19 April 2008 (Journal entry #5 – final part of this assignment for “Key Issues in Peace and Conflict Studies”)
“If you want peace, prepare for war”
The last few weeks have focused on the concept of Security, and at the Iraq Never Again conference last week, these concepts tied neatly together.
It’s interesting to think about security developments over the last 500 years. What a massive change our society has been through in this time! I recently saw two movies that were set in the 15th and 16th Century: ‘The Other Boleyn Girl’ – about King Henry the Eighth and his second wife Anne; and ‘Elizabeth: The Golden Age’ – about the reign of Queen Elizabeth the First, King Henry and Anne’s daughter. These came at the right time, as they have helped me imagine the concepts in action. Territory/borders, military/armaments, to defend/expand, threats/fear. Power. Images of horses, battles, Spanish boats, explorers – float in an out of my head.
In these times of sovereignty, war was thought to be natural, inevitable, normal and good. This realist perspective, shared by Hobbes and Kant, is still reflected foreign policy to this day.
Is war inevitable or not? How likely is it to stop it? Attempts throughout history… what limited them from success? Can you have states without arms? How do we relate this to positive and negative peace? – Some of the questions posed in class.
Westphalia Treaty was signed in 1648. It’s incredible, simply incredible, how much the world has changed dramatically in the last 350 years. Today more than ever, we live in a world connected on so many different levels, and in my opinion, our Security agreements are struggling to keep up.
“Collective security”, “Comprehensive security”, “Common security” and the one I like the most “Cooperative security” – all powerful concepts that I would like to talk more about, however my word count is way over already, so I’m going to skip that and go straight to the very important concept “Peace with Justice.”
Peace with Justice – is it possible? How can it be achieved? In particular, how can we achieve a Positive Peace with Justice, in a non-violent way?
I do think a Positive Peace with Justice is possible, and I have combined what I have learned from readings, last week’s class, and the Iraq conference, into the following steps:
1 Awareness
It’s important to develop a non-judgmental yet critical awareness of ourselves, of others and of the world, and developing a literacy of Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Rees)
“The awareness that the “enemy” has needs and perceives injustice or unfairness in meeting those needs can help build productive relationships between groups in conflict. It can also create motivation for working together to solve the problem of shared unmet needs rather than the win-lose orientation.” (Schirch)
2 Understanding
With in-depth analysis, we must strive to understand all aspects of the problem from all perspectives. What are the core motives? Desire for ‘happiness’? Fear? What stands between the issue and the motive? Another’s desire for power? Indoctrination? Propaganda? All aspects must be understood.
‘Relations between States are essentially no different from relations between groups and persons. Conflict and violence are no less a problem at these levels and have the same fundamental sources.’ (Rees)
3 Collaboration
Developing a vision of what the world could be, and brainstorming ideas on how to get there. Exercising Power Creatively (Rees), using our imagination, developing liberation, and possessing knowledge; and coordinating an interdependence between actors on horizontal and vertical levels (Lederach)
As Joseph Camilleri said at the conference, “it starts with conversation at the kitchen table.”
4 Action
Setting up ‘institutionalised coordination networks’ and means of providing ‘restorative justice’ (Schirch) Empowering the people through education and resources. Practicing non-violence (Rees), leading by example, and basically, “making it happen.“
Helping people recognise that ‘happiness which contributes to a sense of peace derives not from personal gain, but from quality of life experiences.’ (Rees)
5 Evaluating and starting the process again
I think it’s useful to look at conflicts as processes (Lederach), moving away from a ‘myopic focus on agreements and events’, toward a ‘commitment of embracing the permanency of relationship building’. Lederach’s river metaphor created a clear picture in my mind of how to view the ‘conflict transformation’ (as opposed to ‘conflict resolution’) process: looking at problems from standing with water to your knees so you see, feel and hear the dynamic flow of water, force & power, change; and from standing high on a mountain, so that you see the shape and form that the water has carved in the land.
Like self-development: the process of learning and experience never stops. Paradoxically the only thing permanent – is change.
I think we should aim for a Holistic Peace, because this encompasses both Ethical Peace and Justpeace, focusing on inner peace and working outward. Maybe this is the Pilates teacher in me – wanting to strengthen the core, and working outward to tone the rest of the body from there…
While at the conference, Iraqi Samer Khamisy was twice asked “What do you think a vision of peace would look like in Iraq? He replied that he just couldn’t imagine it – the situation was hopeless. Without a vision of what you want, how can you get it?
I think we need to imagine how we want the world to be, and truly believe it is possible. In my personal experience, it is figuring out what you want that is the difficult bit – once you have this clear in your mind, getting it just comes, in it’s own time and in it’s own way – but it happens.
