just peace - beyond rhetoric

Just PeaceBeyond Rhetoric

Bishop Duleep Kamil De Chickera

Duleep Kamil De Chickera is the retired Bishop of Colombo in theAnglican Church of Sri Lanka.

Perspective

This reflection is from a South Asian perspective but is conscious of other globalrealities as well. It seeks to make sense of the harsh realities that crush and humiliatehumans made in the image of God in relation to the God of all life, whose purpose itis that not even a sparrow will fall to the ground without God’s consent.

The reflection draws mostly from the life and teaching of Christ, the servant of justpeace, but has also been influenced by the spirituality of mentors and modest men andwomen. Many of these people are friends from within the ecumenical movement andmany are friends from within our living sister religions. All have worked tirelessly for asafe, just, and reconciled world; they are hopeful enough to believe that the forces ofviolent greed will not prevail. Readers will observe that lessons learned from thedaunting Sri Lankan conflict serve as a background to my reflection. These variousinfluences and threads have been so integrated within me that it is not possible todistinguish and name sources. In any case, I have always found the exercise of recordingtedious footnotes and bibliographies laborious and time consuming!

The World Council of Churches (WCC) Busan assembly of 2013 and the ecumenicalmovement in general will receive most attention simply because this is my mandate. Butthe reflection has also been structured with the hope that it may impact beyond theportals and agendas of the WCC and its member churches.

I have tried hard to avoid clichés and to opt for a simple secular terminology, but thishas not been possible throughout. We are indeed creatures of habit who lay our eggs inthe nests that others build!

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181DOI: 10.1111/erev.12035Copyright © (2013) World Council of Churches. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Finally, this reflection comes out of a long and appreciative journey with the WCC, inwhich I have received much more than I have given.

Just Peace: From Jamaica to Busan

The concept of just peace (sometimes capitalized as Just Peace or abbreviated as JP) isnot a new one. It has been in use among people of faith and within the wider peacediscourse for several decades.

The 2011 WCC peace convocation in Jamaica gave this concept a new dynamic: justicequalifies peace and is seen as a precondition for peace. Thus any claim for peace thatdisregards justice is hollow. In this way, peace, which tends otherwise to remain elusive,becomes more measurable. Those who desire peace must be prepared to work forjustice.

This Jamaican dynamic is in line with the Biblical shalom. Shalom exists when the harshrealities of poverty, war, greed, selfishness, oppression, discrimination, exploitation, anddivision cease; it is present when the liberating realities of dignity, equality, goodwill,contentment, sharing, loving kindness, plenty-fullness, harmony, and health abound; itis when these realities endure that just peace will prevail.

Soon after Jamaica, a post-convocation reference committee met to sharpen further thisconcept of just peace and to offer it as a recommendation to the tenth assembly of theWCC to be held in Busan, South Korea, in October 2013.

The gist of the recommendation was that just peace should cease to be a separateagenda and be received as an integrated spirituality, as the soul of the whole life andwitness of the whole body of Christ. Intrinsic to the recommendation was the require-ment that just peace should no longer be expected to compete for space with otherprogrammes on the ecumenical agenda, but that just peace should determine thecredibility of all ecumenical initiatives. The recommendation was also a clear call to theassembly to own and convey this means of grace to the churches. However, until thisspirituality is absorbed into the ecumenical movement, an adequately empoweredinterim mechanism will have to promote and monitor its fusion.

The assembly theme, “God of life, lead us to justice and peace,” has the necessary scopeto incorporate this recommendation and give it new life. The theme itself had beendecided on by the time of the Jamaican recommendation; if not, it might have read “justpeace” rather than “justice and peace.”

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Regardless of this nuance, there is potential in the theme for the assembly to receive therecommendation and awaken the churches to this highest priority for God’s worldtoday. If this were to happen, Busan could become a crucial milestone in the life of ourcommon ecumenical journey.

Jamaica has spoken. Busan must respond. The God of life is waiting.

Realities at Busan

Three realities will dominate Busan. I refer to them as (1) a torn and divided world; (2)one family, two worlds; and (3) the way of Jesus to just peace.

A torn and divided world

Current Conflicts. Meeting in one part of the whole Korea, whose two parts areseparated from and apprehensive of each other, the assembly will be compelled to takenote of the aggression and division that torment and obstruct just peace in God’s worldtoday.

