Contact: William Murray, Religious Freedom Coalition, 202-742-8990

WASHINGTON, Jan. 20 /Christian Newswire/ -- A noted Australian scholar on classic Islam, Dr. Mark Durie, will be available in Washington, DC January 20th and 21st.

In the classical Islamic ideology of conquest, the first choice offered to non-Muslims was conversion to Islam; the second choice was the sword; and the third was surrender. In his new book, The Third Choice, theologian Mark Durie critiques the history and ideology of surrender -- the "third choice" -- which determined the lived reality of dhimmis (non-Muslims) under Muslim rule. The worldview of dhimmitude, it is argued, offers indispensable keys for understanding current trends in global politics, including the widening impact of sharia revival, deterioration of human rights for non-Muslims in Islamic societies, jihad terrorism, recurring patterns of Western appeasement, and the often tense relationship between migrant Muslim communities in the West and their host societies.

Dr. Mark Durie is a theologian, human rights activist and pastor of an Anglican church. He has published many articles and books on the language and culture of the Acehnese, and on Christian-Muslim relations and religious freedom. A graduate of the Australian National University and the Australian College of Theology, Durie 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.

LAST SCHEDULED PUBLIC EVENT:
Date: Thursday, January 21, 2010 - Time: 12:00 Noon - 1:30 PM
Location: THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION'S LEHRMAN AUDITORIUM
214 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE, NE WASHINGTON, DC 20002
Pease RSVP online at www.heritage.org/Press/Events/terms.cfm or call (202) 675-1752

MEDIA CONTACT 202.742.8990

Distributed by: Religious Freedom Coalition – www.rfcnet.org