What was the beginning? Christian sources state that, in the beginning, there was the Word, while Islamic sources state that, in the beginning, there was Reason. So, the beginning was it a speaker or was it a thinker?
This conference, "Dialogue of Civilizations," is an attempt to understand the symbolic meaning of this preliminary disagreement, and find a way forward. Finding an answer to this disagreement does not mean that we will work with hermeneutics to prove this or that opinion, but rather that we will try to minimize the cultural gap among human civilizations.
Human beings, since the early days of history, have struggled for a better co-existence through dialogue and useful conversation. Settling differences is only possible by dialogue, and dialogue is only possible after accepting the basic equalities between human beings. Dialogue is the only method for civilized members of global human society.
In recent years, we have heard many theories about a general clash between civilizations. At a more specific level, there has been much discussion about the "inevitable" conflict between Islamic values (or Muslims), and the Western lifestyle (or secularists). In the world of globalization, cultural osmosis, negotiation of modernity and traditions, where the world order is in flux, where the mechanisms of propagation are in high performance, no nation has supremacy over the others, nor the right to control them.
We are aware of the challenges of the third millennium, a millennium which succeeds long centuries of unjustified aggression, warfare and clashes of disparate political and economic interests. In the wake of the wholesale destruction of the twentieth-century, we witness the spread of more moderate and tolerant ideals in all societies. From the North Atlantic to Latin America and Australia, an ideology of dialogue is emerging.
Across the Muslim world, from North Africa to the Far East and Southeast Asia, scholars are generating modern interpretations, where pointless violence and unilateral cultural hegemony are firmly rejected. These practices, it is argued, must be replaced with indispensable co-operation and mutual respect based on common sense and lively reasoning.
Our Institute (IIS) has arranged this international conference to create mutual understanding and reciprocal respect. It is held on this year to prepare for the year 2001, which was declared by the UN as the year for the dialogue between civilizations. Over fifty papers dealing with this subject were sent to our Institute from six different countries, and twenty of those papers will be presented by their authors. The complete collection of conference papers will be published after the conference.
Whether there will be a clash or a dialogue of civilizations (or perhaps both), one thing must remain crystal clear for all of us: human societies need to think and interact rationally before they can move forward. Whoever believes in a Word as the Beginning, must accept that the Word could never be valuable in the absence of Reason.
These abstracts of our conference "Dialogue of Civilizations" are just steps on the path of developing the word and the reason that is required for dialogue. Reason is what gives the word its power, and allows it to have meaning. As we journey down this path, we hope that all human cultures, colors and races will enjoy the very sweet moments of friendship, trust, peace, justice, freedom and spirituality in this world during the new millennium.