During the short period of time that this reflection was being written, several violentconflicts and brazen injustices were occurring all over the world. Israel, which wasthreatening strikes to negate Iran’s alleged potential to manufacture the atomic bomb,finally struck Palestine, with some retaliation from Hamas, causing death and destruc-tion. The Syrian rebellion, backed by NATO and resisted by Russia, in which 40,000have been killed, continues without any signs of a negotiated settlement. Al-Qaida’snewly appointed leader, Ayman al-Zawahri, has called on Muslims of the world tosupport rebels fighting for an Islamic state in Somalia. Civil society groups in Argentinahave marched on the capital in protest of corruption, crime, and inflation. The Com-munist party in China has appointed the leaders of its nation for the next ten yearswithout the participation of the people.

It has also come to light that the US consulate in Libya, in which the US ambassador waskilled in an attack last year, was a cover for a CIA project. The stateless Rohingyas ofMyanmar suffer continuing violent persecution, with nowhere to run for safety. Both theBoko Haram movement and the Nigerian military are being accused of human rightsviolations in the conflict in northern Nigeria, in which Boko Haram seeks to establish anIslamic state under sharia law. The prime minister of Kenya has backed the demand forcompensation from the British government by survivors of torture during the Mau Maurebellion of the 1950s, when Kenya was under British colonial rule. India plans to

Bishop Duleep Kamil De Chickera Just Peace

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develop its largest nuclear plant in Kudankulam, in the southern state of Tamil Nadu,amidst protests from groups in both India and Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan government hastaken steps to impeach the chief justice for what is widely believed her refusal to submitto political interference. And a self-investigative UN exercise has brought to light seriouslapses in the behaviour of its staff during the violent conflict in Sri Lanka.

This is a random narration of the injustice and violence that break and tear apart ourhabitat. It does not include any reference to the havoc that global warming, disease,malnutrition, poverty, displacement, and statelessness – all inter-related – are causing.

The Causes of Conflict. These sad and unacceptable happenings occur because of atleast two root causes. The stewards of creation, entrusted with responsibility to care forand share the resources of Mother Earth in such a way that we can each have what isnecessary to live a fully human life with dignity and mutual respect, have failed to do so.And where greed has interfered with this sacred mandate, or where our God-givendiversity has led to suspicion or discrimination, we have failed to restrain these impulsesand resolve these differences in a civilized way through non-violent conversations,reasonableness, and compromise. Ours is far from the safe, just, and reconciled worldthat the God of life and most humans want it to be.

One family, two worlds

Different Realities and Perspectives. Even though the churches of the WCC aretheologically described as one ecumenical family, we are far from the homogeneousgroup that we like to assume we are.

Our churches and people think and act differently. We are not embraced by the samesocio-political realities; we represent a wide cross section of wealth and poverty; wehave had excellent, poor, or little educational opportunities; we experience differentdegrees of security; we do not share a common world view.

More hidden are the complex grievances and wounds we nurse. Some of these are fromthe past and others contemporary. Some are caused by the other who sits at the sametable and some by our own or the other’s ancestors and governments. Some of us sufferthe ravages of war and some of us enjoy a high physical quality of life made possiblefrom the profits of sales of the very arms which have inflicted these ravages.

Democratic dissent, critique, and protest are viewed and practised differently within thesame ecumenical family. They have different consequences in different parts of the



world. For instance, some can protest publicly and wake up in the same bed to protestthe next day; others simply cannot. Some are in the boiling pot; others peek into the pot;still others stand alongside those who feed the fire under the pot. All this inevitably hasan impact on the analyses we make and the solutions for which we agitate.

Some discern grievance and injustice to be entrenched in unjust social structures and arecompelled to perceive counter-violence as a last resort to achieve just peace; others areformed to recognize violence primarily in its visible manifestation, condemn any act offorce by non-governmental groups as terrorism, and endorse offensive violence bypolitical regimes.

Some will name their own nation or kind as perpetrators of injustice, while others defendviolations committed by their own as being necessary to protect their nation’s sover-eignty. Some assume or endorse the audacity of their regimes to police the world as if aGod-given right, while others long to be left to resolve their own internal affairs withoutexternal interference. Some have lost confidence in the ability of world bodies to actimpartially, while others benefit from the policies and actions of these same bodies.

Some see the unbounded greed of the industrialized nations as violence against MotherEarth and the poor, while others tacitly endorse the role of these nations to plunderGod’s world and benefit passively. Some are content with a little, while others alwayswant more. Some prefer to remain silent out of fear, guilt, or theological convictionwhen injustice occurs, while others demonstrate the courage and integrity to crossboundaries and take risks to promote just peace. Some WCC members represent andarticulate positions abroad that they may not be able to sustain at home, while others failto represent their home situations adequately and still others may comply with a stancewith which they disagree with out of a false sense of courtesy or ecumenical solidarity.

