Conference “How much religion does democracy need?”

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Professor Georges Tamer emphasises the role of science in interreligious dialogue

On 10 September 2024, the conference “How much religion does democracy need?” occurred at the Hanns Seidel Foundation Conference Centre in Munich. The Bavarian State Minister of the Interior, for Sport and Integration, Joachim Herrmann, MdL, and the Chairman of the Hanns Seidel Foundation, Markus Ferber, MdEP, organized the conference. Academics and leading representatives of various religious communities came together to discuss the importance of religion for a democratic society.

In his contribution, Professor Dr. Georges Tamer emphasized the importance of science for interreligious dialogue: “Interreligious dialogue requires science. Because only science can categorize the differences and similarities between religions and explain the context in which the various religions arose and how they interact with each other.” He continued: “Academic engagement with interreligious discourse thus contributes to the success of interreligious dialogue and strengthens social cohesion.” The conference was dedicated to how religions interact in a democratic society whether democracy needs religion or religion needs democracy and what role interreligious dialogue plays in social cohesion.

The conference was opened by Minister of State Joachim Herrmann, who emphasized the importance of interreligious dialogue in Bavaria and addressed the role of religions in the public sphere. In the subsequent keynote speeches, Dr. Bertram Meier, Bishop of Augsburg, Christian Kopp, Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bayern, Jo-Achim Hamburger, Chairman of the Jewish Community of Nuremberg, and Benjamin Idriz, Imam of the Islamic Community of Penzberg, represented the views of the respective religious communities.

In the panel discussion, the question “How much religion does democracy need?” was intensively debated by Minister of State Joachim Herrmann, Prof. Dr Heinrich de Wall (Chair of Canon Law, Constitutional and Administrative Law, FAU Erlangen-Nuremberg), Prof. Dr Martin Rötting (House of Cultures and Religions Munich) and Professor Tamer. It became clear that religion and democracy are in a productive (tense) relationship that needs to be further developed through dialogue and academic research.

The conference ended with the clear conclusion that interreligious dialogue is an important building block for social cohesion and democracy – a task in which the religious disciplines and religious communities play a decisive role.

Here you can find the video of the event

Here you can find an article by the Hans-Seidel-Foundation about the event