CONFERENCE SPEAKERS

CONFERENCE PROGRAMME

8.30am — Registration

8.45am — Dr Roy Barton — Welcome and Opening Prayer

Elizabeth Kendal — Protecting Freedom of Religion or Belief — an overview of global trends covered in the CFF submission to the DFAT inquiry; Mark Durie — Equality, Inequality and Religious Freedom — the requirement that Muslims rule over non-Muslims; — the theological dynamic behind the Ahok ‘blasphemy’ case in Indonesia; Islamic political coexistence with non-Muslims drawn from different jurisdictions and Islamic legal authorities; — policy suggestions for advocacy;

Morning Tea 10.45 — 11.00

Mark Durie — The Inequality of Women Under Islam

— why a choice not to conform to Islamic principles is both an equality issue and a religious freedom issue for Muslim women;

Martyn Iles — The Rise of Christian Persecution in the West

Persecution according to Jesus (Matt 5:10-16): Does it happen in the West? How and where? The increasingly popular use of ‘lawfare’ and social pressure against Christian expression in Australia - real case studies from around the nation and the world – how to respond.

Lunch 1.00—1.45

Martyn Iles — Cultural changes in the West: Postmodernism, Paganism and Religious Freedom Culture according to Paul (Romans 1): How are we to understand the breakdown of our Christian culture? Examining driving forces behind seemingly nonsensical and insane social changes — the serious challenge of postmodernism and the emerging problem of neopaganism: implications for our laws and our freedom. Marina William and David Fouad — The Copts of Egypt: from World Power to Persecuted Minority; Afternoon Tea 3.45 — 4.00

Elizabeth Kendal — A Voice for the Voiceless in Papua, Chittagong Hills Tracts, Laos and Iran – highlighting main CFF submissions to DFAT in 2017.

5.00pm — Close with exhortation and prayer.

ELIZABETH KENDAL— A.Mus.A, B.Ed (Mus), D.Min (honorary), international religious liberty monitor, analyst of worldwide trends in persecution — the Christian response and God’s redemptive power. Elizabeth serves as the Director of Advocacy for Christian Faith and Freedom, and is an Adjunct Research Fellow at the Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam at the Melbourne School of Theology. She is the author of ‘Turn Back the Battle’, and ‘After Saturday Comes Sunday’ which has been short-listed among the best Australian Christian books for 2017. She will be a keynote speaker at the Crisis Publishing Initiative conference in Hungary in October.

MARTYN ILES — Master of Laws (ANU); founder and Managing Director of the Human Rights Law Alliance (HRLA) which provides advocacy for those facing legal challenges for living out their Christian convictions. Following work with a top-tier law firm in Brisbane, Martyn was Chief of Staff for the Australian Christian Lobby and still acts as their Legal Counsel. He frequently appears at parliamentary inquiries and public fora, and advises on a wide range of policy matters. Martyn has a keen interest in teaching scripture, and operated a youth ministry with disadvantaged teenagers for six years. He maintains ministry engagements speaking at schools, churches and Bible studies.

REV DR MARK DURIE —PhD in Linguistics from the National University and a ThD in Qur’anic Theology from the Australian College of Theology, Mark is an academic, human rights activist, Anglican pastor, a Shillman-Ginsburg Writing Fellow at the Middle East Forum, and Adjunct Research Fellow of the Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam at Melbourne School of Theology. He has published many articles and books on Christian-Muslim relations and religious freedom. He has held visiting appointments at the University of Leiden, MIT, UCLA and Stanford, and was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities in 1992.

MARINA WILLIAM —Egyptian-born, Marina graduated in Law, Behavioural Science (Psychology) and French at a university in Adelaide. Her thesis advocated greater protect ion of the political rights of the persecuted Copts — the original inhabitants of Egypt. She is a member of the Australian Coptic Movement of Australia, and represented the Copts at the 2017 DFAT—NGO Human Rights Forum. Marina is currently undertaking a legal/policy graduate program within the public service in Canberra.

DAVID FAOUD — A student at the ANU studying for a Bachelor of International Relations/PPE (Politics, Philosophy and Economics), David is currently employed with Big Improvements Tutoring, and tutors students from K-12 in a range of subjects. He is a member of the Australian Coptic Movement Association (ACMA) which advocates for greater political and civil liberties for the persecuted Coptic minority in Egypt. He represented ACMA at the 2016 DFAT—NGO Forum and advocates on behalf of the Copts in radio interviews.