Unhealthy Repercussions. This complex diversity of perspectives tends to lead to atleast one of two unhealthy repercussions in the ecumenical movement and at ecumeni-cal gatherings, including assemblies. People will either leave their real world out or theywill become confrontational out of impatience for swift and drastic change. Since bothpossibilities curtail the energy of just peace and disrupt the purposes of God, we thenend up imagining that the flawed energy we generate is the best possible, when there ismuch, much more we are capable of offering.

A Fresh Spirituality. A fresh and renewed spirituality will be required to translate andrelease these diverse contexts, experiences, sensitivities, and yearnings as gifts from theGod of life. This spirituality will enable us to look beyond the short term disagreements



and conflicts provoked by this approach toward a more just and integrated movementunder the God of life. In pursuing this spirituality, we are to recall and reaffirm that theGod of all life is also the God of diversity, ever present with us in our stances and worldviews and present also in our mix of integrity and hypocrisy.

Such a spirituality will also have to create a safe-stirring-space (SSS) for people to bethemselves. In his interaction with people, especially the helpless and harassed (Matt.9:36), Jesus sought to do exactly that. He consistently offered a presence which bothprotected and energized people. That is why he asked a mob of self-righteous menwhether they were qualified to throw the first stone at a lone woman and then went onto remind her that she was to sin no more. That is why he instilled confidence in a thricedespised woman by asking for water and then went on to draw out her theological skillsin a profound dialogue on worship. That is why he repeatedly viewed the poor, whoseonly name and identity was “crowd,” as sheep without the protection of a shepherd,and assured them that the poor in spirit, those who mourned, the meek, the pure inheart, and the persecuted were nearest to God (Matt. 5:3–11). In the biblical narrativethis is exactly what Barnabas did in his several encounters with Paul and John Mark,befriending them in adverse circumstances to help them discover and contribute a newand lasting energy to the early church.

True Celebration of Diversity. It will be the primary responsibility of the centralcommittee, WCC staff, and general secretary to offer this spirituality. Others may becalled upon to help. If this happens, our common journey will be blessed and ourassemblies will reveal a gathering of free and forward-looking people. Those whogather will then participate from the heart as well as the head, sharing wounds and evenindignation, but all the time behaving as midwives coaxing the birth of new life, thoughat times through the pain of confessions and apologies. When this ethos, kept underconstant review, is in place, we will celebrate our diversity, and our movement andgatherings will abound in generosity, humility, and credibility to become a part of God’sagenda for just peace in God’s world.

Where this spirituality is lacking, or where there are perspectives opposed to thecreation of this safe-stirring-space, our gatherings will amount to a parliament engagedin sectarian politics, scheming for positions and programmes, manipulating decisions,and spreading suspicion and division, rather than being a family that sits at the sametable. In the case of such a development, the assembly and constituent churches willhave to come to their senses and engage in sensitive intervention to deal with this crisis.If this does not happen, our endeavours for just peace will be futile and we will lockourselves up in that prison that Jesus described (Matt. 5:21–26) due to our refusal to



relate to each other truthfully – and we will simultaneously fall out of communion withthe God of life.

The way of Jesus to just peace

The Rhythm of Engagement. Meeting as a gathering of people who claim purposein life through Jesus, the assembly will seek to draw direction and hope from the wayJesus approached just peace. This is best understood in the rhythm of pastoral presenceand prophetic proclamation that Jesus lived out to the end. Having come amongalienated and divided humans in human form, Jesus sought out and penetrated thelayers of social discrimination and structural injustice of his time to deliberately becomethe friend of the helpless and harassed pushed to the fringe of society. Within thesefriendships, he saw life from the perspective of the powerless and vulnerable andsought to draw them out of their oppression by affirming their value within thepurposes of God.

This rhythm of pastoral presence and prophetic proclamation excluded no-one, noteven the perpetrators of injustice and violence. So, taking sides in an inclusive way,which is the hallmark of his teaching on reconciliation, Jesus called on those responsiblefor the exclusion and oppression of the helpless and harassed to repent, change theirways, and do justice to all, beginning with the little people. It was in this way that bothvictims and violators were to find their place on a par with each other in a realm Jesuscalled the reign of God, in which all are transformed into a new creation.

This, however, was not to be. Those who abuse power and oppress others for gain feelthreatened and do not take well to such invitations. Too much power, wealth, andrecognition have to be given up. So there was resistance to Jesus from the dominantforces of his time. But this resistance did not change his rhythm. His love for the waysof God which embrace the oppressed and the truth and his passion for a world of justpeace prevailed; he refused to take the option of silence or to compromise truth withexpediency; he stayed with his rhythm of pastoral presence and prophetic proclamationfor just peace through character assassination, ridicule, violence, and finally death. Butthis was not the end of the story. God then raised Jesus from the dead to confirm thathis way of just peace had received the endorsement of the God of life.

