D&a 22-1 "the Time To Act Is Now"

The Time to Act is Now

Frank Kaufmann. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

DHARM IN INDIAN and GLOBAL PANORAMA

Raj Kumar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

A New Paradigm of Socio-Economic World Order From a Jain Perspective

S. L. Gandhi. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Our King Must Hear about this: Practicing Reconciliation in the Nigerian Socio-religious sphere

Enoch Olújídé Gbádégesin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Revelation Is Not a Zero Sum Game

Allen S. Maller. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Religion and the Effort to Sustain Peace in a Nigerian University Community

M. O. Adeniyi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Shanti, Shalom, Salaam: REFLECTIONS ON THE QUEST FOR A CULTURE OF PEACE

M. Darrol Bryant.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Epistemology of the Exact Science(s): Mathematical Knowledge vis-à-vis Spiritual Knowledge

Hector Rosario.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

The Greatest is Love

Jo Ann Crooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

Dialogue & Alliance

Vol. 22, No. 1 • Spring/Summer 2008

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Book Reviews Mending a Torn World: Women in Interreligious Dialogue By Maura O’Neill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 Reviewed by Vivian Nyitray

Gandhi & Jesus: The Saving Power of Nonviolence By Terrence J. Rynne. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 Reviewed by Anantanand Rambachan

Conflict and Reconciliation: The Contribution of Religions Edited by John W. Bowker. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 Reviewed by Gene G. James

Book Notices Beyond Compare: St. Francis De Sales and Sri Vedanta Desika on Loving Surrender to God

By Francis X. Clooney. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Hospitality and the Other: Pentecost, Christian Practices, and the Neighbor

By Amos Yong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

A Palestinian Cry for Reconciliation

By Naim Stifan Ateek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

Religion and Human Fulfillment

By Keith Ward. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Mothers of Promise: Women in the Book of Genesis

By Tammi J. Schneider. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

Contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

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The Time to Act is Now  

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he current flourishing of interfaith activity and idealism is now about 112 years old. Most people conversant with contemporary interfaith are willing to allow its inception to be the 1893 Chicago Parliament of Religions, not so much thanks to the interreligiously anemic and fractious behavior of the largely Christian groups dominant on that occasion, as to the spellbinding opus offered by the Hindu seer, Swami Vivekenanda. He recommended that “spiritual harmony is realized by deepening our consciousness, and that a Christian be a true Christian, a Hindu a true Hindu, a Buddhist a true Buddhist, a Jew a true Jew, Moslem a true Moslem.” [http://www.ramakrishna.org/sv_sa.htm] This marked a point of no return for religions in the modern period. Though religions persist in blinkered, veiled and not-so-veiled imperialisms, they now are forced to do so measured against the ideal of mutual affirmation. Religious aggression has not abated (sadly), rather (apart from violent radical fringes) it has had to shift from center stage as normal religious behavior, to now operating more surreptitiously, fist in glove. The Vedantist insight (itself not without enticement toward feeling “truer than thou”), has been much like Tinkerbell in the century since it first captured the imagination of the religious world at the 1893 Chicago Parliament. In dark and troubled times its light flickered powerlessly, seeming on the brink of demise. But each time the world dared to hope, ideals of interfaith struggled back to brighter life with its magic wand and dreams of wonderful things. Periods of interfaith growth and energy coincided with the cycles of political dreams of international harmony. Ghandi’s elusive religious and multi-religious identity coincided with the harmony dream of the League of Nations after the leaden aggression and destruction of WWI. The origins of Word Congress of Faiths, the World Conference on Religion and Peace, and the Temple of Understanding coincided with the UN dream of human rights and the determination to save Dialogue & Alliance

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succeeding generations from the scourge of war. The grand spray of Sun Myung Moon’s juggernaut of interfaith organizations coincided with the equality vision of the Gandhian, Martin Luther King, and the Peace-obsessed era of the 1960s. Most recently the Chicago Parliament Centennial (1993) provided the occasion of this generation’s new family of interfaith organizations. These reflect the impulses of Web 2.0 (de-centered collaboration), and include in their number such meta groups as URI (the United Religions Initiative), CPWR (Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions), NAIN (North American Interfaith Network), and others. These most recent organizations represent positive progress by naturally reflecting the evolution and emerging spirit of the time, namely that the ability to share knowledge and information equals power, rather than the ability to conceal or horde information equals power. The Western non-heirarchical impulses dominate the avante garde of communications technology and seep into concepts and doctrines of leadership and management. This is good for the most part, except for the tendency for egalitarian democracies to degenerate into legalism, and surreptitious and concealed vying. This curse has infected the magnificent dream of Wikipedia in which ideologues suffocate and strangulate politically incorrect points of view by exploiting process, technicalities, and the mechanics of trying to contribute. The impact of a tyrannical minority at Wikipedia, for example, is now well documented. The dreamy egalitarianism of new “non-centered” interfaith consortia suffer from the same “secret authoritarianism,” even though noble souls in abundance strive valiantly to be better than that. The problem we face is that non-centered egalitarianism is only half good, just as enlightened and beneficent “despotism” is also only half good. These impulses must find, love, and surrender to one another, bonding toward a higher concept for ideal order and organization. The pendulum swing between this impulse or that should not be the ground of hope, any more than the foolish imagination that eight years of Democrats or eight years of Republicans will finally bring the flowering of God’s long awaited Kingdom. Evolution in the philosophies and styles for how interfaith organizations act are good, but they will not bring about the quantum spiritual leap urgently needed for our time. What is needed rather is a

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Kaufmann: Introduction

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fundamental change in the purpose and goal of religious and interfaith leaders and organizations. It must be established that particular religious identity is inconsequential. Particular religious identity should be vigorously preserved and intensified but only so that the unique contribution of each religion to human affairs is not lost. Particular religious identity is significant only to the extent that each tradition has something unique to offer in our shared obligation to alleviate human suffering and liberate all people to pursue our collective divine purpose. Apart from representing a unique range of insights and benefits, particular religious identity rapidly should come to be recognized as no more consequential than if one is black or white, tall or short, blond hair or black hair. The interfaith community that advances this agenda is the one that will flourish and will speak successfully to the reality of this current time in history. At present everything is being remade, and a world in which people imagine random and accidental associations to be superior or greater blessed by the divine quickly should become a thing of the past. This current issue of Dialogue and Alliance follows a trajectory from particular to universal, from case study to purely theoretical. Articles range from single religion testimony through two and three tradition dialogue, out to trans-religious universals. The single religion testimonies come from authors who seek to communicate what in their particular traditions they imagine to be either essential or universal enough to speak compellingly of a peace language embraceable by adherents across the spectrum of religious belief and affiliation. Raj Kumar presents an attempt to codify a system of “the Dharm” that will provide for people greater facility to “exalt our [humanness] to the highest level of divinity.” S.L. Gandhi presents Jainism in a piece he holds provides “an example to all [that there does] exist a successful, ecologically responsible way of life which is abundantly nonviolent in thought, word, and deed.” Enoch Olujide examines the Nigerian situation from the perspective that the “Yoruba peace paradigm” offers insight by which “violence could be reduced to the barest minimum in the Nigerian nation.” The second set of articles shift from single religion testimony to two, three, and multi-religion dialogue reflections. Rabbi Allen S. Maller provides thoughts taking up founders, scriptures, and the divine in the three religions of Abraham, presenting somewhat of

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a perrenialist intuition into the similarities we find across the great scriptures. M.O. Adeneyi grounds his interfaith reflections in the case study of a Nigerian University. Professor Adeneyi finds resources for peace in both Biblical and Qu’ranic resources and argues that these represent potential aid to broader social arenas in which religious and social strife is present. The veteran interfaith pioneer Darrol Bryant contributes a sweeping investigation into the full range of all contemporary religions to find common roots through which each informs and guides the longing for peace. An essay that stands on its own in this issue is the exquisite work of Hector Rosario who explores epistemologies of mathematical and spiritual knowledge. Hector’s [writing] embodies a critique of the categorical error in mathematics that logical truth is absolute in its inferred unification of mind and spirit. To my sense, Hector charts important forward-looking lines for contemporary spiritual query. To conclude, it gives me pride to offer the second piece of interfaith fiction ever carried by Dialogue and Alliance. Jo Ann Crooks debuts on the pages of Dialogue and Alliance with a creative and moving parable of the stunning experiences of a 9/11 suicide bomber arriving in the spiritual world expecting a martyr’s reward. We are deeply grateful to our readership, and pray that our work not only edifies, but moves us forward to a better world that endures in its gains. Please recommend Dialogue and Alliance to your friends, and please have your universities and appropriate institutions subscribe. Thank you as always for your loyal and encouraging support.

Frank Kaufmann Editor-in-Chief

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Dharm in Indian & Global Panorama Raj Kumar

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he various ingredients of Dharm—the Indian way of living— is fragmented and haphazardly scattered in human conscience. This essay represents an effort to bring about a systematic consolidation of this way. The shape of the skeleton of Dharm, that has thus emerged, enables one to assess fairly how far he stands away from its (the Dharm’s) various fronts. This assessment, by and large, reveals that the task of bringing oneself near to these fronts is not as difficult as he hitherto considered and, as such, his in-born instinct to be as near to Dharm as possible is awakened. As a result, conspicuous changes take place in his way of thinking and interacting with others, thereby adding substantially to his present and future quality of life, and thus moulding him into a better person. Awareness in respect of Dharm conveyed by the article will, therefore, steadily increase the number of “men of quality” on this earth. This will bring much more peace and tranquility all around and thus this earth, truly, will become a far better and more worthwhile place.

