In a seminar held recently at the Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies (RIIFS) on the religious freedoms in Jordan and the need to address all attempts designed to undermine the model of common living prevailing in Jordan.
The speakers said that there is an urgent need nowadays to initiate a discourse on common living between Muslims and Christians so as to refute any claims that negatively affect our bright image, stressing that the Christians of the Middle East are the indigenous people.
Among the speakers was Director of the Catholic Center for Studies and Media in Jordan Fr. Dr. Rif’at Bader said that media outlets are responsible for commitment to publishing facts without distortions, noting that such outlets have been playing a passive role in distorting the image of Jordan.
RIIFS Director Wajih Qansu said that some organizations make unrealistic judgments, pointing out that we often realize that when Islam is mentioned it is associated with passive terms such as Islamic terrorism and Islamic persecution. He stressed that terrorism is a human phenomenon and cannot be associated with a nation and a certain category.
Pastor of Christ the King Church in Misdar Fr. Dr. Adnan Bader, “We all share human brotherhood and the Islamic brotherhood calls on us to see in the others as similar to us even if there is a difference, views, values, or ethnicity, since values are the bases of dialogue and encounter between Muslims and Christians.
Dr. Marcelle Jweinat of the Catholic Center for Studies and media that Muslim and Christian clerics are now required to direct their efforts towards young people by blocking discourses relevant to hatred which necessitates increasing awareness in schools and universities.