This rhythm of engagement through pastoral engagement with the helpless and har-assed and a prophetic voice articulated on their behalf is the essence of Jesus’ spiritu-ality for just peace. It stands in harmony with the historic incarnation through which thedivine in human form penetrated human history to liberate humans from sin and



selfishness and to announce and raise all into abundant life in Jesus. It is also in line withthe vocation of the courageous prophets of the first testament. It is this rhythm that thedisciples of Christ have been mandated to imbibe, interpret, and carry forward accord-ing to the challenges of the times, with faithfulness to the same rhythm and nourishedby the same spirituality.

The Key to Just Peace. Over the centuries, the church has wrestled with this mandate;it has discerned that it is when the helpless and harassed are set free to rise from theirmisery to their full stature as humans made in God’s image that all the other ingredientsfor just peace will begin to fall into place. A central teaching of the Bible is that justattention and just remedy to the plight of those who suffer violent exclusion is the keyto just peace. As long as the helpless and harassed remain helpless and harassed, justpeace will remain elusive. Consequently, the sharing of life with the helpless andharassed as Christ did is indispensable in our endeavours for just peace.

Who exactly the helpless and harassed are will differ and is for each congregation, church,community, and generation to discover. Among them will most certainly be thoseeconomically exploited and deprived, socially despised and marginalized, politicallyoppressed and excluded, culturally alienated and ridiculed, and religiously suppressed andvictimized; in fact, all whose lives and destinies are trapped one way or another within therelentless confines of injustice and violence. Seen this way, the helpless and harassedcould at times be entire nations and communities. They could also be within or beyondthe primary community of Jesus or cut across the community of Jesus and widercommunities of other faiths or secular ideologies. At times, the entire local community ofJesus, such as the Dalit churches in India, will be the helpless and harassed.

Gustavo Gutiérrez, the Peruvian Dominican priest and theologian, provides a universalidiom in his still stirring and famous words that God speaks to us especially through thepoor and the oppressed. To hear those most oppressed by the absence of just peace isalso to hear God with clarity. This is because victims grow so weary and desperate withthe harsh realities that dehumanize them that they have neither time nor energy forpatchwork solutions. They are able precisely to get to the source of their grievance aswell as the solution because of the agonies and dreams with which they live. Thehelpless and harassed seldom need the assistance of sociologists to analyze their prob-lems and propose solutions; they need prophets who will win their trust to hear themand to announce their anguish and hope.

The Character of Advocacy. If God speaks through the helpless and harassed,the work of advocacy becomes paramount for just peace. Relief and pastoral



accompaniment consequently take on the dual role of offering supportive careand a serving as a ramp for social transformation. Other ministries such as develop-ment, education, empowerment, and eco-justice make sense when they embodyadvocacy.

Jesus’ symbolic act of foot-washing illustrates the character of advocacy and its con-nection with hearing. To touch the weary feet of the helpless and harassed withrefreshing water is to make three commitments. Since persons are located where theirfeet are planted, there is a commitment to respect and protect identity; since feetcarry the burdens of the body, there is a commitment to reduce these burdens; andsince feet enable mobility, there is a commitment to journey alongside and toward justpeace.

There is an unexpected bonus in the foot-washing that is received only as one stoops totouch and wash; it remains otherwise unknown. This is the proximity of the ear of theone who stoops to the lips of the one being washed; it enables the one washing to hearthe one being washed, even if the only utterance heard is a groan. It is in this spiritualityof stooping and commitment to touching that part of the uncovered body of thehelpless and harassed in South Asia that one really hears the groans of God’s little ones.Hearing in any other way is outside the realm of kingdom hearing and is suspect. Anyother hearing seldom reveals the whole story and hearing can never be done by proxy.The one who is privileged to wash is at the same time privileged to hear.

A Sri Lankan Experience. For countries like Sri Lanka, embroiled in a violent conflictand currently under an authoritarian regime, the work of just peace is an arduousjourney. It consists of a search for the right way forward with Christ, in the direction ofa safe, just, and reconciled nation. Regardless of what lies ahead, this journey can onlyreceive credibility when it begins and continues with the hearing of the helpless andharassed. Mere rhetoric has no place in this sacred sharing of life.

