This March the Forum for Development, Culture and Dialogue will be hosting the board meeting of Globethics.net. Preceding the Board meeting will be a workshop on ‘The Use of (Holy) Scriptures in Conflict Resolution’. This theme can be addressed on two levels, descriptive and normative. Concerning the descriptive dimension the leading question will be whether, and if so to what extent, Holy Scriptures plays a role in the resolution of conflicts. Scripture arguments certainly can have both a positive and negative effect. Using Lebanon as a case study, the first session of the workshop will address the topic at this descriptive level.  At the normative level, some questions that will guide the workshop include the following: Are there moral reasons that oblige conflicting parties to mutually accept the recourse to scripture for the justification of conflictive claims? What kind of argument does the recourse to scriptures represent? From within the different religions and denominations: Is the use of scriptures in political debates (theologically) permitted?

Our partner, Globethics.net, is a global network of institutions and individuals involved in applied ethics. It was created in August 2004, with the primary aim to facilitate institutions and researchers in the South to gain access to and to share resources, knowledge, and contacts through web-based research activities, academic conferences, publishing, and active networking. To find out more information regarding their organization please visit their website, www.globethics.net.