Polarization and the Pursuit of Peace: Multi-Faith Appeals to Human Dignity
Christ Church, Oxford | 28-29 July 2025
“Polarization and the Pursuit of Peace: Multi-Faith Appeals to Human Dignity” was held at Christ Church, University of Oxford, July 28-29, 2025. This event is the third annual workshop focusing on multi-faith perspectives on human dignity. A 2023 workshop on “Foundations and Founding Figures of the UDHR” produced a special edition of The Review of Faith & International Affairs commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. A 2024 workshop, “AI and Human Dignity: Exploring Implications for Faith, Freedom, Fairness, and Flourishing,” also resulted in a special edition of The Review of Faith & International Affairs (forthcoming).
This year’s Workshop was again organized by Professor Brett Scharffs, director of Brigham Young University’s International Center for Law and Religion Studies (ICLRS); Professor Paul Martens of Baylor University; and Professor Dicky Sofjan of Gadjah Mada University and the Indonesian Consortium for Religious Studies.
During the two-day Workship, participants shared their initial research in a 15-minute presentation and then received feedback from their fellow participants to help refine their work. Authors explored the constructive and constitutive role that human dignity plays in the pursuit of peace with particular focus on accounts of human dignity that emerge from religious or spiritual traditions, since these traditions orient the social perceptions and actions of billions of people on a day-to-day basis. The final articles will be published in a book by Baylor University Press.