In Defence of Religious Freedom

IL News 017/2015

Public Lecture in Sunan Gunung Djati Islamic University Bandung (UIN-SGD)

September 8th, 2015

In cooperation with Sunan Gunung Djati Islamic University (UIN-SGD) Bandung, Leimena Institute held a public lecture with the topic “In Defence of Religious Freedom” presented by Dr. Paul Marshall, Senior Fellow of Leimena Institute and Center for Religious Freedom, Hudson Institute, Washington DC, US. The lecture was held on Tuesday, September 8, 2015 from 09.30 to 11.30 AM at Ushuluddin Faculty Hall, 4th floor and was attended by around 150 students from various programs in UIN. The lecture was formally opened by the Dean of Ushuluddin Faculty, Prof. Dr. H. Rosihon Anwar, M.Ag.

In this lecture, Dr. Paul Marshall delivered various results of religious freedom researches in more than one hundred countries worldwide. The results showed that religious freedom has good impact to society because it was proven to encourage economic improvement and social harmony.

The explanation from Dr. Paul Marshall was responded by Prof. Dr. H. Asep Saeful Muhtadi, M.A, from the Graduate Studies Faculty of UIN. In his response, he talked about how important it is to develop religious freedom in the context of Indonesian plurality so the impact of religious harmony in Indonesia will be more noticeable. The enthusiasm from UIN students participating in the public lecture was clearly seen in the Q&A session, which shows how the lecture was positively received.