Conference on Fundamentalism and the Media - University of Colorado, Boulder
When is fundamentalism about religion and when is it not?
What is being said in the name of fundamentalism and what impact does that have on social justice?
Are fundamentalist religious strategies a response to failures of the nation-state?
These questions were at the centre of debate among 75 communicators and academics attending the International Conference on Fundamentalism and the Media, 10-12 October 2006, Boulder, Colorado, USA.
Organized by the University of Boulder at Colorado, the World Association for Christian Communication (WACC) and its North American Regional Association, conference participants explored the global trends and local incidents which are the subject of now-daily news headlines.Steve Rabey, former Religion Editor of the Colorado Springs Gazette, offered a journalist's perspective, recalling an interview he had done with a Christian fundamentalist whose philosophy was, ?I don't know any more about theology than a jack-rabbit knows about ping-pong.
But I'm on my way to glory!??Waging Peace through the Media: What can we learn from fundamentalists?? was the title of a standing-room-only public lecture by R. Scott Appleby, director of the Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame, USA.
Appleby - who with prominent American theologian, Martin E. Marty, co-directed the Fundamentalism Project sponsored by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences - identified complexities and nuances that face contemporary societies, urging people to reflect on those complexities and keep open minds.
Participants attended the preview screening of the forthcoming PBS documentary, ?Knocking ? The Untold Story of Jehovah's Witnesses?, examining how the pursuit of religious faith and personal freedom meet at the front door. Two separate stories question preconceptions and assumptions about deeply-held faiths.Fundamentalism revisited is the theme of the first issue in 2007 of WACC's international journal Media Development. Articles will offer snapshots of the impact of fundamentalism on the local situation in India, Iraq, and parts of South America.
For further information Philip Lee Deputy Director, Program
The World Association for Christian Communication
Kristine Greenaway
WACC Tel. 416-691-1999 Fax 416-691-1997 KG@waccglobal.org