Immediately after the nearly 30-year Sri Lankan civil war, when people directly caughtup in the conflict returned to the IDP (internally displaced persons) camps, theeucharist was celebrated to remember the ones lost and to give thanks for those whosurvived. In keeping with the biblical narrative, the feet of the men women and childrenwere washed soon after the sacrament had been shared. The symbolic action of stoop-ing and washing the sore and weary feet of those who had to flee for their livesrepeatedly, from place to place as the fighting caught up with them, broke the barrier ofsilent trauma to communicate respect, support, and accompaniment. It conveyed thewillingness to listen to and hear the stories of suffering and sorrow without interruption



or interpretation. This was a deeply moving moment in the history of the church’sministry of just peace and became a milestone in its continuing work of pastoral careand advocacy.

It was precisely this connection with the lives of the helpless and harassed IDPs thathelped the church later on to articulate the injustice and hardship the IDPs had sufferedas well as their aspirations at the hearing of the Lessons Learnt and ReconciliationCommission (LLRC), which followed the end of the war in May 2009. The scope andcontent of almost all these testimonies were echoed in the recommendations of theLLRC with a view to bring national reconciliation in our torn and divided island nation.The fact that they were is testimony to the integrity of the helpless and harassed. Thefact that to date the government of Sri Lanka has failed to substantially implement theserecommendations will go down in history as a grave travesty of justice.

Truthful Representation. All this has a message for the WCC. Those who representchurches at assemblies, gatherings, commissions, and other formal bodies are primarilyto represent the helpless and harassed from their regions, just as Anglican bishops areexpected to when they attend the Lambeth conference. It is when such representationtakes place and the realities of the lives of the helpless and harassed are heard amongus that we will come to terms with the violations and dehumanizing trends in ournations. But this spirituality is not only for assemblies and gatherings and commissions.It will and must pervade the life of the churches and convert these communities of faithinto movements that will persist in following the God of life into just peace, above allelse.

Where the realities of the helpless and harassed are excluded, it becomes more difficultto hear and understand their humiliation and to call perpetrators to accountability asChrist did. If this situation continues without remedy, the most that will be possible willbe courteous gestures in the direction of just peace and confinement of just peace tothe realm of rhetoric. The straightforward way to remedy this limitation is to encounterthe helpless and harassed through deliberate exposure to their lives. Readiness to learnand a real concern for a better world eliminate a patronizing attitude, which the helplessand harassed can sense and which becomes an obstruction to the sharing of life.Frequent practice of this method of direct encounter takes time, but it is the only wayto break down our isolation and bring credibility to our ecumenical work. Those fromthe more protected life styles who have encountered the helpless and harassed and theirenvironments directly have repeatedly testified to the initial trauma experienced, thetransformative and lasting impact this experience has had on their world view, and thesubsequent passion for just peace it has generated.



The most authentic way of hearing the helpless and harassed is to hear them directly orto hear those who have voluntarily become one with them. How this can be incorpo-rated authentically and spontaneously into the life of the ecumenical movement and itsgatherings is still to be discovered. When we meet formally, we are still a very class-segregated community, with occasional representation from the world of the helplessand harassed. The only other possibility of providing an opportunity to hear thehelpless and harassed first hand at our assemblies has been the side events. But therequirement that applications be endorsed by churches competing for space at theseevents shuts the door on this dynamic possibility and is disappointing. Our futureassemblies and gatherings will do well to directly and deliberately set aside places forthese little ones in God’s kingdom. A slogan used by disabled people’s organizations(DPOs), “nothing about us without us,” conveys this precisely. The returns that such acourageous shift will bring will be disturbing and creative. But this is both the price andthe reward if we would only dare to make that shift.

Questions of Integrity. This raises at least two questions in the interest of just peace.First, if a shared life with the helpless and harassed facilitates substantial work for justpeace, will not those deprived of this reality be less equipped to determine and influenceour work for just peace? And second, are all those connected with the helpless andharassed or the helpless and harassed themselves intrinsically better equipped to facili-tate this work? While connectedness with the world of the helpless and harassedundoubtedly equips and legitimizes all work for just peace, the long answer to bothquestions centres mostly around personal integrity.

If both those connected to the helpless and harassed and those disconnected fromthem engage in the time-tested discipline of self-scrutiny and possess – or acquire – asense of indignation at the injustice being done, chances are that they will be able tomake a difference. The added requirement for those who are disconnected will be theneed to shift from their isolation. Excuses and indifference to this need disqualify usfrom the work of just peace under the standard of Christ.

