Douglas Johnston, in Religion, the Missing Dimension of Statecraft has developed three broad categories under which religious institutions and people can support the work of conflict transformation. They can direct the change inevitable in societies seeking transformation; they can provide physical and intellectual space for such change; and they can support change that has already happened. As proposed by Gladys Ganiel in her book Evangelicalism and Conflict in Northern Ireland, religious groups can also be divided into three different levels (ecumenical organizations and denominations; congregations and other religious organizations; and networks), with increasing ability to impact conflict transformation within societies. Combined, these two theories provide helpful insights into the limits and possibilities of religion in conflict transformation and peace cultivation.
Ganiel’s first level includes ecumenical organizations and denominations. These organizations are least able to direct change because they are far removed from the feelings and actions of the masses on the ground. However, they can provide the theological space, or the permission, if you will, for their members to seriously engage in conflict transformation and reconciliation. Also, they can powerfully support societal transformation in various ways. They can, for example:
- contribute to change within religious organizations which are themselves complicit in the conflict
- improve support for a peace agreement for contentious issues in a settlement process
- be brilliant networkers between a society’s policy makers and its masses, bringing the concerns of the one to the other and vice versa. This is a key function of conflict transformation and few organizations are as aptly suited to it as religious ones.
The second level is that of congregations and other organizations, including religious non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Groups at this level are more able to speak prophetically into societies because they are more connected to normal people. They can direct change in numerous ways, including developing friendships between congregations on different sides of divided societies. The Clonard-Fitzroy Fellowship, a fellowship between a Catholic parish and a Protestant church in Belfast, was a pioneering example of this type of work. Churches can provide a very tangible space for change when they provide the facilities for off-the-record talks between governments and “terrorist” groups or between still-warring parties. Again Clonard-Fitzroy is a fantastic example of that. Religious NGOs can be models of good forms of religious identity in societies which have discredited organized religion. Finally, both congregations and religious NGOs can garner support for peace settlements, and they can also address the sense of threatened identity that inevitably people will experience while cultivating a more peaceful society.
The third level is made up of religious networks; I will include and individuals as well. This level is most able to speak into societal transformation and can be a very potent force for change. Indeed, often the actions of one person contributes more to reconciliation within a society than the words of whole organizations. John Paul Lederach, a popular scholar-practitioner in the field of conflict transformation, suggests that a critical mass, a large number of people, is not as important in societal transformation as a critical yeast, that is, as enough people who are passionate and well-placed, who find the space to do what needs to be done and to be what society needs them to be in order to cultivate peace. History is ripe with examples of individuals who have directly changed their societies and who have provided space for such change: Martin Luther King Jr, Mahatma Gandhi, the women of Liberia. In addition, individuals’ efforts to change society contribute to a more robust civil society which most often has a positive correlation with the quality of democracy found in that country, thereby (at least in theory) supporting the cultivation of peace within the country.
Religious organizations and people of all shapes and sizes can powerfully impact the transformation of their societies and of the world. All that is necessary is that they utilize the resources of their religion for reconciliation. I will look more closely at this topic in my next blog, so stayed tuned.
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