Liberals’ call for measures to combat religious fundamentalism

Date: 09/01/03

By Martin Banks

EUROPEAN Liberals have pleaded for greater understanding to help combat Christian and Islamic fundamentalism.

A public hearing in the European Parliament called for a dialogue between Christianity and Islam based on "tolerance, pluralism and understanding".

The call comes with a US-led war against Iraq imminent and tensions rising in the Middle East.

Yesterday's hearing, organised by the Liberal group, brought together a range of speakers from politics, journalism and academia.

Felix Marti, director of the UNESCO Centre in Barcelona, argued for an open, liberal version of Islam which tallies with European values: "It could be achieved through dialogue with the Islamic communities which have come to Europe in waves of immigration.

"We should encourage the flourishing of these communities which should in turn engage in dialogue with the political and social world in Europe. Islam should be a religion in Europe just like any other: free, adult and responsible."

Fouad Allam, a professor of Islamic sociology, criticised the lack of Muslim parliamentarians in Europe, particularly in France and Italy: "A new kind of political modernism can also be achieved by Turkey's accession to the EU," he said.

Parliament's President, Pat Cox, asked: "How do you sustain the liberal constitutional order, with a universalist principle about individual freedom, in a context where you have the assertion of collective religious rights?

"That is the source of the ongoing debate and tension we face."

Liberal group leader Graham Watson, who chaired the meeting, said that at time of increased tension between the two religions, it was important for moderates on both sides to find common ground to counter the influence of fundamentalists.

"Religious fundamentalism - Christian or Islamic - is a danger to democracy. Its roots can be found in ignorance of the world: it grows in the soil of poverty and despair. Its recent growth leads to increasing conflict."

European Liberals have pleaded for greater understanding to help combat Christian and Islamic fundamentalism, at a public hearing in the European Parliament on 8 January 2003.