A word of caution is required here for those whose lives are directly connected withthe helpless and harassed. It is best that an ethic be built around this connection toprevent it from bringing personal benefit at the expense of the helpless and harassed– in any form, either direct or indirect. This ethic would cover so-called peace awards,money from the publication of books and papers, and the delivering of lectures, forinstance. It is when checks and balances are bypassed that we run into a crisis ofintegrity, violate the already violated, and bring long term dishonour to the ecumenicalmovement.



The Discipline of Recalling. While much of this spirituality will be determined bythe integrity and faithfulness of persons and churches, the WCC and the assemblyshould also offer creative ways of recalling the just peace thrust in the life and work ofJesus in order to substantiate that which already prevails or provoke what is stilldormant. No doubt much of the preparation for the assembly and many of thecontributions during the assembly will do this through existential encounter and theo-logical insight. In addition, initiatives within the agenda to assist participants to come toterms with the impact of this teaching on their inner selves under the guidance of theHoly Spirit can never be a waste of time; they are a refreshing and rewarding invest-ment. The heaviness of business and long hours spent in debate tend to drain peopleof patience, consideration for the other, and a sense of humour; they will need to besoftened.

The last Lambeth conference of Anglican bishops was greatly blessed with an openingretreat for all and with daily Bible study on John’s gospel in small groups of eight. Thisset the tone for the conference in relation to the delicate and painful realities it had toface. The introduction of similar time-tested spiritual disciplines and practices can onlyhave a salutary impact on the ethos of the whole WCC assembly.

Naming the Enemy

A sacred traditionAt the 2011 peace convocation in Jamaica, a lone voice from India asked at the plenarythat the call for just peace should name the enemy. This is in keeping with the Judeo-Christian tradition. The Bible names oppressive structures, systems, and regimes asenemies to just peace. A thread runs through it, from the harsh economic oppressionthe Hebrews had to endure under the pharaohs to the dominance and cunning of theCaesars and Herods and the heavy taxes and restrictive nature of the Sabbath law duringthe time of Jesus. In between we hear from the prophets of the corruption and intriguein the courts of Jewish monarchies and the violence and economic injustice done to thepoor. Jesus in particular is strong in his exposure of the hypocritical theocratic leadersof his time and the hardship they caused the people (Matt. 23).

One strand in the history of the church admirably continued this tradition and namedenemies of just peace in the form of structures, systems, and regimes. The violence ofthe inquisition, the crusades, the severe discrimination and injustice against indigenouscultures and peoples around the world through European imperial expansionism, theviolations against freedom, dignity, and rights caused by dictators, racism, sexism,apartheid governance, the abuse of children and women, the exploitation of Mother



Earth, the denial of freedom and respect for people of different sexual orientation,blasphemy laws (in Pakistan), Bhumiputra policies (in Malaysia), Prevention of Terror-ism Acts (in Sri Lanka), and the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act (in India), as wellas the Hitlers, the Pol Pots, the Idi Amins, and the Mugabes – all this is a long andarbitrary list of oppressive structures and tyrants named courageously and at great riskby the church across the years and across the globe.

Why and whom to nameThe necessity to name is supported by at least three arguments: Christ named the enemyand those who follow him must do so too; the work of advocacy and the call foraccountability are best directed when the enemy is identified; and the work of recon-ciliation between victims and repentant violators is best facilitated this way. This is whycommissions on reconciliation always give priority to the disclosure of truth. Amongother things, the truth names the enemy and paves the way to just peace throughreconciliation.

Buddhism names greed as the motivation behind the enemy of just peace. According tothe Dhamma (teaching of the Buddha), greed is the cause of all suffering and does itsdamage by enticing, enslaving, and destroying all in its path: the greedy, the content, andthe wider creation.

While greed is as old as humans, modern economic greed has its roots in the period ofEuropean colonial expansionism, between the 16th and early 20th centuries CE. Duringthis period, violent nations occupied and exploited peaceful nations purely out ofself-interest. Sadly, many Christian groups and churches accompanied these conqueststo share in the spoils of power and dominance. These trends led to a historical grievanceamong the indigenous cultures of previously occupied nations, which have continued toharbour suspicion about the role and loyalties of the church, particularly where it is aminority.

Continuing oppressionWhat is worrisome is that in spite of the aspirations of the UN to ensure a more justworld, these trends have not stopped. In fact, they operate in more subtle formsand through local collaborators and agents who straddle governments and privateenterprise.

