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PRESIDENT ABDURRAHMAN WAHID INTERNATIONAL SCHOLARS ANNUAL TRIALOGUE (ISAT) 
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At the beginning of the Third Millennium one of the most pressing sets of issues both within and between societies that have been predominantly shaped by Judaism, Christianity, or Islam are those centering around the relationship between religion and the state, and the form the state should take. All three of the Abrahamic religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, have played, and continue to play, central roles in both of these intimately related issues. It has been argued that this set of issues is a key source of a “Clash of Civilizations” between Islam and the West. Although there is prima facie evidence for this argument, the ISAT scholars are convinced that the thesis: 1) over-simplifies the positions of both Islam and the West on these issues, and 2) overlooks the swelling forces promoting not a “Clash of Civilizations,” but a “Dialogue of Civilizations.” It is these issues of real and/or alleged sources of conflict between Islam and the West which at the beginning of the Third Millennium are the focus of the research, reflection, and dialogue by the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim scholars of the International Scholars Annual Trialogue (ISAT) in the newly established democracy of Indonesia, the largest Muslim nation in the world. That focus is sharpened to precisely: Religion-State Relations and Building Democracy. ISAT is a group of Jewish, Christian, and Muslim scholars who have been meeting annually since 1989, with a recent hiatus because of a funding deficit. ISAT deliberately consists of basically the same scholars from the three traditions so that over time issues can be clarified, with commonalities and authentic differences accurately identified, and a continuing dialogue can be built, contributing to the “Dialogue of Civilizations” and a Global Ethic, so desperately needed in today’s rapidly globalizing world. A major volume distills ISAT’s work to date: Leonard Swidler, ed., Theoria ? Praxis. How Jews, Christians, Muslims Can Together Move From Theory to Practice. Leuven: Peeters Publisher, 1998. In addition to the regular ISAT scholars, a small number of local Indonesian scholars (two Muslim and Christian and one Hindu and Buddhist) will be invited to participate in the closed scholarly sessions. Two sets of papers will be presented by two sets of Jewish, Christian, and Muslim scholars, with each of the papers having two respondents. The topics for the two sets of papers are: Overview of Religion-State Relations in (Jewish) (Christian) (Muslim) HistoryIn addition to the six sessions devoted to dialogue around each of the presented papers and the one session for synthesis and future planning, there will be a number of public events which the ISAT scholars will participate in, at times all together and at times individually or in small groups. Information: Professor Leonard Swidler, Religion Dept., Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122; Tel: 215-477-1089; Fax: 215-204-4569; E-mail: dialogue@vm.temple.edu; Web: http://blue.temple.edu/~dialogue |