In the article by Mead, M. (1940/2000) the idea is presented that war is an invention. In order to move forward we need to recognise the defects of the old invention, and invent a new one. “First requirement is to believe that an invention is possible.”
As Stuart Rees says, in Passion for Peace: Exercising Power Creatively, “It starts with ourselves.”
Photo:
Kind of war-like… Maybe I need to take my camera out some more – or at least bother to connect with my hard drive… I’m exhausting the files I can randomly find on this laptop.
Photographer: Anatole Papafilippou
Taken in Tokyo a long time ago.
Conflict is an element of human nature that is the result of the egocentricity of mankind. Little children are born selfish. They don’t set out to be – they just are. In every childcare centre around the world little children can be seen trying to get the upper hand over their peers. They want to be the best and have the best. The number of times we see little kids fighting over the “red car” in the block area or the “pink mat” to sit on. At other times a game of chasing can quickly turn into a war of hitting and scratching with very little provocation. They aim to be the first in the line, first to paint or first to get a sticker. Kids want everything their own way. Why do you think people talk about the “Terrible Twos”? Even the so called “perfect child” has their moments. It usually happens when they get home after a long day at school when they have been trying hard to do the right thing all day. It is like the dam bursts. The child is out of control emotionally and the monster is unleashed. Of course as parents we understand. We just hold on for the rough ride and look forward to the time we can get them into bed and the time of sanity returns.
The child never really loses this egocentricity though it is tapered along the road of maturity. Egocentric adults are shunned in our society so as the child grows he learns to give in and live in harmony so that he is accepted into the peer group. Egocentricity doesn’t disappear though, it is just hidden more discreetly. Have you ever seen what happens when a person is filmed with a hidden camera? When they don’t think they are being seen the selfish egocentric side of their personality emerges and their actions are usually socially unacceptable. Why do people act this way?
There is a notion that there are two opposing elements in the world: Good and Evil. We are born evil and we cannot (no matter how hard we try) be good by ourselves. It is easier when we have someone to mentor and encourage us but we all fail eventually. We just do not have the strength. Money, beauty, education, power and good deeds do not help in our quest to find goodness. They are just distractions as they make us feel good in the moment. Very little is mentioned in our society about evil. People want to believe that they are “good people”. The idea that people who try hard will not go to heaven is always seen as unthinkable in our society. We tend to look at the murderers and child molesters as evil but what about the people who have murderous thoughts and porn viewers? Are they evil? What about the banks who take people’s homes without question when they cannot pay their loans? Are they evil?
It is the evil that is seen and unseen in this world that creates the conflict and troubles in the world. Many societies that have starving and oppressed people have governments that are evil and selfish. They don’t care about their people. They yearn for power. If we could get rid of the evil mindset we could fix the world’s problems more easily.
How can we get rid of evil? Where did evil come from?
Satan is alive and well. He is the fallen angel who was kicked out of heaven. He is at the heart of all evil. Don’t you think it strange that our society doesn’t talk about Satan anymore? Does that mean he doesn’t exist or is it that he is so cunning that he hides himself so that people forget about him?
One group that is well aware of his presence are the Satanists. They are a force that is getting stronger in our society. You only have to see the websites on the internet to know that Satan is alive and well. BE VERY CAREFUL. Unlike Christians, Satanists work in a perverse way. They hide in all areas of society and by sowing ideas of the power of man and self actualisation they feed the egocentric side of the person. When a person feels that they are in control of their life (no matter how destructive their life may be on themselves or others) they stop looking outwards and only look inwards.
Satan works to make the world unstable. He wants people to be scared and to question reality. Where God wants us to experience and share love, joy, peace, gentleness, patience and self control; Satan works to stir up unrest, anger, dependence on things, hatred and turmoil. Until we get rid of the evil in our lives we won’t have the joy and peace that the world needs?
I know that some people think that Christianity is a crutch. They think that it is something that came from the dark ages where people killed “in the name of God”. But don’t you see that if these people really KNEW GOD – I mean really had a personal relationship – not just a knowledge but a heart to heart friendship with God that was there 24/7 – that they would not have done these despicable acts? I think it was an egotistical, selfish power trip where they wanted a good excuse to take over the world. Yes, the bible did evolve through this period but from what I have seen and heard, the Bible has a special power that no one can explain. Have you read it lately? I know that my God is alive and with me every day. How do I know this? I can feel him. It’s not like being with another person. It’s not like adrenalin (or a sex drive) that comes and goes. God is a part of me. He is in my inside. Not just my head. My innermost. So many things have happened to me over the years but he has guided me every step of the way. Sometimes it’s been a bit scary when I didn’t know what was ahead, mainly because I hated not knowing what was going to happen, but you know I couldn’t be more content than where I am in my life right now. God has given me a job to do – teaching little children and showing them his love. I have great kids who love me and a supportive partner who I wouldn’t trade for the world. We are such great friends because he has God inside of him too. It is a lot easier to be less selfish when you have God with you. Does that mean that I don’t have problems or that something horrible won’t happen to me? Of course not. But I know that when something happens that turns my world upside down, God will be with me, helping me carry the burden and guiding me through the storm.
