Coexistence of Cultures – Foreigner among Afghans and Muslim among Czechs

February 4, 2011

Discussion about the coexistence of the majority population with people of different cultural and religious backgrounds.

Another program of the Interfaith Dialogue Series took place at Moravian Regional Library in Brno February 2, 2011 focusing on the coexistence of the majority population with people of different cultural and religious backgrounds. The organizers of the event – the Moravian Regional Library, the U.S. Embassy in the Czech Republic, and Libertas Independent Agency – followed up on a previous panel discussion “Integration of Muslims in the U.S.A. and Czech Republic” about the specific U.S. experience with the coexistence of different ethnicities and religious groups.

Masaryk University Philosophy Faculty Historian Professor Jiří Hanuš concentrated on the past pitfalls of Christian/Jewish life together in Europe and drew parallels to possible scenarios of relations between Muslims and the European majority population. Czech Muslim Lukas Lhotan explained the main reasons why some Czechs embrace Islam and how people respond to their conversion. Protestant clergyman and Ecumenical Council of Churches member Mikuláš Vymětal defended the notion that the common higher principles of the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim religions will overcome the earthly differences.

See how the panelists answered the question on  what Christian/Jewish/Muslim coexistence will look like in 20 years.