Abstract

Lebanon and Germany are exceptions from a confessional point of view. Lebanon, in contrast to all other Middle Eastern countries, is characterized by a great diversity of similarly large religious, i.e. Christian and Muslim, and also confessional communities. Germany, unlike many other European countries, has had a high number of Protestant as well as Catholic Christians as citizens since the Reformation. Almost all other European countries have a clear Catholic or Protestant majority. While Lebanon is re-discussing the legally established confessional proportional representation based on religious diversity against the backdrop of a state crisis, the landscape in Germany has changed due to the growing number of Muslim fellow citizens. In 2010, the then Federal President Christian Wulff stated: "In the meantime, Islam also belongs to Germany". In recent years, Islamic theology has been established at German universities. In both countries, there are experiences that have been made in interreligious dialogue. We will therefore also look at the genesis of the theological foundations of the Interreligious dialogue and some church documents and see how these also became relevant for the work in a concrete example (Tripoli).
We will discuss religious plurality in Lebanon and Germany with two Lebanese and one German speaker and also reflect on possible scenarios for the future. Both the political and the theological perspectives will play a role.

Bios:
 

Ziad Fahed is Full Professor at Notre Dame University – Louaize. His main research interests are theology of religions and politics, Inter-religious dialogue and pluralism, inclusion and diversity. In 2010 he founded Dialogue for Life and Reconciliation (DLR Lebanon) as Non-Governmental Organization with the moto of “believing and promoting the dignity of being different”.
 

Aydın Süer is a postdoctoral researcher at the Berlin Institute for Islamic Theology, Humboldt University of Berlin. He holds a PhD in sociology and is currently working on a project on “Art as a Form of Islamic Religious Practice”.
 

Elie al-Hindy is the Executive Director of Adyan Foundation working on inclusive citizenship, diversity management, solidarity and human dignity in Lebanon and the across the Arab region. He is also an Associate Professor of Political Science and International Relations at NDU.
 

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