For a Human-Centered AI

Violence in Sacred Texts. Religions Between War and Peace

September 25, 2017

A Reset-Dialogues conference in partnership with Fondazione Bruno Kessler and the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs.

Press Release by Reset-Dialogues on Civilizations / Fondazione Bruno Kessler / Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs

The International Association Reset-Dialogues on Civilizations in partnership with Fondazione Bruno Kessler and the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs organizes October 10 through 12 in Trento the “Exiting Violence: the Role of Religion” conference. From Texts to Theories ” to investigate the link between religion and violence and to refelct on the role that sacred texts play in different religious traditions in relation to violence and conflict, not only in theological contexts, but also in relation to the national and international political context, to the public sphere, to the challenges posed by cultural and religious pluralism, taking particular account of the three great monotheistic religions, Buddhism and Hinduism.

How does the community of believers legitimize violence “in the name of God”? What is the role of religion in violent conflicts, in the national and international political arena? How does the interpretation of sacred texts help define political contexts that are prone to tolerance and pluralism or, conversely, to radicalism and violence?

If some schools of thought regard the text as literal, encouraging a rigorous and exclusive interpretation of religion, other theories believe that religions are not independent and decontextualized variables but a factor connected to the sociological, political, historical, economic and ethical spheres, integrated into a cultural context that is essential for their understanding.

The conference, open to all, upon registration at the event site, will involve international experts and scholars, including theologians, philosophers, anthropologists and political scientists, and will be the occasion to discuss and answer these questions.

Speakers include: Pasquale Annicchino, Judd Birdsall, Giancarlo Bosetti, Massimo Campanini, Donatella Dolcini, Manlio Graziano, Irene Jillson, Louis Komjathy, Jude Lal Fernando, Leo Lefebure, Gloria Moran, Gerard Mannion, Luigi Narbone, Ian Reader, Naftali Rothenberg, Vincent Sekhar, Assaf Sharon, Debora Tonelli, Marco Ventura, André Wénin and others.

The confernce will be held in English.

 

Conference venue:

Fondazione Bruno Kessler, Humanities Hub, Center for Religious Studies

Via Santa Croce 77, Trento.

The conference opening has been scheduled for Tuesday, October 10 at 2.00 pm.

Please view the full program at: http://exitingviolence.fbk.eu/home


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