Dharm in Indian & Global Panorama Out of the four ancient civilizations of the world, viz., the Egyptian civilization of Nile valley, the Mesopotamian civilization of Euphrates–Tigris valley, the Indian civilization of Indo-Gangetic valley and the Chinese civilization of Huang and Yang-tse valleys, the Indian civilization is considered to be the oldest one. One most outstanding contribution of this Indian civilization is that our sacred soil gave birth to what is called “Dharm.” The world “Dharm” comprises a set of cardinal principles codified by our wise ancestors—Rishis and Munis—as a result of their extensive studies in respect of life and long-term experimentations therewith, to suitably channel our attitudes and behaviour, and day-to-day activities to make our lives healthy, happy, contented, Dialogue & Alliance

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peaceful, and purposeful. These principles, if followed with utmost honesty and sincerity, are also said to exalt our manhood to the highest level of divinity. All our visits to temples, reciting prayers and hymns, and observance of various rituals and the traditions we are instructed to follow, are meant exclusively to motivate and to lead us to live our lives in conformity with the principles laid down by Dharm. These principles are to live with: (1) Truth, (2) Non-violence (Ahimsa), (3) Tolerance, (4) Rationality, (5) Up-rightness, (6) Service to mankind as well as to animals, including lower animals, and, (7) Austerity. Non-violence also includes not causing injury to other’s feelings; rationality means our approach based on sound logic, and our attitude or behaviour conforming to the principle of dispensation of natural justice to those with whom we deal; austerity includes also the conservation of one’s physical as well as intellectual energies to be gainfully utilized by him for noble pursuits. It also includes not overspending nor wasting our resources so that the others, for whom these are scarce, could be shared. Further, uprightness includes (1) Sobriety, (2) Discipline, (3) Kindness, (4) Simplicity, (5) Honesty, (6) Integrity, (7) Humility, (8) Magnanimity, (9) Trust-worthiness, (10) Urge for taking responsibilities, (11) Upkeep of promise, (12) No double-speaking, (13) No jealousy for others’ gains, (14) No ill-will towards others, (15) No avarice, (16) No anger, (17) Acceptance of one’s mistakes with all grace and frankness, (18) Painstaking spirit, (19) Helping attitude, and, (20) Patience and perseverance. In fact the remaining six componenets of Dharm, to a fair extent, are also included in the sense of uprightness and hence an upright person is invariably accepted as an embodiment of Dharm. The Dharm being very old, was called “Sanatan Dharm”; Sanatan means very old. It has been dealt with at length in our ancient scriptures, e.g., Vedas, Upanishads and Purans; it was also called “Vedic Dharm.” Further, because of historical reasons we were called “Hindus” hence Dharm was also called “Hindu Dharm,” or more briefly, “Hindutav” or “Hinduism.” Since Dharm carries along with it an allprevailing sense of universality, it stands to be quite different from the words like “religion” or “mazhab” that have sectarian connotations and, therefore, needs an entirely different place in the dictionaries of foreign languages. Since Dharm originated in our country,

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people residing outside, by and large, do not have a clear conception of Dharm and they, perhaps, found it convenient to dovetail it with words like “religion” or “mazhab.” In the B.C. era and also during the first millennium A.D., favourable conditions existed for our scholars to move out to other lands to serve people there by the way of educating them in respect of Dharm and also otherwise, but our history of the long period right after the downfall of Prithvi Raj Chauhan, up to the date of our country’s independence did not offer such types of opportunities. Further, in the post-independence era, history being favourable notwithstanding, other factors cropped up and the correct sense for which the Dharm stands could not be adequately conveyed to people and they continue to misinterpret it. Dharm is most unfettered by time and space in the sense that it has relevance right from the time of its birth to continue ad infinitum, and also at each and every point of the universe—on loftiest mountain peaks, in deepest oceans, on vast sandy deserts and desolated icelands, in volcanoes and on and inside of all stars, planets and satellites and in all the vast empty spaces. Consequently, the word “Dharm” always carries the concept of “Universality” about it and it is, therefore, also known as “Universal Dharm.” Ordinarily Dharm is extremely tolerant and allows one to commit acts in contravention thereof, if done out of sheer ignorance. It also remains unconcerned even if such excesses are done deliberately provided the person concerned makes sincere determination not to repeat the same. In cases of severe defaults, however, he has the option to undergo the requisite penance, failing which he is sure to face the wrath of the Almighty—the Omnipotent, the Omnipresent and the Omniscient—because Dharm stands firmly by the proverb “as you sow, so you must reap.” This is adequately established by our everyday life experiences. Dharm is an integral and hence inseparable part of our body, not in physical form but in an invisible state. Within us, its realisation steadily grows along with the growth of our body and because of having abundance of spirituality, it adequately enables us to appreciate the privileges that we derive from those around us, living as well as non-living, including nature, and motivates us to pay back, with gratitude. In the absence of this sensitivity, however, life goes meaningless

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and hence Dharm has been aptly described as “A Way of Living.” Indeed this way of living provides us with due guidance and guards us against making all abusive wastage of our body and intellect, thereby bringing all solace, comfort and peace upon us. This is, de facto, the divine bliss that sensible people invariably aspire for. It is, indeed, very unfortunate that our bountiful heritage, Dharm, inherited from our learned forefathers, has been given a derogatory meaning by our present-day political leaders, most obviously to suit their selfish interests. They have conveyed, in abundance, and continue to convey day in and day out, in most unambiguous language, that Dharm stands only for “Communalism,” and in case it is made to guide them in their pubic dealings, it is bound to bring annihilating consequence upon the country. They have coined the word “Secular” to misleadingly stand for “Anti-communalism” and have made this word the key of their public administration. The old dictionary meanings of the word secular1 is profane, unsacred, something devoid of spirituality, something not ordained by the religion. The term secular, unfortunately, has conveyed very incorrect, totally absurd and truly disastrous signals thereby causing greatest disservice to the nation. The result is that a present-day youth, who takes abundant pride in declaring himself secular, has conveniently shaken off all his responsibilities to the society as well as to the country. No discipline remains binding upon him and he feels quite free to indulge in all sorts of anti-national, inhumane, selfish and utterly mean activities with the sole aim to provide himself with plentiful easy money and all luxuries of life. There is an all around crisis of Dharm and crisis of character and the entire nation finds itself fully engulfed in a whirlpool of total destruction. The present-day pitiable scenario of our country makes us remember our noble kings of the olden past who, though monarchs, administered their public affairs with the yard-stick of Dharm for all the well-being, safety, security and satisfaction of their people. Dharmraj Raja Harish Chandra, Lord Ram, Lord Krishna and King Yudhister— all Paragons of Dhram—may be said to be legendary figures and, therefore, their existence may be denied, but our subsequent history of the period before the onset of Christian era and a millennium thereafter, is full of praises of the exalted kings like Chandragupta Maurya, 1. The Oxford Illustrated Dictionary—1962 Ed.

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Ashoka the Great, Chandragupta Vikramaditya, Harsh and the like. These kings were truly great, most successful and were greatly loved and respected by their people and this is because they always used the touchstone of Dharm to weigh the propriety of their personal as well as administrative decisions and actions. We have been copying the west to give shape to the administrative system of our country’s governance but we have miserably failed in our efforts. The reason is that this is being done ad nauseam, without appreciating the fact that the virtues of competence, honesty, integrity and supremely good character, to be possessed by our political leaders, are sine-qua-non for carrying on with our democracy to the true satisfaction of our people. Revival of Dharm, only and exclusively, will do the needful. Today’s world is in a firm grip of a series of miseries brought about by abject poverty, wars, and wanton acts of global terrorism. We had the League of Nations after World War I and now we have the United Nations (U.N.) after Word War II for the peaceful solution of national-level hostilities. The U.N. has also undertaken several other beneficial global-level activities, e.g., eradication of poverty, healthcare, literacy, environmental protection and the like, but whereas the League of Nations failed in toto, the contribution so far made by the U.N. has also left much to be desired. Our selfish attitudes, coupled with mad materialistic approaches, being the raison d’etre for this sordid state of affairs, has thus made our quest for a peaceful existence a utopian vision. Hopefully a day will come when our continued frustration will bring us to our senses to take recourse to Dharm for all around everlasting peace and prosperity.

Quest for Peace—A Realistic Approach Peace, the main ingredient for high quality life of an individual as well as that of a nation, has ever been sought after right from the dawn of civilization. The large-scale devastations related to the last two centuries’ warfares, caused by the use of sophisticated missiles—especially nuclear ones—have added considerably to man’s concerns to bring about sustained peace. Inclusion of the “Nobel Peace Prize” by Alfred B. Nobel’s Nobel Prize Trust, to be awarded annually along with the other Nobel Prizes, has, perhaps, been the first such effort made a century plus back at

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the international level. Later on, the League of Nations after World War I and, subsequently, the United Nations after World War II, also emerged at this level, mainly to bring about peace amongst the warring nations. . After gaining independence in the year 1947, our government framed its constitution with the inclusion of Article 51, wherein, inter alia, it has undertaken to endeavour to promote international peace and security and to maintain just and honourable relations between nations. During the second half of the last century several peace forums, peace missions, peace trusts, peace brigades and peace committees have sprung up at national as well as regional levels all over the world and these are actively engaged to evolve mechanisms to create peaceconducive environments. Further, the concepts of the phrases like “world government,” “world citizenship,” “all-religion meets,” etc. also developed as a sequel thereof. To our dismay, however, the result of all such vigorous time, money and man-power consuming efforts have invariably been far from favourable and the paradox “the more the peace efforts the more the drifting away of peace,” needs be carefully looked into. The objective assessment of the situation has revealed that peace efforts have been made and are being made by keeping them in isolation from Dharm—the most perfectly rational and the most exalted and elegant way of living. Unfortunately, “Dharm” is the most vaguely understood and most variantly interpreted word in today’s world. Moreover, the derogatories attributed by our present day politicians to this sacredly spiritual word “Dharm” has made it to be interpreted quite oppositely. This has resulted in individuals, corporates, sects and nations to become indifferent to their responsibilities towards others and a state of extreme mistrust, cheating, collecting of plentifuls of easy money by all possible dishonest, fraudulent, abysmally foul and corrupt means, and wasteful and lavishly vulgar spending thereof, has emerged thereby exposing our lives to all sorts of rude behaviour, loots, plunders, violences and devastating lethal attacks. Officially, as it stands today, seven nations of the world have, collectively, stockpiles of about 36,000 nuclear warheads and even 1 percent of these missiles—each being a giant in comparison to the “atom bomb” of World War II—is sufficient to cause total global destruction.