Does that mean I am perfect? Absolutely not!! That won’t happen till I get to heaven. Out of this sinful body and into God’s presence.
What can we do about the conflict and suffering in the world?
Jesus was a crusader for the weak and frail. He was unselfish and he put everyone before himself by dying on the cross. We need to do the same. There are some good churches which are doing amazing things. Have you checked out Hillsong Church lately?
They have many programs around the world saving young women and children who are being abused and victimised. Check out the website
http://www.thecoloursisterhood.com/story
to see some of the things they are doing.
I went to the Colour Conference 2010 and have the DVDs if you are interested.
Take care my beautiful niece
I will be praying for you as you search for the TRUTH,
May God be with you in your quest.
We love you heaps and heaps.
Thank you for taking the time to read my blog, and for your comments. I wrote this about one and a half years ago so my thoughts on conflict and violence and peace have evolved a lot since then.
Your comment got me thinking, and my response is quite long (must run in the family)… so here goes:
I agree you – that the ego is one of the main causes of violence. I think our egos often separate us from the mental physical and spiritual whole that we are a part of.
I suppose you would know more than me about children, being a teacher and all, and I’m glad you used the word selfish, not evil. Children must struggle to understand the cultural concepts of individualism and ownership that we bring them up in. I wonder how children would compare in other cultures – would they also be as selfish as ours?
In an essay I recently read called Charting the Life Story’s Path: Narrative Identity Across the Life Span, Jenna Baddley and Jefferson A. Singer, discuss studies that show the correlation between ‘the “elaborativeness” of a mother’s reminiscing style in conversations with her young child’ which is ‘a major determinant of that child’s future capability for generating detailed autobiographical memories’ (Peterson, Jesso & McCabe, 1999), which then in turn affects the nature of the child. So while European American parents encourage very child-centred and highly elaborative style – ‘teaching children how to be the kinds of individual and unique selves valued in this society;’ in China where parents ‘use a didactic, hierarchically organised and low-elaborative approach to reminiscing with their children’ the result is that children develop ‘an understanding that the self’s place is within a larger social order.’
I’m not making a judgement here about what is right and wrong, it’s just to note that there are many details, from culture to language to daily actions, affects the nature of a child. From what I have read it seems to me that children are born blank slates, and those that turn out whatever we define as “good” and “bad” is a consequence of all of what they see and experience from the moment of conception. Ok, I’m a bit side tracked – continuing in response to your comments.
I think that while evil isn’t named a lot in society, it is the most prominent thing in media. I think that religious and non religious alike see the dualistic dynamism that surrounds us – the opposites of good and evil, (personified as god and devil), cold and hot, yin and yang, that exist through our evolving definitions that allow us to evaluate which is which.
I think the reason no one talks much about Satan anymore is the same reason many don’t talk about God anymore – because these concepts have been abused so much in the past that people prefer to think of them in new, non-personified ways. Throughout the last two thousand years the church used Satan as the personification of whatever they didn’t want people to do eg wine and money were thought to be bad – just look at the evolution of how Satan was conceived through art over the ages. There’s a good documentary called the History of the Devil that is worth a watch.
No longer mentioning Satan also reflects the move from a mythological paradigm into a logocentric paradigm – a result of the Enlightenment and Modernism. People rarely personify concepts like they used to. We have stopped understanding human nature and the universe through myth and have replaced these stories with a literal interpretation of the world based on science.
I think this is a shame as I believe there is a lot we can learn from myth and I believe the disconnection from our spirituality is a large part of the ecological predicament we face. But anyway I’m getting off track.
I think it is important to remember the definitions of good and evil are constantly evolving. What was evil in the Old Testament is different to what is evil in the New Testament and is different to what is evil in the 21st Century. For example killing your enemies (ok in OT & not ok now), working on the Sabbath (not ok in OT but is ok now), and the abolition of slavery (which was condoned by Christians only 240 years ago). Evil is whatever the people in power define it to be – sometimes this is what is not good for society, and sometimes what is not good for themselves (eg “conform but do not question” is one that is the later, while “men should not have sex with men” means greater procreation which is means more strength to overpower enemies.)
