POTENTIAL CONFLICT RESOLUTION ROLES FOR FAITH-BASED ACTORS

There are various specific roles religious leaders or faith-based actors can play in resolving ethno-religious conflicts (see USIP 2001; 2003). Based on the categorization developed by Cynthia Sampson (1997), these can be identified as advocacy, mediation, observation, education and interfaith dia­logue (see Curle 1971 and Sampson 1997).

Unique qualities of religious leaders and faith-based organizations

There are many benefits involved in includ­ing religion and religious actors in con­flict resolution processes. These benefits are derived from the unique qualities reli­gious leaders have (for more information, see Bercovitch and Kadayifci forthcoming). Three major distinctive qualities of these actors include:

1. Legitimacy and credibility: Willingness, commitment to peace and motivation are critical for resolving conflicts and building peace (Bercovitch and Kadayifci-Orellana 2002).

Religious leaders derive this legitimacy from the religio-cultural tradition of their societies, which is what Weber (1978) called “subjective sources of legitimacy.” This legit­imacy equips religious leaders with the sole authority to interpret religious texts. Although conflict resolution scholars and practitioners can tap into various religious sources of conflict resolution, only religious leaders, who are recognized as an authority, can interpret religious texts legitimately.

Additionally, as people of faith and God, religious leaders are usually perceived to be more even-handed and trustworthy, as they are considered to be working only to please God. Thus, they have stronger moral/spiritual legitimacy than secular leaders, especially in communities where corruption and bribery has been a problem. They are very respected and listened to in their communities, thus they can influence the opinions of their followers.

Additionally, many religious actors have been working within these communities for long periods of time and have a credible record of work and commitment. Thus, as insider-partial interveners and as middle­range leaders (Wehr and Lederach 1991), who know the history and the traditions as well as the needs (both physical and emotional) of the parties, they are often better equipped to reach out to the people both at grass­roots and top leadership levels, to mobilize them, to rehumanize the other using religious values and to motivate them to work towards peace.

2. Resources to heal trauma and injuries: At times of conflict, parties may commit gross violations of human rights and excessive vio­lence. Consequently, communities involved in conflict are traumatized and have deep injuries. Painful memories of conflict, loss of loved ones and injuries suffered cause deep emotional and psychological stress (see also Gopin 2002: 95-100). In order to establish a sustainable peace, there is need to heal these injuries and trauma. Especially during ethno-religious conflicts, where parties live very close to each other and share a long history of violence and conflict, these injuries and traumas can be quite deep, thus hard to heal. Religious texts and images provide the faithful with a sense of meaning to suffering, death and destitution. Religious beliefs such as belief in destiny, divine justice and rewards could help people overcome grief and give them tools to cope with loss and suffering. Religious values such as forgiveness, patience and reconciliation may help them reconcile with catastrophic events, and let go of pain and hurt. Religious leaders often know their communities well and have a better sense of their physical, psychological and spiritual needs. Consequently, they can provide the appropriate emotional, psychological and spiritual support and resources for healing trauma and injuries. Religious leaders, with their knowledge of the tradition and training in empathy among others, can help individuals and groups to refocus on these values, images and beliefs and thus may effectively help them overcome their suffering and pain.

3. Financial, institutional and human resources available to them: Another key aspect of religious actors is the financial, institutional and human resources available to them. It is quite often the case that when a peace agreement is signed, funding organizations and states shift their resources to other areas which they consider more urgent because conflict resolution and peace building processes are costly. However, resolving conflicts and building sustainable peace requires long-term commitment and financial, institutional and human resources to support that commitment. Faith-based groups such as St Egidio Community, Mennonites Islamic Relief Services among others have well-established regional and global networks which they can draw upon for institutional, financial and human resources.

Religious leaders also have a broad com­munity base through their congregations or mother institutions, which provide a wide pool to draft committed and unwavering staff that can devote the necessary time to mediation, reconciliation or peace education as part of service to God. These leaders have access to community members through mosques/churches/temples, community cen­ters and educational institutions, such as Bible/Quranic schools. Through sermons, lectures, and education, they can reach out to a large number of people, both at grass-roots level and at the level of top leadership as their status is recognized at both levels. For that reason, at times, they can be more effective than secular institutions with less financial, institutional and human resources.

Contributions ofreligious leaders and faithbased actors

Based on these qualities, religious actors may make unique contributions to conflict resolu­tion. Some of these contributions include the following (see also Abu Nimer and Kadayifci- Orellana 2005; Bouta et al. 2005):

1. Altering behaviors, attitudes, negative stereotypes and mind frames: As stated earlier, one of the key requirements for trans­forming ethno-religious identity conflicts is altering the behaviors, attitudes, negative stereotypes and mind frames of the parties.