This is perhaps best seen in the correlation (and collaboration?) between the manufac-ture and availability of sophisticated armaments by the NATO nations and now theBRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) on the one hand, and on



the other hand the regular occurrence of violent conflict in countries with a leaningtowards non-democratic governance – countries with access to these armaments andlocated mostly in the less industrialized regions of the world. In the latter group ofcountries, these arms are used for the violent suppression of dissent; they also lead toa vicious cycle of financial and military dependence that plunges the already deprivednations into deepening poverty and debt and the supplying nations into life-styles oflimitless extravagance. Consequently, today’s less recognized dilemma in internationalaffairs is that the poor and vulnerable are trapped between violent and power-hungrynational regimes and greedy and selfish international forces. These then are among theenemies of just peace that have to be named.

One way of doing this is to include the transaction in armaments of mass destructionas an atrocity crime under the current UN list. This is why the call of the Germanchurches to ban war, thought to be idealistic by some, is of paramount importance. Itkeeps the immorality of war on the agenda, isolates and identifies the enemy, anddemands a shift in the method of conflict resolution from force to conversations.

The visible enemyTwo other substantial post-UN global developments have made it easier to name theenemy. One is the shocking emergence of atrocity crimes within sovereign nation-statesresponsible for the protection of those within their borders. These crimes, whichinclude genocide, ethnic cleansing, war crimes, and other crimes against humanity,reflect certain characteristics. They are located mostly in the lesser industrializednations, can trace their roots to seeds of conflict sown when those countries were underoccupation, have been further provoked by unreasonable and incompetent post-independence regimes, spill over globally through the influx of refugees and interna-tional crime, and can no longer be hidden due to advanced methods in informationtechnology and the surveillance of national and international rights and advocacygroups.

Some of the locations and instances where atrocity crimes have occurred are Liberia,Vietnam, Cambodia, Uganda, Congo, Kosovo, Kenya, Sudan, Rwanda, Somalia, Zim-babwe, and Iraq, with pending allegations against Mexico, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, andMyanmar. Today the uprisings in the north African states also suggest the occurrence ofatrocity crimes as the motivation for regime change, but it is too early to draw definiteconclusions.

The second development is that regardless of the UN charter safeguarding the sover-eignty of nation-states, unilateral military intervention by some states in the internal



affairs of others have taken place. Two instances where this brought about change forthe better were the Vietnamese intervention in Cambodia, which overthrew the Pol Potregime, and the Tanzanian intervention in Uganda, which displaced the Idi Aminregime. Instances where unilateral intervention led to consequences far worse than theexisting conditions are, however, much more widespread. Some of these include theUS-led interventions in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan, the Russian intervention inAfghanistan, the Chinese intervention in Tibet, and the Israeli occupation of Palestine.An instance where intervention changed the balance of power of a region is the Indianintervention in East Pakistan, now known as Bangladesh.

Naming the enemy has very much been the stance of the WCC from its early days. Thisreached an admirable climax in the WCC’s work to dismantle apartheid in South Africa:the WCC courageously named apartheid as the enemy to just peace for the majorityblacks. Today, however there seems to be some change in this thrust. With someexceptions seen in the work of the Palestine Israel Ecumenical Forum (PIEF), there isin the WCC a preference for naming structures and systems and a reluctance to nameobvious and dominant regimes as enemy.

The full tradition of namingBusan is called to return to the fullness of this tradition of naming. This cannot bediplomatically left only or mostly to individuals within churches. But with a carefulgathering of information and analysis as well as the consent of the local churches, thefull tradition of naming can and must be lived if the cause of just peace is to behonoured and taken beyond rhetoric by the WCC. If, on the other hand, expediency isallowed to trump integrity, our work and witness for just peace will become futile andcounter-productive.

The point is straightforward. The fullness of the tradition is not limited to naming.Naming brings consequences of hardship that could threaten survival, both institu-tional and personal, as many in the boiling pot know. The action Singapore took againstthe Christian Conference of Asia is still fresh in the minds of many. Hardship owing toobedience to the God of life who leads us into just peace is the cross. This is the waythe God of life led the Christ and the same way will lead us into just peace. This is whatwe profess in all our creeds and theologies; this is what serves as a unifying gospelimperative that cuts across our otherwise diverse denominations and traditions. Therecan consequently be no other way for the WCC.

If Busan fulfils its obligation in naming the enemy, the WCC member churches will becompelled to carry this movement forward. To belong together is to behave alike. Since



all our churches are guilty of obstructing just peace in one way or another, the churcheswill all be compelled to move. In so doing, five factors matter: we all must move fromwhere we are; we must all engage in self-scrutiny as the antidote to self-righteousnessand indifference; we all must demonstrate some aspect of naming; all of us must do sowith discernment and wisdom; and we must stay together.

In addition to this, a heavy and sacred task will fall upon the churches in nations witha reputation for unbounded global economic greed and military dominance. Until andunless advocacy from within changes these relentless impulses, we will be treating thesymptoms and not the causes of the disease. Much is expected from those who havereceived much.