I think we place Good and Evil on a continuum, nothing is ever black and white. What I define to be good may be different to what you define as good. In search of a universal definition, the best one I have come up with is that which leads to creation is good, and that which leads to destruction is bad.
By this yardstick, I would evaluate murderous thoughts and porn as evil only to the point where they become destructive for the individual or their relationships.
Thoughts are powerful, just as prayer is powerful. The visions we have of the world, and the stories we tell of it, are powerful – and they impact on the future story the world will enact. So I think the conflict between “good” and “evil” experienced in our minds surely does have an impact on the reality we experience.
How do we get rid of evil? This involves addressing the ego – the dualistic separateness so prominent in our lives. When the ego disappears, we find peace. And here it is possible that we lose the definition of good and evil altogether – that everything becomes one. I have a feeling the non-dualistic nature of pure peace and oneness can only be found when one dies. But when some people meditate or sit in prayer and praise, I suppose they get pretty close.
The world is unstable from a human perspective, but as a whole and outside of time (from “God”s perspective, it is in perfect balance. I don’t believe there is a need to fear the instability in our lives, but there IS a need to question. I think we should question EVERYTHING.
Questioning is the only way we can get closer and closer to the unknowable Truth. Questioning the status quo is what Jesus died for – and it is following this example that he preaches. If governments are oppressing their people, it is those who see the oppression who can question it and seek solutions.
I believe the Christian bible does have a special power, as I believe do the holy books of many other religions. There is A LOT we can learn from them, and I do read them quite a lot.
Like you I too feel a connection to God – especially in my more creative pursuits and when meditating/doing yoga/praying/letting the signs that surround me direct my decisions.
I admire the work churches like Hillsong do – there are many religious and non-religious organizations doing amazing things for the world. I’m involved in small ways but I guess I feel I have the potential to help more people through the things I am studying – trying to get to the roots of these issues. I really admire the people who can do the hands on stuff as I would find that really hard. I suppose we all have our roles to play.
The only point I must briefly mention regarding my experience with churches like Hillsong is the potential for a one-dimensional interpretations of bible verses that have many different interpretations. The most dangerous interpretation, I believe, is that of Jesus as the way, the truth and the life – that no one goes to the father except through him. While this verse can be interpreted in a number of spiritual and physical paths to cultivating a more peaceful world today, when it is taken to mean that people of other religions, cultures, values and beliefs are going to “hell” for not believing a particular version of a historically and literally interpreted narrative, the inclusive teachings of Jesus can be transformed into the epitome of destructive separatist egocentric evil that we have been discussing.
I think we must be careful with such interpretations of the holy books, which seem to be at the root of so much violence, from social discrimination, to dehumanisation and extremist action, seen around the world today. This seems to be the opposite of what Jesus taught, to love all people and to love the one power that is behind life’s existence – not distinguishing one group of people’s interpretation of the power behind life’s existence from another group’s interpretation of the same source of life.
Sorry I am sounding strong here. It’s just that I’m quite passionate about this topic as I have researched and analysed the connection between exclusivist interpretations of religions, and global and local forms of violence, and these roots seem quite clear – and from what I know about Hillsong, they are pretty close to Sydney Anglicans, (which are nothing like Anglicans around the rest of the world) and do have such an exclusivist attitude towards the “other” (anyone who doesn’t believe what they do).
While the Sydney Anglicans and Evangelicals that I know are very peaceful people, when I can see the same type of exclusivist interpretations of holy books in fundamentalist movements within other religions, I can only figure that all forms of fundamentalism (including atheistic fundamentalism) builds a polarity that leads to cycles of fear and hence cycles of violence, with suicide bombers being the ultimate example of what can result when realities are constructed around an absolute and unquestionable Truth.
I’m not a relativist – I do believe there is an absolute Truth out there – the difference is I would never make claim to it. I believe it’s a worthwhile goal, even if no one person or group will ever know it. But we can keep learning from each other, and getting closer and closer to it, enjoying the journey along the way.
I love you very much too Keren. I hope you don’t find my thoughts too strong – as you can see I am passionate about peace and the role of religion in furthering our understanding of ourselves and “God”/ The Universe (all which I equate to the close to the one and the same) – an evolving macrocosm that we are all an important highly conscious expression of.
You would probably enjoy the book I have posted online that documents the process I went through in questioning the Christian faith of my childhood.
https://julietbennett.com/2009/10/02/the-journey-of-an-inquisitive-christian/
The journey continues…