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Further, the cost of diffusion of any such missile, being several times that of its production, is not only prohibitive but we do not also have the requisite technology for safe disposal of its wastes, and, in absence thereof, these types of wastes continue to inject several vital components of our environment, e.g., air, water, soil, and the flora and fauna—both terrestrial and aquatic—with lethal doses of toxic nuclear fall-outs, for long spells of time, thereby rendering the entire earth most unfit to sustain life. Very many nations have also developed and are in possession of deadly chemical and biological W.M.D.s (weapons of mass destruction) and it is noteworthy that accidental fall-out from any type of the above war material can never be ruled out. The saddest part of the situation is that the U.N., so far, has not been adequately empowered to take legal action against erring nations and, as a result, its role stands sufficiently diluted, mostly as suggestive or advisory. Dharm—that has been elucidated in the main article—is, de facto, the prerequisite or forerunner of peace. More pertinently, Dharm may be taken as the sole originator and carrier of the latter. Thus, in a sense Dharm is like a railway engine that always has the “peace-wagon” attached to its rear and, therefore, it carries this wagon everywhere it goes but will leave this wagon behind whenever it is made to get detached therefrom. It would, perhaps, not be incorrect to accept that posterity, if not the present generation, would like to have the following statement as a proverb for its peaceful living: With Dharm Ever Peace, Without Dharm Never Peace. (The word “peace” means every kind and all forms of peace.)

And this is the writer’s message to the entire humanity, and, in particular, to the Nobel Prize Trust, the U.N. and the government of India.

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A New Paradigm of Socio-Economic World Order From a Jain Perspective Dr. S. L. Gandhi 

At the Zenith of Materialistic Progress, Social Values Reach Their Nadir

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ur age is marked by mounting unrest, unprecedented economic disparities, abject poverty, severe hunger, increasing threat of global warming, gross violation of human rights, rapidly expanding ethos of terrorism, ever-increasing population, unsustainable human lifestyle, gradual disintegration of the institution of family, and a swiftly widening web of vengeance and violence. This dark reality stares us in the face. Twenty-five years ago Fritjof Capra, the eminent physicist and philosopher, wrote the following lines to start the first chapter of his popular book, The Turning Point: At the beginning of the last two decades of our century, we find ourselves in a state of profound, worldwide crisis. It is a complex, multi-dimensional crisis whose facets touch every aspect of our lives—our health and livelihood, the quality of our environment and our social relationships, our economy, technology, and politics. It is a crisis of intellectual, moral and spiritual dimensions; a crisis of a scale and urgency unprecedented in recorded human history. For the first time we have to face the very real threat of extinction of the human race and of all life on this planet.1

When I look at today’s world, eight years into “the third millennium,” I find Mr. Capra’s warnings of 25 years ago more prescient than ever before. More distressing than the possibility of human extinction would be a survival worse than death. Globalization seems to be bringing some level of prosperity to upper and middle classes, but the poor are becoming poorer and their woes continue to multiply. Dialogue & Alliance

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Moreover, the so called rich also do not experience a state of blessedness. Rather they live a dreary, mechanical life steeped in abundant resources and material comforts but bereft of happiness and satisfaction. As a result they carry only the burden of life. They do not realize that life is a precious gift, a celebration. The conclusion is that the poor are afflicted by want whereas the rich grow indifferent to the feeling of consciousness. We have made phenomenal progress since our advent here on earth. With the help of science and technology we have reached a high point of materialistic progress. We now have supersonic jets, spacecraft, and bullet trains. We already landed on the moon and diminished its mystery. Now we seek Mars. The latest scientific marvel is the internet providing instant communication with any part of the world. This has radically altered life. Computers, cinema, television, radio, mobile phones and print and electronic media have made our lives interdependent and interconnected but also make us highly vulnerable and unsafe. The atom bomb caused unprecedented nuclear holocaust at Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. The world now grapples with the problems of nuclear terrorism and nuclear proliferation. Our dream of a nuclear weapons-free world remains unrealized. The question arises of whether it is possible for us to reverse the trend. Jainisnm is a religion that enjoins its followers to practice values like restraining propensities for wealth, over-consumption, violence and ostentation, and has the potential to offer a new sociopolitico-economic world order embedded in the current social ethos. Can it provide a new paradigm of socio-economic order and ensure prevention of escalation of politico-military and economic crises? Can it offer a solution to the problems of climate change and environmental and ecological degradation? It is the view of this author that practicing the Jain doctrine of ahimsa, anekant and non-possession can reverse the threat of human extinction and improve the quality of life considerably.

Jainism and the Present Crisis In the wake of problems generated by climate change, pollution, environmental hazards and escalating terrorist strikes in USA, India, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia, more and more people have shown interest in Jainism which is known for its philosophy of ahimsa (nonviolence)

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and ichha primaan (limiting one’s desires, wants and possessions). Since Jainism enjoins its followers to refrain from killing not only humans but also from killing plants, trees, birds, all forms of biologically diverse species including insects and microbes and also from polluting air, water, fire and earth as it involves injury to life, it increasingly is being recognized as one of the world’s most ecologyfriendly religions. Reverence for all forms of life is the essence of Jaina belief. Mr. Michael Tobias writes in his book Life Force: The World of Jainism: Jainism is a momentous example to all of us that there can, and does exist a successful, ecologically responsible way of life which is abundantly nonviolent in thought, word and deed. We might misread our history, go forward confusedly to perpetrate other follies but we will do so knowing that there is a viable alternative.2

Michael Tobias is but one example. When he became familiar with Jain Doctrine, he realized that the only way to prevent the extinction of the human race is to live in harmony with nature. Jainism champions the cause of all sentient beings. It considers the earth a secret refuge for plants and animals. It offers a practical outline for a new model of a nonviolent socio-politico-economic world order. Violence destroys everything while nonviolence preserves life and ensures durable peace. Jainism goes to the root. The seeds of physical violence first sprout in the human mind. They later manifest themselves in injurious physical activities. The root of the crisis that we face today lies in the excessive rise of passions (kasaya) such as ego, hypocrisy, greed and anger in human nature. Jainism believes that the dissipation of kasaya alone will result in universal peace. In the preface to his treatise Jain Darsan: Manan Aur Mimansa (Jain Philosophy: An Analytical Study and Commentary), His Holiness Acharya Mahapragya, a celebrated Jain thinker and social reformer writes: Jainism is neither bound by caste nor by any institution. It is an awakening or consciousness of dharma. Jainism has declared that any individual, irrespective of his caste, creed and dress, is entitled to moksa (liberation or salvation) provided his religious consciousness has been awakened and his passions of raaga (attachment)

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Dialogue & Alliance and dvesa (aversion or hatred) have been completely annihilated. The dharma (religion) that keeps dharm-chetana­ (religious consciousness) free from sectarian confines can be described as the spiritual dharma. Anekant Drishti (non-absolutist attitude) to know the truth and the spiritual dharma to accomplish it are the two fundamental achievements of Jainism.3

Acharya Mahapragya makes a clear distinction between sect and dharma. A sect may serve as an infrastructural facility but it is not dharma in the real sense of the word. Attachment to a sect only generates fanaticism and creates deluded beliefs. The two basic features of Jainism as highlighted by Acharya Mahapragya provide a strong foundation for a harmonious society. According to Jainism the main challenges presented by the existing model of the world order are sedentary lifestyle, ostentation, consumption, starvation, social and economic disparities, corruption, lack of integrity, bad governance, fast-spreading culture of violence and vengeance, ecological and environmental degradation and, above all, wanton race for arms including nuclear arms. Despite persistent efforts made by the United Nations, nuclear disarmament remains a distant dream. The five nations which created huge piles of nuclear weapons including nuclear missiles and atom bombs before the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty came into existence are not ready to destroy their weapons of mass destruction. This situation has created a big obstacle in our endeavor to achieve world peace. We have now nuclear and nonnuclear nations. It means that the non-nuclear nations, many of which have achieved nuclear technology but are not allowed to manufacture nuclear weapons, remain subservient to the nuclear nations. This disparity also causes great concern.

The Jain Paradigm of Socio-Economic World Order The Jain paradigm of a socio-economic world order is based on the enlightened worldview smyaktava4 (according to Jain terminology). This worldview emphasizes the power and autonomy of consciousness against the brute force of matter. It is, therefore, wrong to inflict misery on any living being for any material gain. This concept of ahimsa is central to the sustainability of a socio-economic order. Lord Mahavira said:

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All souls (jivas) are equal. After having known this truth man may become indifferent to killing all forms of life that inhabit the world. All living beings love to live. They want to taste happiness. They are dismayed by sorrow or suffering. They dislike killing and love life. They want to live.5 He further states that a wise man should think of all jivas. Since all jivas dislike suffering, he should not kill any living being. His message is crystal clear. It asks us to be careful since we is not alone. We are surrounded by jivas. But Mahavira also knew very well that for a householder it is not possible to completely abstain from violence so he exhorts him to at least abstain from avoidable violence. It means he should not kill innocent living beings, desist from cutting trees and destroying plants and minimize and limit his needs. He shouldn’t waste food. He should eat less and save water and other resources on this planet. A vow (commitment) is considered essential. To begin with the householder can take a small vow (anuvrat) which may be developed gradually.

The Jain View of Samsara and Suffering Jains believe that hankering after mundane objects only leads to frustration and that samsarah (the “world”) is asarah (vain). This is the sum total of Jaina precepts and beliefs. All jivas, whether they live on the planet earth or in hells or in heavens, are subject to suffering. Humans suffer on account of our unworthy deeds. Poverty, slavery, disease, old age and fear of death envenom our lives. Horrible torment begins as soon a jiva enters the womb and experiences oppressive narrowness. Even gods suffer. The jivas of hell undergo indescribable pain on account of the bad deeds in their previous existences. Worldly life bereft of spirituality is synonymous with suffering. In samsara suffering is like the mountain Meru and joy is small like a grain of mustard. It quickly disappears like a wave. Intensity of suffering and increase in joy depend on man’s bad or good deeds. The Jain theory of karma makes it clear that a jiva can come out of the cycle of suffering if he knows the causes which bind the soul in karmic bondage and strives to remove them. They are mithyatva (heterodoxy), avirati (non-restraint), kasaya (passions) and yoga (activities). This karmic belief of the Jains strives to create social excellence, regulating social life in as much as it advocates cooperation rather than competition.

