The modern, secular West prides itself on tolerating all religions and none, Islam included and most people believe Muslims should be free to practice their religion without hindrance. Yet there are signs that this liberal tradition is waning. It is not only Islamists who want to tell people what to believe, of all places, it is university campuses that pride themselves on a ‘zero tolerance’ approach to speech and beliefs deemed harmful to students and put pressure on academics to keep tabs on potentially ‘radicalised’ students. So are the Enlightenment concepts of freedom of conscience and tolerance still relevant to the modern world?
This challenging and vital debate was filmed at the Battle of Ideas at the Barbican and the speakers are: Dolan Cummings, associate fellow, Institute of Ideas, editor, Debating Humanism; Dr Eliza Filby, visiting lecturer in Modern British History, King’s College London; Dr Humeria Iqtidar, senior lecturer in politics, King’s College London; Christopher Jamison, Benedictine monk, Worth Abbey; Leszek Jazdzewski, editor-in-chief, Polish liberal journal Liberté! The chair is Angus Kennedy, convenor, The Academy, author, Being Cultured: in defence of discrimination.
