Preface

Islamic and Christian Cultures:

Conflict or Dialogue

Relations between Islamic and Western Cultures 

            A major problem in the relations between Islamic and “Western-type” cultures is a deficiency of mutual understanding. An especially negative specific effect of this incommensurability is the frightening image of Islam.  Islam is perceived in many cases as intolerant, and culturally inflexible; that is, it is unready to make compromises for the sake of peaceful coexistence with Western types of social behavior.

            The contrast between Western and Islamic cultural models is often interpreted as a comparison between modern and traditional society, the former being forward-looking, constructive and open to development, and the latter being orientated towards the past, conservative and unproductive.  Moreover, the historical records of offensive political undertakings and extremist acts, which have been in one way or another associated with Islam, have given credence to theories which represent Islam as an ideology of aggression.  The fundamentalist prioritization of religious norms in the social life of some Islamic countries has also contributed to the negative image of this culture in the West, contradicting the ideals of civil society.

            By comparison, research conducted on the basic Islamic religious texts and the history of the influences of that religion on science, art, economy, everyday life, etc., reveals a “face” of tolerance and pluralism.  The discrepancy between this image of Islamic culture, which is known to a few experts in the West, and its negative appearance, which is better known, is a paradox and is in great need of scholarly discussion.

            Is it due to ideological speculations, which produce a distorted “picture” of Islam with the aim of justifying imperialist policies towards a region with enormous natural and human resources?  Or is Islamic culture really of a dual nature, applying different standards to different social phenomena?  Or could it be that Islamic values are misused as an instrument of manipulation on behalf of political forces in the struggle for establishing a new, postcolonial and even postimperialist world order?  Hypotheses regarding this paradox need to be tested by an interdisciplinary study and conference on the relations between Islamic and Christian cultures.

            The findings of such a study and discussion should by no means be confined to a purely theoretical clarification of an interesting point.  It is to be expected that an exchange of opinions on the issue would have a positive public effect on the mutual understanding between these cultures.  A serious analysis of the factors producing confrontation between the cultures, especially if it also finds due place in the mass media, could contribute to the dialogue, as a means of improving interethnic and international relations.

Objectives of the Conference on Islamic and Christian Cultures 

            The Council for Research in Values and Philosophy (Washington, D.C.), Sofia University, “St. Kliment Ohridski,” and the Minerva Foundation (Sofia) organized a conference on the theme “Islamic and Christian Cultures – Conflict or Dialogue” which was held on November 12-15, 1998 in Sofia, Bulgaria.  Scholars from different disciplines, relevant to the theme, were invited:  Cultural Studies, Islamic Studies, Theology, Cultural Anthropology, Intercultural Communication, Social Psychology, Sociology, Political Science, History and Philosophy.  This interdisciplinary event provided a meeting to present different points of view on the issue, to overcome the one-sidedness of the various approaches and to attempt to give a satisfactory answer to many important questions concerning the antagonisms between the Islamic and Christian worlds.

            The Council for Research in Values and Philosophy was founded as an international organization to identify issues in need of research, regarding the meaning, values and development of social life, and to draw together the specialized competencies needed in order to carry out studies of these issues.

            Sofia University is the oldest, largest and most prestigious university in Bulgaria.  It has a tradition of teaching and research on intercultural relations.  One of the first M.A. programmes at this university was on Intercultural Dialogue, which dealt primarily with issues concerning the relations among the Bulgarian, Turkish and Romanian ethnocultural communities in the country.

            The Minerva Foundation supports the Intercultural Dialogue Programme.  It has established a large project in intercultural education, financed by the Phare Democracy Programme of the European Community and is presently at work on a second project.

            Bulgaria is an ideal location for a scholarly event on the relations between Islamic and Christian cultures.  Being a country on the frontier between these two worlds, Bulgaria, with the exception of the final years of the Communist rule, has been a place of peaceful coexistence for the two cultures.  Even the irresponsible actions of the Communist authorities between 1984 and 1989 were not able to destroy the events in certain other Balkan countries.  The conference, “Islamic and Christian Cultures – Conflict or Dialogue” profited from the positive atmosphere in Sofia and was an important step towards resolving the key issues in the relations between these two world cultures.