Windows into Just Peace

The just peace paradoxHaving wrestled with some select irritants in the ecumenical movement, I wish toconclude by opening a few windows into the theory of just peace. To move from thepractice to the teaching makes more sense than the reverse.

Humans do not create just peace. It is a gift from God ( John 14:27) though it somehowneeds to be provoked by human endeavour (Matt. 5:9). This is a bit like digging forwater in South Asia. Water is accessed when humans strip to the waist and dig and digand dig. Humans do not make the water; it is given freely. But knowing there is waterand not digging is foolish and deprives us of water. So it is with the coming of justpeace. If we are to promote just peace, we are to trust God and also work as hard as ifthere were no God!

The nature of this paradox is a mystery. It is best explained as the vulnerability of Godwho has bestowed upon humans a degree of freedom that God refuses to violate. In theincident of the woman in adultery brought before Jesus in John’s gospel, we can see theembryo of a Christian anthropology that further explains this freedom. No one canthrow the first stone, but transformation that overcomes human frailty is possible. Thistwin teaching highlights a spark of integrity within the encompassing human predica-ment, on which the God of life seems dependent!

The pattern of history confirms this theological hunch. Just peace has always had to bewon by human initiative, beginning with an idea. The miracle of South Africa’s shiftfrom apartheid to democratic governance came out of the tireless, sacrificial, andpassionate efforts of countless unnamed persons led by Nelson Mandela. We have seen



this to a lesser degree in happenings through groups and individuals in NorthernIreland and are beginning to see early signs of it in the work of groups and of Aung SanSuu Kyi in Myanmar.

Other agents of just peaceHistory also reminds us that the church is certainly not the only instrument that Goduses to bring about just peace. Political leaders with a conscience; our sister religions;secular ideologies, courageous and sensitive people’s movements; discerning and com-mitted professionals such as media professionals, judges, and teachers; world bodiescapable of impartiality; and others often play a role even more important than thechurch. This consequently requires the ecumenical movement to look beyond its circlesand to discover and stay with these partners for just peace. Ironically, it is from withinthis network of trust that the church will rediscover the delicate balance betweenfaithfulness to the gospel of Christ and respect for our neighbour’s dignity. It is fromthis position that we will be best equipped to discern what mission is all about.

Just peace through working for just peaceWhat is gained in the cause of just peace must not be lost. The fact that regression oftensets in and new issues emerge to threaten just peace (we see a bit of this in post-MandelaSouth Africa) reveals the transitory nature of just peace within the cycle of conflict. Justpeace comes as long as we are working for just peace. It is never achieved forever. It isnot like building a house to live in, but more like preparing the field for rice cultivation;we plough, sow, and reap to plough, sow, and reap again. If the work stops, the peoplego hungry.

This tension in time and history is best highlighted in the connection between jubileeand eschatology in the teaching of Jesus. In his first sermon in Nazareth, Jesus declaredthat we ought not to wait for fifty years to undo injustice. Slaves have to be released,debt cancelled, and the land left fallow now and every day. So just peace is today’s andtomorrow’s real and hard agenda. But it is to be approached with the knowledge thatunchanging and complete just peace for all of life will only come at the end of history.

Sustaining what is gainedThis is why those who work for just peace are to be alert and resilient. They are to buildparticipatory democratic institutions and pass them on to the next generation, who areexpected to do the same. The life-long formation of people in the values and ways ofthe Gospel is perhaps the best investment for a safe, just and reconciled world. Thesevalues and ways are to be written on the foreheads and hearts of people throughdiscourse and exposure to the realities of life. Education, association, conversations,



role models make a huge difference. “One sensitive exposure to the realities of theother is equal to a hundred erudite sermons” is a saying that grew from the people whoparticipated in exposure programmes in circumstances of ethnic suspicion in Sri Lanka.It certainly changes the preoccupation of preachers!

Such formation is what enables the discernment of those lurking and hidden areas ofhurt and grievance, as well as early signs of discrimination and injustice. It is from herethat the indispensible kingdom quality of wise and shrewd integrity will sprout as a giftto keep abreast of today’s increasingly devious and changing subtleties of injustice andmove just peace beyond the comfort of safe semantics and a courteous peace presenceinto that collective and vibrant energy that will enable the people of God to appropriateand sustain the gift of just peace from the God of life.

This, then, is why only peacemakers are called the children of God (Matt. 5:9). SinceGod will not rest till God’s kingdom of shalom comes, those who work with God till theend reflect this very feature of the parent God.



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just peace - beyond rhetoric

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