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Vision of a Casteless Society: Equality of All Souls Jaina doctrine visualizes a casteless society in which all jivas are considered equal. Lord Mahavira said that every jiva has the potential to become paramatma (great soul or God). Even an insect may attain this level when it is born a human in the next birth. Though Jainism grants equality to all souls, in reality we find classes and subclasses in society determined by their previous karmas. Jainism prohibits its laity from looking down upon any individual on account of his profession or caste or poverty. Practical Ethics The doctrine of karma is the basis of the theoretical dispensation of the Jainas. In the same way it controls the whole system of practical ethics. All of our activities have a corresponding response in subtle matter. Good or bad activities (in thought, word and deed) cause the influx of karmic matter into the soul. However, karmic dust can be removed from the soul by purifying the mind and emotions by avoiding all sinful physical, mental or vocal activities. One can stop the influx of this harmful matter by righteous conduct and the practice of equanimity. Jain ethics lays down clearly what one should do and what one should avoid in order to minimize worldly suffering. It also lays down a moral code of conduct for laymen and laywomen (shravaks and shravikas) consisting of twelve anuvrats (small vows). Five of them are anuvrats (small or basic vows), three are gunavratas (qualitative vows) and four are siksavratas (instructive vows). They are as follows: (a) Five small vows (anuvrats) Gross vow of Refraining from Violence (sthula pranatipataviramana). It is difficult for the householder to avoid injury to life in the daily routine of cultivating land, cooking food, grinding corn, cleaning the toilet and so on. The Swopajna Bhasya Tika by Siddhasenagani says that a householder should desist at least from intended or deliberate acts of gross violence. Gross vow of Refraining from Lying (sthula mrsavadaviramana). The householder cannot refrain from all forms of falsehood. He should at least take the small vow of refraining from false statements.

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Gross vow of Abstaining from Taking anything that is not given (sthula adattadanaviramana). He should not take anything without the consent of the owner. Gross vow of Refraining from all Illicit Sexual Contacts (sthula maithunaviramana). The householder should desist from sexual activity with anyone other than one’s spouse. Vow of Limiting One’s Possessions (parigrahaparimana). The householder should limit his possessions voluntarily. The above anuvrats (small vows) which are the exact counterparts of mahavratas (big vows) are supported by seven supplementaries. They include three gunavratas and four siksavratas. (b) Three gunavratas Vow of Limiting the Area of one’s Activities (digvrata). The householder should take a vow to restrict his travel and movement to a limited area. Vow of Limiting the Quantity of Things One Will Use (bhogopabhogaparimana). The householder should take a vow to make use of only a definite number of things for sustaining life. Vow to Abstain from Purposeless Harmful Activities (anarthadandaviramana). The householder should take a vow to refrain from all such purposeless activities as are harmful to others. He should not think ill of anyone nor cause injury to anyone. (c) Four siksavratas Vow of Remaining Completely Equanimous for a Fixed Period of Time (samayika). The householder should take a vow to keep aloof from sinful conduct for a set period of time (48 minutes at a time). Vow of Reducing for a Limited Period of Time the Limits of the Area Set Forth in the Sixth Vow (desavakasikavrata). The householder should take a vow to restrict his movement to an even more limited area for a fixed period than the one fixed under vow No. 6 above. Vow of Observing Fast and Living Like a Monk for Certain Days (posadhavrata). The householder should take a vow to observe complete fast for a whole day and night and pass that period in religious meditation and behave practically like a sadhu. Vow of Sharing with Deserving Guests (atithismvibhaga-vrata). The householder should take a vow to share his food or clothes with

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wandering monks. The observance of these practical precepts by individuals of society leads to the advent of a society in which life becomes a journey towards peace rather a struggle for mundane prosperity at the cost of moral values.

The Three Pillars of a Socio-Economic World Order According to Jainism the main cause of human suffering is unrestrained desire and man’s greed for possessions—be they animals, land, wealth and buildings. Even while aiming at worldly prosperity gross ethical principles are not to lie violated. If a businessman follows the law of the land, refrains from deceiving and adopts fair means to earn wealth, he will serve as a model of a responsible citizen for others. I find that the Jain message of ahimsa (nonviolence), aparigrah (non-possession) and anekant (non-absolutist attitude) can provide a framework for a Jain paradigm of socio-economic world order based on the twin principles of co-existence and cooperation. The three principles stated above are the pillars on which the edifice of a new model of socio-economic world order can be built. Ahimsa—As already stated ahimsa or abstinence from violence in thought, word and deed is the hallmark of Jainism. The main problem that humanity faces today is that of violence. It has become a powerful weapon of those who believe that it is only by the use of force and coercion that they can suppress dissent and make their opponents kneel before them. Others think that even a valid demand can only be met by use of force against authorities. Today everyone wants a gun to settle an old score or protect himself. The gun culture is percolating through schools, colleges and universities. Under the pretext of security all nations are vying with one another to manufacture or buy the arms that can kill more. The culture of violence that we find predominant in the modern society has made our life difficult and insecure. The United Nations is deeply concerned about the growing trends of violence among children. It has created “a decade of a culture of peace and nonviolence for the children of the world” (2001 to 2010).6 It is the first time that world leaders recognized the power of nonviolence and declared an action plan to promote a culture of ahimsa. Subsequently the U.N. body has also declared October 2, the Birth Day of Mahatma Gandhi,

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as World Nonviolence Day. So far so good, but Jainism warns that nonviolence and austerity go together; where there is lust for luxuries, violence is bound to follow. That is why Mahatma Gandhi led a life of austerity and preached dignity of labour not only in words but in practice also. Jainism believes that diversity is the beauty of the universe. If we can pledge ourselves to avoid unnecessary and deliberate violence and coexist despite diverse beliefs, cultures and languages, we can dream of a harmonious global society. Lord Buddha and Lord Mahavira have shown us the right path. Gandhi was influenced by the Jain concept of ahimsa to which he refers in his autobiography. He has demonstrated to the world that ahimsa alone can solve many problems. By creating an awareness of reverence for all form of life we can preserve our ecological harmony and control further degradation of our environment. The Jain term for nonviolence is ahimsa which means abstinence from violence. The Tattvartha Sutra makes clear that “taking life away out of passion is violence.”7 It means that if an injury is caused without any motivation or deliberate intention and if we act with utmost care and vigilance, it in itself does not constitute an evil act. If an individual, driven by anger, pride, deceit and greed, takes someone’s life away, it is violence. The Jain view attaches enormous significance to mental, emotional and verbal violence. All forms of physical violence result from them only. According to Jainism it is this aspect of violence and nonviolence that governs a society. Non-possession or aparigraha is the most important Jaina principle which if adhered to sincerely by the people can usher in an era of lasting peace and happiness. Acharya Mahapragya often says that instead of ahimsa parmodharma (nonviolence is the greatest dharma), we should say aparigraha parmodharma (non-possession is the greatest dharma).8 Unrestrained desire to possess everything that fascinates us—be it women, wealth or edibles (possessiveness) is the main cause of the imbalance in our life. The crisis of the shortages of commodities that sustain our life has also been caused by the excessive rise of kasaya (passions) in human nature. We have scarcity of food, water, houses and clothes. They are sufficient to sustain the people on the planet but the tendency of hoarding creates artificial scarcity. The Jain principle that enjoins us to limit our possessions voluntarily can help

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us to combat the problems of poverty, hunger and shortages. On the one hand we find the number of billionaires increasing, but still the number of the poorest of the poor seems to be growing fast. If the millionaires or billionaires can limit their possessions, the excess can be utilized to meet the challenge of poverty and hunger. The Tattvarth Sutra describes parigraha as muccha (7.12 Tattvarth Sutra-English) i.e. clinging is possessiveness. Clinging to the animate and the inanimate is possessiveness. A feeling of attachment to material objects is at the root of all problems. The more we are detached, the nearer the goal we are. The intensity of “mineness” makes it necessary for a person to have possession which inevitably involves violence, falsehood and theft. Jainism lays emphasis on the restraint of a desire to possess and hoard. The ideal is complete non-possession which can be attained only by ascetics but a householder is taught to fix a limit to his possessions. The third principle, that of anekant (non-absolutist outlook) is a most significant feature of Jainism. The world is full of contradictory beliefs. But Lord Mahavira says that contradictory viewpoints and beliefs can co-exist. There is no need for disputation and rejection. The truth in its entirety is known only to perfect souls or omniscient beings. The Jains call them arhats (the souls that have destroyed their karmic bondage by purifying the self through austerities and equanimity). Each seeker of truth experiences a grain of truth and propounds a philosophical standpoint. A standpoint is a way of approaching the truth. It is an individual observation or experience. These angles and ways of approach lead to partial truths. Conflict arises when the follower of a particular faith insists that what his faith says alone is truth and the rest are heretic beliefs. According to Lord Mahavira, truth is many-sided. One may be true from one standpoint and wrong from another standpoint. He said, “I salute Anekantavada (the doctrine of non-absolutism), the only Guru of the world, because without it worldly activities come to a standstill.”9 Leave apart the question of realizing the truth, but one is unable to maintain a relationship even between a family and society. Acharya Mahapragya says, “Anekant is the axis of all, it is the only world teacher or spiritual administrator (anushashta). Since the whole truth and the entire sphere of worldly activities are governed by it, I bow before it.”10

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Our life is dependent on pairs of opposites. If the pairs of contraries are eliminated, life will come to an end. Lord Mahavira’s doctrine of non-absolutism not only recognizes the philosophical standpoints put forward by other religious groups, but also asks its followers not to disparage the contrary beliefs or the beliefs propounded by other groups. Anekant thus becomes the most powerful instrument of religious reconciliation. Without this non-absolutist attitude democracy cannot succeed. Anekant is a source of durable peace in a democratic society. Dr. Nathmal Tatia, an eminent Jain scholar and translator of Tattvarth Sutra [published as That Which Is in English], observes in his note on this dual aspect of truth: It was due to the doctrine of philosophical standpoints that Jainism became a veritable repository of philosophies that originated and flourished in India.11

Relative Economics and Socio-Economic World Order Though Lord Mahavira did not make any direct comment on economics, his message has in it a fundamental basis of sustainable economics—a new model of economics that is inclusive and that ensures justice to all and, unlike globalization, marginalizes none. The modern system of economics based on production, distribution and consumption is one in which, if any one of these functions slows down, may affect our economy adversely and even may disrupt it altogether. In order to create and multiply demand, consumption becomes an important factor. The people living in rich countries have enough money to buy and consume. They were encouraged to consume excessively so that industrial production could be boosted and the growth rate could be increased. Fierce marketing by companies led the Western society to believe that consumerism was in the national interest. As mass consumerism swept the developed nations; it caused unprecedented damage to the environment of the earth and contributed greatly to excessive emissions of greenhouse gases. Holes in the ozone layer trigger global warming. Until recently 85 percent of the resources of the planet earth were consumed by the people of USA, Europe, Japan and South Korea, leaving only 15 percent of all remaining material resources available for a vast remaining majority