2. Healing trauma and injuries: As men­tioned above, ethno-religious identity con­flicts of our time often take place between communities that live in close proximity. These communities usually have a long history of violence and gross violations of human rights. During these conflicts, civilians suffer disproportionately, fostering bitter feelings towards the other. Without addressing the suffering and the pain, and without healing trauma and injuries caused by these conflicts, it is virtually impossible to repair the relationship between the parties. Religious actors, with the spiritual, psycho­logical, emotional and textual resources they have, are in a unique position to address such suffering and heal traumas and injuries. For that reason, their involvement in conflict resolution processes can make a contribution by helping parties heal.

3. Contributing to more effective dis­semination of ideas such as democracy, human rights, justice and development: It is becoming widely recognized today that the absence of democratic values, human rights principles, institutions that promote social and economic justice and sustainable develop­ment leads to structural violence (Galtung 1990). In ethnically or religiously divided societies, the presence of structural violence can be especially volatile, as it can be a fertile ground for the dynamics of cultural violence to lead to direct violence. For that reason, democratic values, principles of pluralism and human rights as well as institutions that ensure social and economic justice and sustainable development need to be woven into the fabric of these societies in order to prevent and resolve ethno-religious conflicts.

4. Drafting committed people from a wide pool due to their broad community base: Resolving complex conflicts such as ethno-religious identity conflict requires the involvement of all segments of the communities involved and a large number of unwavering people committed to peace. However, peace work is often dangerous as it may involve interacting with paramilitaries, rebels or insurgents. This interaction may be perceived as suspicious, therefore a threat, by the government authorities. Moreover, talking to the enemy may incite accusations as traitors and threaten the lives of these actors. In addition to the physical dangers involved, peace making involves time and finances, which are scarce. Therefore, finding committed people, who are willing to risk their lives and livelihood is not always easy. On the other hand, religious actors, such as the Mennonites for example, view peace making as a religious calling. Through their international and local connections, these actors can draft committed people to do peace work for the sake of God.

5. Challenging traditional structures: In many of the societies experiencing ethno­religious conflicts, there are traditional structures that discriminate against certain segments of the societies (such as reli­gious other, women etc.). These traditional structures facilitate the institutionalization of structural violence, and when coupled with cultural violence, they often lead to direct violence. In societies where religion plays an important role, these structures are justified though religious traditions. When that is the case, religious actors, who have the legitimate authority to interpret the religious texts, can challenge these structures more effectively than secular ones. Therefore, religious actors can be effective agents of change to replace these structures with more inclusive ones.

6. Reaching outtothe government, effecting policies, and reaching out to grass-roots: Involving all segments of the society is key to resolving ethno-religious conflicts and establishing sustainable peace. This means that both an official peace agreement between governments and changing the mind frame of the population at the grass-roots level is necessary. As pointed out by Lederach (1998), middle-range leaders who are connected to both top-level leadership and the grass­roots level can effectively contribute to conflict resolution. Religious actors fit into the description of middle-range leaders offered by Lederach. Often, they have legitimacy in the eyes of both the government and the public in general. Their involvement has the potential to motivate the ordinary people to pressure their political leaders to adopt a political settlement to resolve the conflict, because they can mobilize and motivate their communities to change their behavior and attitudes much more effectively then secular actors. Although these religious leaders or actors cannot resolve the conflict alone, they can significantly contribute to the official and other secular mediation and settlement efforts. Their involvement may motivate parties to negotiate, as was the case with Sierra Leone (Turay n.d.), or may open a rehumanizing window, as was the case with the Quakers in Nicaragua (Nichols 1994; Sampson 1994). Therefore, they can effectively communicate with and influence both groups, and bridge gaps between them.

7. Mediating between conflicting parties: Increasingly, religious actors are interven­ing in conflict situations as mediators, and not without success (see Bercovitch and Kadayifci-Orellana forthcoming). For example, Pope John Paul II was able to successfully mediate the hundred-year-old conflict between Chile and Argentina during the Beagle Channel conflict (Garrett 1985). The Vatican was the only mediator both gov­ernments could agree to, as it possessed moral power and in these two Catholic nations, the public opinion was profoundly affected by the Pope's moral authority (Laudy 2000: 317). In addition to the moral legitimacy religious leaders have, they are often connected to the parties in some way. Therefore, they do not fit into the traditional mediator identity that is an impartial outsider. On the contrary, these religious leaders tend to be either from within the communities themselves or know the parties, their history and value systems well. Wehr and Lederach (1991) observe that in var­ious communities, such as Central America, those actors who are respected by the parties and have a vested interest in the outcome may be more effective peace makers. Key to the effectiveness of these “Insider-Partial” mediators (Wehr and Lederach 1991: 87) is the trust and credibility they have among their communities. Religious actors, as insider­partial mediators thus, can become effective mediators or facilitators to resolve ethno­religious conflicts.