Israeli Settlements Explained

The latest discourse of Secretary of State John Kerry on the danger for peace in the Middle East represented by the constant extension of the Israeli settlements in the Palestinian occupied territorries stirred again the debate on the lack of solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the obvious resistance of the Israeli right wing government to come to a peaceful two-state resolution of this conflict.

I am sure many of you, especially those who have been influenced by Zionist propaganda – whether Christian Jewish or secular, or by the suspect dispensationalist interpretations of the sacred text, wonder what is the big fusss with these seettlements.

Martin Marty – Religion in Global Affairs

John Kerry, US Secretary of State

When in the 1980s Scott Appleby and I were first chartered to deal with one particular public expression of religion, the complex of militant fundamentalisms, we were confronted with a global scene for which we were not prepared. We soon found out also that very few others were equipped to monitor and highlight these and other negative and positive religious outbursts. We were well supported and soon well surrounded by the few pioneers in this field.

Domestically, two factors have forced awareness on conscientious people. The polarization of citizens on what came to be called “social issues” revealed that most of the troubling (and promising) topics had their roots in religion. Also, much of the ammunition in the soon-stimulated “culture wars” dealt with religion among fighting factions. Whether or not publics are more ready now than they were decades ago to deal with this new world is up for debate.

Religion’s Place in Liberal Democracy

Tony Blair and Senator John Kerry will join Professor Miroslav Volf and the students of Yale University’s Faith & Globalisation class to discuss the role of religion in liberal democracy.

Recent events around the world, from the USA to Egypt show the impact that faith can have on politics and political movements.

Tony Blair will be arguing that, “we need religion-friendly democracy and democracy-friendly religion. The time has come to put away the delusions: that faith is diminishing; that religion is not really what it’s about; that a debate about politics can be seriously conducted in the 21st Century without debating religion.”

Faith & Globalisation

From 09:00 – 10:30AM (EST) on Friday 2 December, Tony Blair and Senator John Kerry will join Professor Miroslav Volf and the students of Yale University’s Faith & Globalisation class to discuss the role of religion in liberal democracy.

Don’t worry if you can’t join them in person, you can tune in to this very special event online.

Watch it live here: