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So, after a lot of hearing and sitting and chatting,

it is my pleasure now to invite you to the last part, official part of this day.

We have now heard an opening lecture and five statements

in which the question about the contribution of religions to the common good

has been answered from a specific perspective.

In this panel discussion we want to mix the perspectives,

we want to interrelate them by exchange, dialogue and communication.

Before we start I want to say a big thank you to the participants,

the six speakers for their willingness even with jet lag and everything to do this too.

Thank you very much. I think we can do a little while.

Applause

And two sentences to the procedure.

This will start as a classical panel discussion with six experts discussing

and me trying to facilitate the dialogue.

But we want to get quite soon you all involved.

I think that's important so we won't do this too long in this setting

and then you have the possibility to ask questions, give your own thoughts and ideas.

And so we want to have a real dialogue here.

So I think let's start.

When discussing the contribution of the religions to the common good,

most of us here are in a way insiders.

We are rooted in a particular religious tradition

and by that are in one way or another convinced that religion does contribute

to peace, well-being and civic engagement.

However, in many societies this conviction is more and more contested.

A few days ago here in Germany a survey was published

that is widely discussed in the public.

According to the survey, seven out of ten Germans wanted religious education

in schools replaced by a more general form of value education.

Additionally, a clear majority of the respondents stated that in their view

general values should lie at the center of such an education,

not religious or particular beliefs.

Therefore my question, is the trust in the societal importance

and the cohesive power of religion waning?

I think this is a question that needs both sociological and theological consideration

and therefore I address being a German realm here this question first to Annette Schwabe

and then to Heinrich Pettwart-Strohm from the perspective of public theology and church.

Yes, thank you very much and I think that is a very interesting observation

and I think from the survey research perspective it is in fact the case

that two things can be observed that at least in Germany a lot of people

don't know much about religion.

They have the idea that the others do have religion but not themselves,

a lot of them that are not involved into day-to-day religious activities at least.

And I think for those it is really hard to understand the standpoint

and the perspective that different kinds of religions can contribute to society.

Thank you and I think that poses a great challenge both for church and theology

and maybe you have an idea how to meet this challenge.

Well first of all I did read the survey and I would be interested in hearing more

about what the questions were because often the results have also to do with the questions