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of the human race. This is changing now, but not because aforementioned countries consume less, but because the latter raise their levels of consumption with frightening speed. The victim of this development is the planet itself, with all beings on it. It is ethically wrong and beyond sane reasoning. The modern economic system, of course, has contributed to sustained growth and development but it has affected our ecosystem and environment badly and also gives rise to widening disparities. It has now been acknowledged by eminent economists that this growth is unsustainable. The crisis of sustainability is so grave that UN had to declare another decade for the education of sustainable development (ESD) (2005 to 2015). His Holiness Acharya Mahapragya, the author of Economics of Mahavira, and the spiritual Patron of Anuvrat Movement—a movement which inspires people to pledge themselves to observe small vows (basic vows) enjoining them to refrain from inessential violence, war, ostentation, religious intolerance, injury to trees, environmental pollution, dishonesty and deception in business, intoxicants like alcohol and drugs like heroin etc.—is deeply concerned about this selfinflicted deplorable plight of the people of this planet. He is of the view that the root of the problem lies in our lifestyle, propelled by competitive modern economics, but totally devoid of ethical values. It is making people self-centered, greedy, insensitive and violent. Economic power wielded by multinationals is contributing greatly to a cult of violence and hatred. The current model of economic systems being followed all over the world is accelerating the slide to eco-catastrophe. Let us listen to what Acharya Mahapragya says: If economics continues to remain merely the economics of utility, it will not be possible for us to remove social disparities. If the basic human values like nonviolence, peace, purity of means, selfrestraint as propounded by Lord Mahavira are integrated with the modern economic principles, it will bring about a big change in social outlook towards production, distribution and consumption. It will also result in the fulfillment of the primary needs of the poor and weaker sections of society. Lord Mahavira had laid down the vow of non-possession for ascetics. He knew that it was not possible for the house-holders to refrain completely from possession, so he propounded the principle of limiting individual desires and

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needs. If an individual can limit his desires and needs, it will pave the way for an economically sustainable society.12

Mahapragya’s new model of economics is based on Lord Mahavira’s philosophy rooted in nonviolence, which is an all-encompassing human trait indispensable and inevitable for the sustainability of the world. Relative Economics rooted in ahimsa is being advocated as complementary to the modern economic system which doesn’t recognize ethics and emphasizes only wealth creation by earning profit. It ignores those who cannot compete and helps only those who are already rich. Acharya Mahapragya has laid down thirteen principles of relative economics. Parigraha—man’s desire to acquire material resources and hoard—is responsible for the increasing trends of violence in society. Relative economics believes that if parigraha is limited, violence will decrease automatically. Dishonesty and corruption dominate the world of business. The increase in unethical business practices is causing social unrest. We need to integrate ethics into business. Increasing greed for wealth must be controlled. Only big industries are promoted and small industries are neglected. This practice increases unemployment at the lower level. Relative economics advocates bridging this gap. Rampant mechanization contributes to galloping unemployment. A way has to be found to reduce mechanization in industry. Wealth is becoming an end in itself. Our perverted view that wealth is a source of happiness needs to be changed. Material comforts have become our priority. Greed for accumulating wealth needs to be curbed. Policy of investment is faulty. Relative economics pleads for judicious investment. Limitless consumption gives rise to reactionary violence. Those who are not able to get two meals a day tend to resort to violence. Industrial development is instigating individualism at the cost of society. A self-centered attitude has no place in relative economics. It inspires people to rise above selfishness. Hedonistic mentality is detrimental to society. It needs to be curbed through moral awakening. The stream of compassion is drying up gradually. Development of humaneness and sensitivity in society can meet this challenge.

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The problems of hunger and disparity are the by-products of modern economic system. Relative economics attaches great significance to the alleviation of hunger and poverty.

Concluding Remarks Acharya Mahapragya is of the view that the principle of aparigraha is central to relative economics. It touches the core of our consciousness. It does not mean that individual wealth and profit are altogether prohibited. One can earn wealth but the means adopted should be honest. Each person should voluntarily fix a limit to possessions. The basis of aparigraha is that we are not attached to our material possessions and are free from deluded belief. We call the present age materialistic because there isn’t any limit to consumption. Consumption is an inevitable social process. Without it our worldly interaction will come to an end. What is necessary is that we change our outlook on life and minimize our murchha (deluded belief) towards material objects. The Jain model of socio-economic world order is based on samyaktava i.e. right understanding of the reality of life. One who has samyaktava believes in the existence of the soul and interdependence of jivas. He also has reverence for all life forms, avoids unnecessary violence and limits his consumption and needs. Governed by this general attitude the Jain model of society remains free from incidents of deliberate violence involving murder and rape. There is no exploitation and the needs of the poor receive attention. It permits reasonable competitiveness but asserts that excess of everything is bad. Acharya Tulsi’s Anuvrat Movement13 which was launched in Delhi in 1949 to rid the world of violence and immorality, aimed at creating a new paradigm of socio-economic world order. Acharya Mahapragya has given it a new form by presenting this as the basis of relative economics. Man accepts the concept of parigraha. He also recognizes the importance of the value of an object and the joy that he derives from it. As a matter of fact the fulfillment of a need is neither joy nor sorrow. The idea of joy beyond it is a psychological belief. A material object is neither parigraha nor is it the cause of bondage, nor can it be said to be full of sorrow. It is only when it is

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associated with our desire, that it becomes the cause of bondage or sorrow. In reality parigraha is synonymous with desire.14 —Acharya Shri Mahapragya in Anuvrat Darshan

These words of wisdom have in them an eternal message for politicians, citizens and economists. If they can listen to them, violence in society will diminish and social excellence will prevail.

Notes 1.

The Turning Point: Science, Society and the Rising Culture by Fritjof Capra, page xvii, an imprint of Flamingo 1983 published in Great Britain.

2.

Life Force: The World of Jainism by Michael Tobias, page 1, published by Asian Humanities Press, 1991, New York.

3.

Jain Darsan Manan aur Mimansa by Acharya Mahapragya, published by Adarsh Sahitya Sangh, 1994, preface page iv.

The term samyaktva is used to mean right faith. Dr. Nathmal Tatia has translated it as “enlightened worldview” in the English rendering of Tattvarth Sutra. It is true understanding of the ethical and spiritual problems of worldly bondage, pp. 5-11. Muni Shri Nyayavijayaji defines it as faith in the existence of soul, in its good and bad states or births and in the possibility of its attaining spiritual perfection (kevalya). In Hisyoesastra 11.15 Acharya Hemchandra lays down characteristics of samyaktva (i) sama (tranquility); (ii) sam.... (intense desire); (iii) nirveda (disgust for evil and sinful activities); (iv) anukampa (compassion) and (v) astikya (belief in righteous conduct). 4.

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5.

Atma Ka Darsan (Jain Dharma: Tattva aur Aachaar) page 254 published by Jain Vishva Bharati (Ladnun) 2005.

6.

Realizing the gravity of the situation the Noble Peace Laureates signed an appeal for the children of the world in 1997 and called for an international decade of peace. The UN General Assembly endorsed their appeal and passed resolutions (UN Resolutions A/RES/52/13: Culture of Peace and A/ RES/53/243: declaration and programme of action on a culture of peace) UN declared “A Decade of a Culture of Peace and Nonviolence for the Children of the World” (2001-2010).

7.

Tattvarth Sutra (That Which Is) published by Harper and Collins, USA in 1994 in association with the Institute of Jainology, UK.

8.

Ghat Ghat Deep Jale published by Jain Vishva Bharati 1980, page 452.

9.

Atma Ka Darsan published by Jain Vishva Bharati (Ladnun) in 2005, page 503.

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10. Anekant Hai Tisara Netra published by Tulsi Adhyatm Needam JVB Ladnun 1982, page 2. 11. Tattvarth Sutra published by Harper & Collins USA in 1994, page 140, sutra 5-31. 12. This extract has been taken from Acharya Mahapragya’s speech on Sapeksh Arthshastra delivered at a conference in Delhi in 2005. 13. Anuvrat Darshan published in 1954 by Adarsh Sahitya Sangh. 14. The word anuvrat has been used in Jain scriptures for the twelve small vows meant for Jain votaries. Anu means small and vrata means a vow i.e. small vow. Acharya Tulsi gave the anuvrat the form of a mass movement which is not restricted to Jain laity. Taking a cue from the twelve vows of shravaks laid down by Lord Mahavira, Acharya Tulsi formulated a new code of ethical conduct for the followers of all faiths. Its main aim is to awaken moral consciousness of an individual and thus work for the regeneration of moral and spiritual values in society. It enjoins an individual to pledge himself to the observance of eleven small vows and join the worldwide network of self-transformed people. An anuvrati—one who commits himself to anuvrat—refrains from unnecessary violence, false statements, illicit sexual behaviour, destruction of environment and disparagement of the principles of other faith traditions.

References 1. Atma Ka Darsan by Acharya Mahapragya. 2. Economics of Mahavira by Acharya Mahapragya. 3. Anekant Hai Tisra Netra by Acharya Mahapragya. 4. Philosophical Terms: Glossary and Sources by Dr. Kala Acharya. 5. The Life Force by Michael Tobias. 6. Nonviolence to Animals Earth and Self by Christopher Chapple. 7. Ahimsa Anekantvad and Jainism by Dr. Tara Sethia. 8. Tattvarth Sutra by Dr. N. Tatia. 9. “Contribution of Acharya Mahapragya to Indian Culture” by Dr. Dayan and Bhargava (unpublished). 10. Jain Darshan Manan aur Mimansa by Acharya Mahapragya.

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Our King Must Hear about This: Practicing Reconciliation in the Nigerian Socio-religious Sphere Enoch Olújídé Gbádégesin  

T

Abstract

his paper is a critical examination of the causes of violence in Nigeria. It looks at the role of religion in violence that can be applied to any nation. It also evaluates the efforts of secular and religious leaders in their efforts to reduce violence in Nigeria since it has become a nation. It re-examines and analyzes peace strategies that have been employed by various organizations. The paper recommends the Yoruba peace paradigm and various other methods by which peace-building efforts could be achieved in twenty-first century Nigeria. The paper concludes that violence could only be reduced to its barest minimum in the Nigerian nation through the reconciliatory efforts of religious and secular leaders.

