4. `A system of symbols which acts to establish powerful,
pervasive, and long-lasting moods and motivations in
men by formulating conceptions of a general order of
existence and clothing these conceptions with such an
aura of factuality that the moods and motivations seem
uniquely realistic.
REFFERENCE
American anthropologist Clifford Geertz
5. Conflict is an expression of the heterogeneity of interests,
values and beliefs that arise as new formations generated
by social change come up against inherited constraints’
Reference
By Ramsbotham, Woodhouse and Mial
6. Peace is a stress-free state of security and
calmness that comes when there’s no fighting or
war, everything coexisting in perfect harmony and
freedom.
7. Conflict and violence often have a religious dimension, whether
they occur between adherents of different faith traditions or rivals
within a faith tradition. Religion may play a role as a marker of
identity,
a mobilizing device, a basis for rationalizing violent behavior or
a source of values on which to base peace-building and reconciliation.
The relationships between religious and other key actors, especially in
the state, are complex. Religious leaders may play important roles in
instigating or preventing violence, and in either sustaining bad feeling
or attempting to prevent a re-occurrence.
8. Another way of establishing an indirect relationship between religion
and violence is by focusing on the inaction of religious groups. Building
(1986), for example, argues that religions have not succeeded in using
their potential for peace building, and thus they have lent support to
states when they are at war. While religion has not ignited a conflict,
it has worked as ‘an obstacle to peace’. The majority of experts on religion and
politics, nationalism, and conflict
and peace, however, concur that conflicts are usually characterized by a set of
motivations and their interactions, and thus an analysis of
conflict factors cannot be limited to only one of these dimensions, be
it religious, political, historical, or economic.
9. In The Ambivalence of the Sacred, Appleby (2000) emphasizes that
ethics and ethical convictions, as expressed through religious beliefs,
are main drivers for peace. Regardless of which religion may be
prevalent, the ethical power of religion can help to unite divided societies.
For Thomas (2005) too, religion has a role to play, especially as it can
facilitate a dialogue about ‘virtues’ for shaping a better society. However,
while acknowledging this and the useful characteristics of faith-based
networks and NGOs, he warns against a reductionist approach, in which
an instrumentalist perspective of religion and a logic of problem-solving
prevail while the need to address other issues and involve other actors
is downplayed or discounted.
10. Following are the ways to promote power of
religion:
1“Religion-based’ actors need sufficient financial,
technical and human resources for expert training,
networking activities, public relations campaigns,
human rights monitoring, electoral observation,
conflict prevention and reconciliation projects.”
11. 2. Internal ‘religion-based’ actors are needed. Even if external actors
want to get engaged in conflict resolution activities, they are more
likely to succeed if they rely on internal actors in the conflict. Yet,
Weingarten argues, such actors need to be identified, strengthened
and supported over the long run, through support to relevant
organizations and actors through trainings, cooperation,
and networking. The value of involving faith-based grassroots actors
and whole indigenous communities, and not just religious leaders,
is reiterated by a number of scholars (see among others Little 2007;
Lederach 1997; Johnston 2003, 2005).
12. 3. Religious education should focus on the positive aspects of religion.
Whereas ‘religious analphabetism’ (or illiteracy) per se does not lead
to conflict (see also Appleby 2000), religious education that focuses
predominantly on the confrontational and violence- supporting
elements of religion can be exploited by political and religious leaders
to promote violence and foil peace processes.
Thus, education on the peaceful elements of one’s own religion
and of those of other people can be a strong factor for building
resilience against violence. The US State Department and the UK
Foreign & Commonwealth Office have already been taken up this
recommendation, and set up training programmers on religious
literacy for their personnel, even though participation in both
schemes is on a voluntary basis (Mandaville and Silvestri 2015).
13. 4. Moderate religious leaders need to be supported. The crucial
role played by moderate religious leaders has been widely
acknowledged. Weingardt (2008a, 2008b) believes that the
international community should support these leaders early on and
that their role as partners in dialogue and cooperation should be
strengthened to counteract fundamentalist tendencies in religion.
14. Although it has been shown that religion can contribute to the escalation of conflicts,
there is no fixed recipe for establishing which combination of actors, claims, external
factors and religious features can ignite tensions and violence, where religious
dimensions are central. Recognizing the role of religion and engaging with its multiple
facets do not replace the other work required to address the other interlocking issues
(e.g. deprivation, marginalization, institutional malfunctioning, state failure, global
dynamics of dependency, etc.) related to conflict and peace. Even in those conflicts
where religion appears to be a strong causal element, research shows that political
manipulation of it rather than bodies of doctrine are what matters most. In diplomacy
and peacemaking, emphasis has often been put on the
potential of religion to promote transformation, rather than on delivering immediate
solutions to conflicts. We have also learnt that involving faith in conflict resolution is
not about converting the parties to a particular religion or abandoning secular
international human rights standards that underpin peace processes. Rather, it is about
reinforcing the path to peace and reconciliation with a religious grammar that is
familiar to the actors involved and that enables them to fully engage in a process that
also requires a degree of self-transformation.
