"We need to overcome both fear and despair": A seminar on justice and overcoming violence

 

The churches' understanding of, and response to, two critical contemporary issues - justice and violence, and to the complex relationship between them - is often limited. Justice can be narrowly understood in legal or traditional retributive terms; whereas violence can merely be seen as the outcome of personal sin. But as churches increasingly see their role as peacemakers in a conflict-torn world, where religion itself is misused and abused to foster violence, further theological and political discernment is needed to inspire and enlighten their peacemaking efforts.

A contribution to this discernment was made at an international seminar on the theme "Striving for Justice - Overcoming Violence", which was held at the WCC's Bossey Ecumenical Institute from 3-7 July 2006, jointly sponsored by the Association of Churches and Missions in South Western Germany (EMS) and the Centre for Ecumenical Work of the Protestant Church in Hesse and Nassau (EKHN).

A number of experienced speakers addressed the event. Rev. Hansuli Gerber, coordinator of the WCC's Decade to Overcome Violence (DOV), spoke to the group on the deliberations, experiences and results of the recent WCC Porto Alegre assembly for the DOV, and plans to give greater impulse to this initiative in the second half of the decade.

Ms Jean Blaylock, from the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance, talked about the global "Trade for people, not people for trade" campaign, which is helping Christians and churches to promote trade justice and to seek recognition of the priority of human rights over trade agreements.

Dr Aruna Gnanadason - who coordinates the WCC's Justice, Peace, Creation work - and Rev. Ulrike Schmidt-Hesse, head of the Department for Mission and Partnership of the EMS, spoke about the possibility of an alternative globalization. They emphasized the need to undertake joint theological analysis and to develop common strategies to deal with the relationship between justice and violence. "It is high time for the churches to act together on the effects of globalization," stated Dr Gnanadason.

"We need to overcome both fear and despair. This is nurtured by the ecumenical vision of life in all its fullness, of the biblical shalom. In our work for peace it is crucial to include the overcoming of structural violence and of economic injustice," said Rev. Schmidt-Hesse, the initiator of the seminar.

The biblical and ethical background on the topic was explored by Dr Guillermo Kerber, programme executive for impunity, justice and reconciliation of the WCC. Dr Kerber underlined that the "quest for justice in the Bible is intimately related to the rights of the oppressed and the vulnerable ones," what could be called, in international legal terms, the "rights of the victims".

In this respect, the discussion of case studies in the seminar was essential, as Rev. Schmidt-Hesse stated, "for it allowed the debate on concrete expressions of our work for justice and to overcome violence in different contexts, and for providing entry points to analyze a very complex issue." Several examples were presented by participants.

 

Fishing reconciles

One example was given from Indonesia. Following 32 years of authoritarian regime, the Suharto regime was toppled in May 1998. The ethnic, religious, and political tensions kept in check under his rule erupted in the months following his downfall. In 1999 and 2000 Halmahera, the largest of the Moluccas islands, was the main context of this ethnic and religious confrontation which claimed over 5,000 lives.

"Fishing Reconciles" was one concrete initiative of the Evangelical Christian Church in Halmahera to help Christian and Muslims to overcome hatred and heal wounds experienced during those clashes. In June 2004, a crew of Muslims and Christians from the village of Gamhoku set off for their first fishing trip in a new boat. Later that day, the wives of the crew sold the catch in the local market and the money made was equally shared among them. Ever since, twenty Muslim and Christian fishermen have been casting their nets together. In Bukubualawa, another Halmahera's village, a similar cooperative has been set up.

Funding for the two boats came from EMS, which has launched a "Sow Peace - Harvest the Future" campaign for 2004 to 2006. Through this campaign, the 27 churches in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East that make up EMS worldwide fellowship participate in a number of local initiatives on conflict resolution and reconciliation.

The scars and bitterness are still there, but cooperating in a concrete economic endeavour for the benefit of their families and the community has helped to prevent new conflicts, argued Ms. Monika Lude, a sociologist and secretary for Ecumenical Missionary Learning of EMS.

 

Supporting conscious objectors in Eritrea

Another example was shared from the African continent. Following a 30-year struggle for independence, Eritrea became involved in military conflict, first with Yemen (1995-96) and then with its old adversary, Ethiopia (1998-2000) before a fragile peace was attained. The authorities are accused by observers of using torture, arbitrary detention, and the ill-treatment of political prisoners.

In a country with such a history of military conflicts, military service is compulsory and the right to conscientious objection is not recognized. Yet there are thousands of Eritrean conscientious objectors and deserters who, when captured, are not entitled to a legal trial and are submitted to humiliating punishment by the military. Many of those who refuse to comply with the military service flee the country and seek political asylum elsewhere.

Rev. Mechthild Gunkel, secretary for peace work of the Centre for Ecumenical Work of the Evangelical Church in Hesse and Nassau (EKHN), explained the scope of the so-called "Eritrean anti-Militaristic Initiative", sponsored by this church. "The immediate goal is to protect the Eritrean conscientious objectors and to offer them asylum in Europe. A long-term goal is to achieve that the right to object military conscription be universally recognized." The churches have also worked to raise this issue at the international and UN levels.

 

Moving the DOV to the centre of church life

Participants agreed that, beyond changing individual behaviour, churches and Christians must understand the root causes behind personal and communal violence.

The complexity of the issues was readily acknowledged. In one participant's terms, "in human conflicts there is an awful lot of history", and deep-seated wounds do not heal in one generation. Peace, on the other hand, "can be very fragile," and personal and structural transformation for the sake of justice are more difficult. And yet there was consensus that the road towards a more peaceful world begins by tackling the structural and systemic inequalities that lead to violence. For, if absolute reconciliation is an eschatological process that can not be fulfilled within human history, it is nonetheless an essential mandate for peace-loving Christians.

In evaluating the seminar, one participant characterized it as "extremely thought-provoking" whereas another summarized the general feeling by saying that it had helped to discern new ways to enable the vision of the Decade to Overcome Violence to be moved "to the very core of the life of the churches".

 

* Manuel Quintero (from Cuba) is the Director of Frontier Internship in Mission, an international programme which supports mission initiatives that nurture justice and transformation in partnership with religious communities and community-based organizations worldwide.

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