian-Muslim Relations" on
Wednesday, May 19, 2010 at University
of Saint Thomas, Jones
Hall. Fr. Michel began his remarks by underlining the
responsibilities
of both Muslims and Christians in today's world and said that "Justice,
moral
values, peace and freedom are inevitable concepts in the society and
these two
groups constituting the half of the world (Muslims-Christians) should
cooperate
to build up these fundamental values".
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Oklahoma City
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 The Institute
of Interfaith Dialog (IID) and Raindrop Turkish House held
the 3rd Dinner of Abrahamic Traditions on April 6, 2010 with the
participation of 80 people including but not limited to community
leaders, academicians and other distinguished guests. The dinner was
followed by a splendid panel discussion entitled
“Women in Abrahamic
Traditions”. The three panelists were Rabbi Abby Jacobson, Rabbi,
Emanuel Synagogue , Dr. Barbara Boyd, Outreach Director, OU Religious
Studies , and Sheryl Siddiqui, Director for community relations for the
Islamic Society of Tulsa.
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Mississippi
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 Institute Interfaith Dialog at Jackson, MS is organizing this year's Friendship Trip to Turkey for Mississippi House Representatives. Representative of Raindrop Turkish House at Jackson, MS Fatih Ozcan gave a presentation to Mississippi House Representatives about the trip at Mississippi Capitol on March 17, 2010. At the presentation, Mr. Ozcan gave brief information about Turkey including its history, economy, culture, cuisine and etc. Additionally, house representatives were informed about approximate itinerary of the trip and were very exited about the trip.
(March 17. 2010 Jackson, MS)
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Mississippi
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 Institute Interfaith Dialog at Jackson, MS is organizing this year's Friendship Trip to Turkey for Mississippi State senators. Representative of IID at Jackson, MS Fatih Ozcan gave a presentation to state senators about the trip at Mississippi Capitol on March 10, 2010. At the presentation, Mr. Ozcan gave brief information about Turkey including its history, economy, culture, cuisine and etc. Additionally, senators were informed about approximate itinerary of the trip and were very exited about the trip.
(March 10. 2010 Jackson, MS)
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Austin
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 On March 23rd, The Institute of Interfaith Dialog (IID), The Islamic Student Association and Turkish American Women's Association organized a panel titled "Women in Abrahamic Traditions". Jewish, Christian and Muslim points of view on various topics were discussed, including (1) Role of women in each Abrahamic Faith, (2) Exemplary women in each faith's history, (3) Women's rights in each faith, (4) How might women in each faith tradition work together to address common problems.
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Tulsa
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 In 1992, political scientist Samuel Huntington put forth the theory of the Clash of Civilizations. He suggested that since the cold war clash of ideologies had come to an end, that in the future, conflict would instead be focused around the concept of differing cultures and religions. He delineated several different areas of the world as particular 'cultures' that might face conflict with each other. Among those he listed as potential enemies were the West and the Muslim World. Given the current state of world affairs, as well as our goals as an interfaith dialogue organization, this theory needs closer examination.
(March 4,2010,Tulsa,OK)
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Tulsa
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 The Clash of Civilizations theory, proposed by politicalscientist Samuel Huntington in 1993, argued that the clash of civilizationswill dominate global politics and the fault lines between civilizations will bethe battle lines of the future. After the tragedy of September 11th, thistheory set the agenda for world politics.
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Interfaith Events 