Introduction One is tempted to assert that, more than anywhere else in the world, religion above all has contributed to large scale violence in the Nigerian socio-political spheres. Religious crisis has lead to uncontrollable violence. Toyin Falola wrote in 1998 that: “Nigeria, one of the largest and most important countries in the third world, has been in the news in the last fifteen years as a major African theater of religious violence and aggression, as have Sudan and Algeria.” (1998:1) There is no doubt that there are various other causes1 of violence, yet 1. The Civil War of 1966-1970 in Nigeria, it is observed, has nothing to do with religion and most ethnic crisis and violence. For example, the Ife-Modakeke crisis leading to violence in most cases which began more than two hundred years ago has nothing to do with religion; it concerns a land dispute and the issue of autonomy. The Niger-Delta crisis and violence is purely a case of resource allocation and control. There are other pockets of violence that have riddled the fabric of the nation but have not been as bad as the crisis and violence that religion precipitate.

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this notwithstanding, religion has contributed more to the disintegration of the socio-economic and political situations of the country than any other cause. In recent times, religious crisis and violence have contributed to the destruction of innocent lives and properties worth billions of dollars. One tends to assume that as more educated elites are being made in Nigeria, violence of any kind, and that of religion in particular, would have been reduced radically to its barest minimum or eradicated altogether. Almost every religious and/or political discussion at local and global levels has serious negative implications for Nigeria. The 9/11 event that took the American troops to Iraq was violently protested against by the Muslims especially in the Northern part of the country which led to people losing their lives. As recently as 2002 there were protests from Muslims in the North over the Miss World contest which was to take place in Nigeria, again leaving hundreds of people dead in Nigeria alone, while just six dead were recorded for the entire rest of the world regarding this incident. The purpose of this paper is knowing how religious violence could be effectively managed and curtailed in Nigeria, thereby allowing the socio-political and economic spheres to become more viable. One of the peace-building strategies already started in Nigeria was discussed at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, on May 7, 2008, by Pastor James Wuye and Imam Ashafa both from Kaduna State in Nigeria.2 Here I hope to shed more light on their activities and efforts. Many scholarly works and information through paper and electronic media have appeared on the topic of violence and how it is managed in Nigeria. Yet, religious violence remains. We must continue to update new methods of stemming the tide of religious and secular violence, with a view to applying them to particular situations. This paper focuses on the Yoruba aphorism “Èsìn kò ye kí o fá ìjà” “Religion ought not to cause fight or lead to violence.”

The Heart of the Matter Observers note that in pre-colonial Nigeria, religious violence was not known because, according to them, the Nigerian nation was 2. The duo had been constant enemies of each other because of their religious differences, in fact they claimed that they have killed many people of opposite faiths and they have also lost their relatives in the process.

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monolithic so far as religious tradition was concerned (J.K.Olupona, 1988; Toyin Falola, 1998; Jude C. Aguwa, 1997; Ilesanmi Simeon O., 1997). Not only was this so but one could also safely suggest that nobody saw any reason why religion should cause any crisis in the public sphere as it is being witnessed in modern day Nigeria.3 Religion as it was practiced was not as powerful as ethnic identities for Nigerian people. Again, connected to this is the role played by the king; the king embodied both religious and the secular life. Because of the absolute power possessed by the king, and because he embodied religion and political life of the communities, he decided for his city. For this reason the people of those days said, “The king is the owner of the land, and as God’s vicegerent he dictated and controlled what he wanted in his domain.”4 This system has been moderated but not totally eradicated in modern times. In fact, kings still play active advisory and mediatory roles in the religio-political discourse of Nigeria. As the custodian of cultural values, the kings were not expected to belong to any particular religion; they practice all religions of the domain, especially in respect to the Yoruba cultural society. Hence, this qualifies them to be impartial arbitrators and mediators in matters that have to do with religious crisis.5 But as Islam and Christianity came to be planted in Nigeria and have successfully trumped the indigenous religious tradition, things have been going from bad to worse for the nation. Unfortunately, these two religions each claim to have better “salvific promises” for the very people whose innocent lives become destroyed rather than protected. 3. While one could say that religion is everything to the Nigerian people in the past and present, the people place more priority on ethnicity than religion. Most especially among the Yoruba, they are fond of saying, “religion should not be a basis for any crisis or violence.” 4. This assertion, I am sure, is open to serious criticism, but then, it was a better option for the people at that time, and it was working for them. I believe that there is no system that has no weakness or fault of its own. The paraded democracy in many developed nations of the world has been exposed to sharp criticisms by many observers. 5. Frank A. Salamone’s article titled: “Ethnic Identities and Religion” and Dean S. Gilliland’s article titled: “Kings, Priests and Religion in Northern Nigeria”; both in Jacob K. Olupona and Toyin Falola eds., Religion and Society in Nigeria: Historical and Sociological Perspectives (Ibadan: Spectrum Book Limited 1991) addresses this issue of the roles of Kings in both Northern and Southwestern Nigeria very well. See chapter 3 and 4 of this book.

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The nation has never been worse in the area of religious violence than we find now in twentieth century Nigeria. Worse still, widespread corruption that tears at the nation’s fabric is now linked to the combative presence of these two, major, world religions (Christianity and Islam).6 Christianity is more implicated in this matter of corruption, which now becomes a slippery slope argument for Muslims. Muslims identify Christianity with colonialism and Euro-American liberal cultures of loose living, unbridled freedom, and strange democratic structures that separate sectarian and secular life from one another. All this departs radically from the Islamic holistic and totalizing way of life. In respect to Islamic religion, one writer notes: The word religion in Western usage falls short of expressing the totality of Islam as a comprehensive system influencing all aspects of life, individual as well as communal. The total address of Islam to its followers is called the Shar‘iah, and the division of the Shar‘iah into three compartments of worship, moral code and legal system is an arbitrary one, since these are closely interrelated and integrated (Hassan Hathout 1996:41).

The heart of the religious crisis or violence is this issue of Muslim insistence on the use of Shar‘iah to govern, which Christians constantly resist, especially as inappropriate for the whole nation. Equally of interest is the fact that major violence being witnessed in the nation takes place in virtually all cases in the Northern States of Nigeria. This is not peculiar to Nigeria either. Similar ethno-religious violence in India also is geographically located (Martha Nussbaum 2007: 5). The only difference between the Indian and the Nigerian case is that in the Indian case, “the threat to democracy comes not from Muslims or from any ‘clash’ between European and non-European civilizations, but from something more sad: a romantic European concept of nationalism based on ideas of blood, soil, purity and the volksgeist.” (Nussbaum 2007:5) In the Nigerian case, it is a religious war between Islam and Christianity, which begs on the question of whether Nigeria is a secular state or not. 6. This is one strong argument the indigenous religious tradition uses to condemn Christianity and Islam whose teachings hold that judgment is in the afterlife and not here, especially when corrupt people are supposed to face divine judgment (that was already extant before the arrival of Islam and Christianity). I see this as one of the various ways religious groups stereotype one another.

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The Shar‘iah Debate in a Plural Nigerian Society In preparation for the return to constitutional rule,7 the Olusegun Obasanjo military administration (1976-1979) established a Constituent Assembly (with members partly elected and partly nominated) to debate the draft constitution for Nigeria’s Second Republic. A Constitution Drafting Committee made up largely of legal experts submitted the draft constitution to the Constituent Assembly. Of the issues that generated the greatest heat, but little light, was discussion about Shar‘iah laws and the legal system. The protagonists (largely Muslim members of the assembly) argued that a Federal Shar‘iah Court of Appeal should be established as an intermediary between the State’s Shar‘iah courts and the Supreme Court of Nigeria. Their reason was that the Shar‘iah courts are the principal avenues for justice in the Islamic world and the symbol of political freedom for Muslims in Nigeria, who constitute over half of the total population. On the opposite side, many Christians viewed the issue of Shar‘iah and the proposed (federal) court of appeal as designed to create the potential for Muslim domination in Nigeria.8 This issue presents open and hidden suspicions between these two major religions. On the one hand, Muslims saw no reason why Christians should deny them their religious prescription for a holistic life and, on the other, Christians in the assembly who opposed the court saw Muslim proponents as “religious fanatics,” “neojihad” advocates in disguise who, unless they were checked, would seek the expansion of Shar‘iah law until it penetrated the whole ship of state.9 Shar‘iah debates continue to generate serious problems in Nigeria, especially as the nation enters into her third republic. The 1999 election that gave Olusegun Obasanjo, the former military ruler, the 7. Nigeria, just like many African nations, has been ruled by the military for most of her political adventure. The first democratic politics practiced by the Nigerians did not last long. The military took over the government from the civilians under the guise that the nation was not safe politically under the civilians. See S.K. PanterBrick (ed.), Nigerian Politics and Military Rule: Prelude to the Civil War (London: Institute of Commonwealth Studies/Athlone Press, 1971). Or Ademoyega Adewale, Why We Struck: The Story of the First Nigerian Coup. Ibadan: Evans Brothers Publishers, 1981. 8. David D. Laitin, Hegemony and Culture: Politics and Religious Change among the Yoruba. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1986, p6. 9. Ibid. p. 6.

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political mandate to be the president ushered in the reintroduction of the Shar‘iah issue. President Obasanjo made an attempt to introduce a new political programme designed to construct democracy, stability, and a flourishing economy. But it has been noted that the President was only working in response to World Bank and IMF requisite demands (Kamari M. Clarke 2007:4). His administration enacted trade liberalization measures, strict democracy measures and constitutional reform, and drafted an agenda for international and national cooperation. But the result has been substantive declines in the economic standard of living (Geo-Jaja and Magnum 2003 in Kamari M. Clarke 2007:4). The effects are the loss of many social services, the decrease in currency value, the increase in prices of imports, and constrained negotiations for land rights and entitlements. This led to the crafting of new political identities. In fact, Kamari Clarke notes: In the midst of ongoing economic and social crises, various Nigerians continue to exert pressure for significant political change, shaping the development of new strategies to balance power within a country where different communities attempt to build a nation reflective of their own socio-religious values. These strategies once took the form of military coups, but they are now manifested in measures such as the recent reintroduction of the strict Islamic criminal code known as the Shar‘iah (currently implemented in 12 of Nigeria’s 36 states). This legal system reflects an alternative moral economy, which both parallels and challenges the federal strategy for crafting a liberal subject governed through democratic constitutionalism (2007:5).

