News Photos (8/2014)

IL News 025/2014

On October 9th 2014, Dr. Paul Marshall, Senior Fellow of Leimena Institute and Hudson Institute (USA), gave a public lecture at the State Institute of Islamic Studies (IAIN) Ambon, with the topic of  “Religious Freedom and Religious Blasphemy”. This lecture was based on Paul Marshall’s research in various countries in the world that showed how laws about religious blasphemy are often used to silence political opposition and minority groups, also creating potential social conflict in the society. This research outcome will be published in Indonesian. The public lecture was opened by the Rector of IAIN Ambon, Dr. Hasbollah Toisuta, and was attended by students and lecturers from IAIN Ambon, among them was the Head of the Graduate Program, Dr. Basman, and the Head of Ambon Reconciliation and Mediation Center, Dr. Abidin Wakano.

A Discussion topic of  “Religious Freedom and Religious Blasphemy” was also held in the State Islamic University (UIN) Sunan Ampel in Surabaya, on October 13th 2014. The public lecture, which was a collaboration between UIN Sunan Ampel and Leimena Institute, presented Dr. Paul Marshall and Matius Ho from Leimena Institute as resources, accompanied by the Vice Rector of UIN Sunan Ampel, Dr. Syamsul Huda, and was moderated by Mr. Nasruddin from the Ushuluddin Faculty. After this public lecture, Dr. Marshall and Matius visited the grave of Raden Ahmad Rohmatulloh, who was known as “Sunan Ampel”, one of the Wali Songo, to know further about the history of Islam development in Indonesia, which birthed a religious living trait that is open to diversity.

The series of public lectures about “Religious Freedom and Religious Blasphemy” by Dr. Paul Marshall in 2014 was ended with a discussion of the result of his research at the Graduate School of  Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University (UIN) in Jakarta, on October 29th 2014. Other than being a Leimena Institute’s Senior Fellow, Dr. Paul Marshall is also a Visiting Professor at the Graduate School of UIN Syarif Hidayatullah. The discussion with the lecturers and graduate students who attended the public lecture further enrich the understanding regarding the root problem and the impact of the religious defamation law to religious freedom, a topic that has yet to be widely discussed academically in Indonesia.