Protest and Violence Perhaps the most serious tragic example of religious and political protest overlapping came with the Yan Tatsine (popularly known as Mai Tatsine) rebellion led by Marwa in Kano at the end of 1980. This violence spread to three states over the course of five years.10 In May 1999 violence erupted in Kaduna State over the succession of an Emir resulting in more than 100 deaths. Still in Kaduna, from February to May 2000, over 1,000 people died in rioting over the introduction of criminal Shar‘iah in the state. Hundreds of ethnic Hausa were killed in 10. See Toyin Falola, Violence in Nigeria: The Crisis of Religious Politics and Secular Ideologies. Rochester: University of Rochester Press, 1998, pp. 137-162.

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reprisal attacks in southeastern Nigeria. In September 2001, over 2000 people were killed in inter-religious rioting in Jos. In October 2001, hundreds were killed and thousands were displaced in communal violence that spread across the middle-belt states of Benue, Taraba, and Nasarawa. Plateau State has the highest number of displaced people as a result of clashes between Christians and Muslim communities there. The predominantly Christian Tarok farmers consider the mostly Hausa Muslim cattle herders as outsiders, and accuse them of stealing land and trying to usurp political power. This led to the burning down of over 72 villages between 2002 and the end of 2003. More than 1000 people were killed in sectarian clashes between Christians and Muslims in Jos, the Plateau State capital, in September 2001. Subsequently, a low intensity conflict spread to the surrounding countryside, where mainly Christian farmers clashed repeatedly with predominantly Muslim livestock herders. Several hundred more people died in these skirmishes, which forced several thousand people to abandon their homes. Most of the clashes in Plateau have been portrayed as being between Christians and Muslim communities, but have often assumed an ethnic dimension. As said earlier, the protest about the Miss World contest, which was to take place in Nigeria in 2002 left hundreds of people dead. The BBC put the death toll at 10,000 from 1999 till 2003 during the years the former president Olusegun Obasanjo was in office. The causes of this violence were also attributed to other factors, namely: 1. Many link the Maitatsine violence or revolt to Islamic Fundamentalism. 2. Some say that it is political corruptions, decadence and rivalries that account for violence. 3. Some others trace violence to government mismanagement and rampant capitalism. 4. Others believe that it is a reaction to an ailing economy and growing disillusionment with the performance of the national economy, and the cynicism about the elite’s competence to revitalize it. 5. The Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) introduced in 1986, which led to inflation, made life unbearable.

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6. Some observers note that many youths following Marwa (the Leader of Maitatsine group) were very poor and jobless. The only survival strategy for these poor youths was to have recourse to religion as a means of compensation. We need to remind ourselves that one of the useful points of religion is that it shows that religion provides compensation in the face of deprivation. Karl Marx11 defined religion as “the sign of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.” By this Karl Marx means, as interpreted by Freud, that, “religious suffering is at the same time an expression of real suffering and a protest against real suffering.”12 7. Added to the political issue is that many cities lacked moral or traditional authorities to check irresponsible religious leaders.13 I have gone this length to show the troublesome and negative implication of religion on the political discourse of the Nigerian nation. In the next section, I will show how the Yoruba people have been dealing with the issue of violence in the public sphere, which especially has helped them in forestalling religious violence. These methods are likely to have paralleled other efforts in other cultures of the world. Other recent peace-building efforts, especially the Pastor James Wuye and Imam Ibrahim Ashafa’s method will also be highlighted.

Practicing Reconciliation: Yoruba Peace Paradigm More than any other ethnic groups in Nigerian socio-cultural and economic milieu, the Yoruba ethnic group has been successfully managing well its religio-political and economic crises. According to Frank A. Salamone,14 “the Yoruba have long been the most urbanized of all sub-Saharan people and among the most urbanized people in the world.” William Bascom (1955: 446-454) notes that “ethnic heterogeneity is not essential to urbanism. What is essential is social structural 11. Marx, K., Early Writings. New York: McGraw Hill, 1964, pp. 43-44. 12. Freud, S., The Future of an Illusion. London: Hogwarts Press, 1927. 13. See Toyin Falola, Violence in Nigeria: The Crisis of Religious Politics and Secular Ideologies. (Rochester: University of Rochester Press, 1998, pp. 137-162). 14. Frank A. Salamone, “Ethnic Identities and Religion,” in Religion and Society in Nigeria: Historical and Sociological Perspectives. Jacob K. Olupona and Toyin Falola eds. (Ibadan: Spectrum books Limited, 1991:56).

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heterogeneity and elaboration of the political structure. For Bascom therefore, the essence of urbanism lies in the flexibility of primary groups and their ability to accommodate different bases of authority and leadership. Frank A. Salamone also notes that, “thus for the Yoruba, it is not necessary to have one religion or one set of lineage rules governing each situation.”15 William Bascom also points to the fact that, “unlike Hausa-Fulani towns, such as Kano, Sokoto and Katsina, Yoruba towns are not merely political and commercial capitals serving larger rural areas. Traditional Yoruba towns served psychological as well as material needs.”16 It must also be pointed out here that, in contrast with Hausa-Fulani and other Sudanic towns, Yoruba towns enjoyed a more cordial relationship with their environs. This is very possible because of the following reasons, which are borne out of my own personal introjections, observation and hermeneutic.

Religion Ought Not to Cause Fights or Lead to Violence The Yoruba people, just like any Africans, are incurably religious. They carry their religion to every sphere of their life situation. In fact, every favorable and unfavorable life situation is interpreted religiously. In spite of this fact, however, religion has never been used as a divisive means among the people. Hence, they say: Èsìn kò ye kí o fá ìjà. (Religion ought not to cause fight or lead to violence). This is possible, in the observation of Akiwowo that: “There are constant interpersonal and inter-subjective relationships of the people with, ‘àjobí’, ‘co-sanguinity’ and the ‘àjogbé’, ‘co-residency’ (Akiwowo 1983),” which, as Fadipe also notes “are personal obligations” (Fadipe, 1970:301). The Akiwowo’s “àjobí” is at once ethnic and familiar, which people cannot compromise; but also, the fact of constant inter-subjective interaction of the Yoruba people with other ethnic and cultural groups, which, to them is part of human nature to interact together in the continuum of existence makes “àjogbé,” a necessary part of their belongingness to other neighboring cultures. In this case, religion is not given any priority over and above intersubjective relationships. The ethnic and interpersonal relationship ties that bind the people together are considered more important than religious splinter groups 15. Ibid, p. 56. 16. William Bascom, “Yoruba Urbanism: A Summary,” 58, 253, quoted in Frank Salamone’s Ethnic Identities and Religion. p. 56.

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to which people are distributed. The Yoruba must have noted that religion is not as complicated as people would want us to believe. In fact, they have a phrase that shows this very clearly. They say “Òrun ló mo eni tí yóó là” (It is only heaven that knows who will be saved at the end of the day). I see this resonating with Thich Nhat Hanh’s Interbeing: Fourteen Guidelines for Engaged Buddhism, which is another perspective and dimension in human religious experience that could lead to harmonious religious and cultural relationships. One in particular says, “Do not be idolatrous about or bound to any doctrine, theory, or ideology, even Buddhist ones. Buddhist systems of thought are guiding means; they are not absolute truth.” It is therefore possible in our observation and experience that in a family, father and mother can be practicing Christianity, whereas their daughter may choose to marry a Muslim. In another instance, it is common for the people in the same family lineage to be distributed into various religious traditions without any need for crisis at all.17 We could see this aspect also in line with Ashis Nandy’s18 description of Indian “cosmo-vision,” …which protects Indian culture—against cosmologies which are proselytizing, hegemonistic and committed to some secular or nonsecular theories of cultural evolution—projecting the idea that the Indian is compromising; he has fluid definition, and he is willing to learn the ways of his civilized brethren unconditionally, provided such learning is profitable (p.104).

Principle of Overlooking the Ugly Past The above phrase which is adapted from the Yoruba, Tí a kò bá gbàgbé Òrò àná a kò ní rí eni bá s’eré, can also be translated to mean: “If we do not overlook unpleasant or ugly assault (being done to us or we do to people) which happened yesterday (could be further than yesterday) we would not find anybody to play with” is another means by which the Yoruba people settle their disagreements and grievances. These 17. In my lineage, family members are distributed to all the three major religions (Christianity, Islam and Indigenous Yoruba religion). All these family members cooperate together to celebrate each religious festival every year, until recently, when people are no more practicing Indigenous Yoruba religion. The practice is not peculiar to my family; this is a common practice in virtually all Yoruba families. This is the plural understanding of the Yoruba socio-religious and political life. 18. Ashis Nandy,The Intimate Enemy: Loss and Recovery of Self Under Colonialism.

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kinds of disagreements or grievances usually may be about something else other than religion, and it could also be religion. It could be a borderland dispute between one sub-ethnic group and the other. For example, the Ife-Modakeke inter-ethnic crisis is a borderland dispute which has continued for many years and has been interpreted by some keen observers as politically motivated. It could also be as a result of differences in political associations. While it could be a false assumption to think that the Yoruba people have not had any occasion to fight over who gets what as far as political position is concerned, they usually find quick means of resolving their various crises. They always remember that everybody cannot think the same way; doing so will make the world itself very boring and uninteresting. The Yoruba will say: Gbogbo wa a kò lee sùn kí á k ‘ojú sí ibì kan naà. (All of us cannot sleep and face the same angle). Overlooking “a wrong done yesterday” is, however, not as automatic as it may seem here, it is predicated upon certain gesture(s). The disputants are usually called together for hearing, mediation and reconciliation. The “transgressors” or the “victimizers” are made to confess and ask for forgiveness, while the “wronged” or the “victims” are asked to overlook and forgive.19 This is when and where the role of the king is needed in bringing about a lasting solution to any crisis.20 It needs to be pointed out here that this kind of practice is not peculiar to the Yoruba cultural society only; it is also part of what goes on in other parts of the country. All cities and villages in Nigeria are ruled by the kings who are directly responsible to the people and represent their people at both the state and federal levels. At certain occasions, kings from the east, the north and the south of Nigeria, have had reasons 19. It has been rightly suggested that forgiveness does not preclude or exclude justice to be done. The kind of justice advocated which seems appealing is the one where the victimizer will be willing to own up to misdeeds and be ready to ask for forgiveness. See Michael Battle, Practicing Reconciliation in a Violent World (London: Morehouse Publishing, 2005: 9-35); see also Raymond G. Helmick et. al. eds. Forgiveness and Reconciliation: Religion Public Policy and Conflict Transformation. Philadelphia and London: Templeton Foundation Press, 2001 p.45 20. The last Ife–Modakeke crisis that broke out again in March 2000 and lasted till June of the same year was resolved in this manner. See major Nigerian Newspapers of June 2000. See also an article written by a Modakeke chief Dr. Joseph Olu Toriola titled: The Ife/Modakeke Crisis: An Insider View and The Obagbalula of Ife Chief Gabriel Adetola Agbe’s article, The Ife/Modakeke Crisis: An Insider View, accessed 05/11/2008.

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to come together to discuss with the federal government the issue of ethno-religious crisis that affects the whole nation. They have through that means suggested to the rulers of the nation ways to combat crises and violence in the nation.

Carry It or You Lift and I Lift It The efforts of certain individuals in Nigeria generally and the Yoruba society in particular in bringing about a united nation has also been noted and it is also part of the concern of this paper. Sunday Adeniyi Adegeye (a.k.a Sunny Ade), a popular Yoruba born “juju” folk singer, organized and brought together all Nigerian singers from all parts of the country to campaign for the necessity of all ethnic and religious groups in the nation to move beyond ethnic and religious divides and carry (lift) Nigeria up. There was the real symbolic demonstration of literal lifting up of the model “Map of Nigeria” by all the singers while singing this song.21 Nàìjíríà yí ti gbogbo wa ni Kò màà gbódo bàjé To rí kò sí ‘bò míràn tí a lè lo. Àjòò kò má da bíi ‘lé E jé k’á fowósowópò ká f’ìmò s’ òkan Gbee k’émi gbe. This Nigeria belongs to us all She must not be destroyed Because, there is no other place we can run to Foreign place cannot be the same as one’s home Let us join our hands (cooperate) and team together as one You lift and I also lift her.

There are particularly two lines that address the issue of religion and ethnicity, which say: Ìjà eléyà mèyà yí kò mà da Ìjà elésìn mèsìn yí kò mà da E jé k’á fowósowópò ká f’ìmò s’ òkan Gbee k ‘émi gbe. 21. The song can be played on YouTube.com by clicking on Sunny Ade and his friends Part I and II.

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This inter-ethic and intra-ethnic war is not good at all; This inter-religious war is not good at all; Let us join our hands (cooperate) and team together as one You lift and I also lift her.

This song, apart from serving an important factor in fostering unity among all the Nigerian musicians from different ethnic and religious backgrounds, is also a call unto an ethic of togetherness and cooperation on the part of all Nigerians, which will help in building one nation that belongs to all. Again, it is a principle of Ujama,22 the African ethic of pulling together. It is progressively working together toward a constructive solution.

Violence Does Not Translate into Wealth23 The Nigerian civil war of 1966-1970 referred to above has left many villages devastated, and have not recovered economically till the present time. Apart from this bloody civil war, all other inter-ethnic, interreligious and intra-religious crises have plunged individuals, Federal and States governments into a huge economic mess. Violence of any kind being witnessed so far in the country has adversely reduced both human (especially those who could have contributed to the growth of the economy), and economic resources. A large number of people who are badly hit by different crises in the nation are still living at poverty level and suffering from big socio-economic and psychological traumas. In spite of the promises made at both state and federal government levels to these individuals, to help with certain amounts of money so that they could start their lives all over again, nothing substantially has been done for them. Traumatic experience is not what anybody wants to pass through. Yet, socio-economic and psychological traumas often go with violent experiences, which have not been conscientiously addressed by different stakeholders concerned in stemming the tide of violence. Carolyn Yonder (2005:5), in her 22. Ujama is a Swahili word which means “Cooperative.” The late Julius Nyere of Tanzania (d.1999) was the first African president to coin the word Ujama, a policy which purported to serve as community-based farming collectives. Although it was seriously criticized because it lacked the ideal that was intended, Ujama has come to be known as the “African principle of Cooperativeness.” 23. The complete proverb is, “Violence does not translate into wealth; it only leaves one with bad names in the end.”

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little book titled Trauma Healing expresses this concern when she notices that: Politicians, negotiators, peace builders, and the general public alike tend to think of trauma healing as soft, a warm fuzzy that has little or nothing to do with realpolitik and no role to play in reducing violence. Yet trauma and violence are integrally linked: violence often leads to trauma, and unhealed trauma, in turn, can lead to violence and further loss of security. The endemic nature of evil of religious, political, civil and socioeconomic violence has produced for many people in the Yoruba society a terrible traumatic experience as aptly observed by Carolyn Yonder above, hence the saying: Ìjà Ò d’olà (Violence does not translate into wealth).

The Inter-religious Dialogue Apart from the Yoruba peace paradigm highlighted above, there has been an ongoing inter-religious dialogue. Inter-religious dialogue is not peculiar to the Nigerian nation, it has been one of the means by which religious violence has been mediated in many parts of the world, yet, it is said to be inchoate (James L. Heft ed. 2004: 12). R. Scott Appleby (2000: 245-280) calls it “Internal Pluralism,” which corresponds to Catholic’s call for ecumenism. Huda Q-U claims that Muslim-Christian relations have been extant since the Second Vatican Council.24 It is also our observation that although inter-religious dialogue is not new to Nigeria, the new approach employed by Imam Ashafa and Pastor James Wuye,25 both from Kaduna State in Nigeria, is a right move in a right direction. The inter-religious dialogue so far being practiced in Nigeria has only been geared towards tolerance. (Toyin Falola 1998: 269-273) This tolerance thesis is nothing more than a suggestion that has to do with “religious groups holding dialogues in order to iron out their differences and to discuss solutions to burning issues.” There is equal suggestion that the religious leaders should meet from time to time and that the government at both state and federal levels be meeting 24. Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, vol. 15, no. 3, July 2004, pp. 331-347. 25. Already mentioned above, both were in Boston for ten days. The Seminar held in U. Mass Boston on May 12, 2008. They had programs in other places within Boston.

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with them as well.26 The dialogic case is not as simple as these suggestions seem to look. It has been shown that all efforts of this kind (being) embarked upon in Nigeria have failed woefully. According to Toyin Falola, a scholarly journal—Nigerian Dialogue: A Journal of Inter-Faith Studies on the Relation between Christianity and NonChristian Religions—established to explore these possibilities did not work. Apart from the fact that the topic of the journal itself suggests that a particular group of scholars with Christian-bias must have established the journal, there is this kind of exclusive phrase used which could never help in resolving the matter of Relations between Christianity and Non-Christian Religions. If it has helped at its initial stage, it could no longer serve its initial purpose in the long run. Little wonders since from its establishment in 1987, religious crisis and violence have not abated.

Inter-Religious Dialogue and Peace Building Efforts: Imam Ashafa and Pastor James Wuye The inter-religious dialogue and peace-building efforts of both Imam Ashafa and Pastor James Wuye began after some periods of assaults, fighting, intriguing, maiming and killing of one another’s religious groups since 1998. As one would expect, both claimed that they were “defending the faith that was once delivered” and resolved to restore religion to its pure state. In their own words: Imam Ashafa I was born into a family that claimed that it directly descended from Prophet Mohammed (Peace be upon Him). My family did not place any premium on western education, because it believed that western education was equivalent to moral laxity and “irreligiosity.” It was in this same situation I found myself, so I was not exposed to western education early in life. I instead went to Koranic School where I learnt more about the teachings and the ways of the Prophet. I began to develop very bitter hatred for any religion that was not Islam. I started to gather young people around me with zeal and passion for Islamic religion. I was maiming and killing anybody that opposed Islam. In the process I lost my very dearest Koranic teacher and my 26. See Toyin Falola, Violence in Nigeria op.cit 1998: 271.

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two relations. I became more embittered within me, because I knew it was Pastor James’ group that did this thing. I was nursing the ambition to retaliate, but one day I came across a Sufi, a great Islamic scholar, who told me that the Qur’an warns that we should be ready to forgive our enemies at least 76 times in a day. I became worried within myself and began to query such injunction that told me to forgive my enemies, especially the ones that killed my relations and my highlyesteemed teacher. As I was musing this, the word of the Sufi master kept troubling my heart… Pastor James Wuye I was born to parents who were attending Baptist denomination. But as I was growing up, I began to lose interest in Baptist denomination and because I went to a Catholic school, I started attending Catholic Church. As I was growing up later in life, I became “born again” and had to leave the Catholic Church for a Pentecostal—Evangelical church, Assemblies of God Church. It was in this place that I began to develop hatred for anything Islam. I hate Muslims with bitter hatred. I did not want to see or meet them. They irritated me a lot especially because of their militancy. I looked for ways to deal with them; I eventually gathered some followers after me. We were also going from place to place to maim and to kill all Muslims. I was looking for all Islamic fundamentalists who enjoyed militancy and were interested in maiming and killing people. I was particularly interested in dealing with the Imam Ashafa’s group, so I began to look for his group and started to go to mosques to maim and kill the people there. My group was also engaged in burning mosques, as our Muslim opponents were doing to churches. In the process, I lost my right hand. I have a mind to revenge my “cut right hand.” But one day, I had a preaching from a man of God who said, “you cannot claim that you are going to the heaven that Jesus preaches and still hate anybody.” I began to compare this preaching with many injunctions in the Bible in which believers in Jesus Christ are called to love their enemies and be ready to forgive seventy times seven in a day. Again, the word of the Lord Jesus that says, “If anybody hits you on your right cheek, turn the left also,” made me reconsider my actions. I started to find means by which I could reconcile with “my supposed enemies.” One day, I went to meet Imam Ashafa in the mosque, although I was afraid, thinking that I was

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not going to come back alive. But to my utmost surprise, the Imam accepted me. It was then that I started proposing how we could fight religious militancy and violence borne out of fundamentalism. This led to the formation of this inter-religious dialogue…. Looking at both testimonies, one is struck by the ways religious texts are being wrongly interpreted by religious leaders and actors in our ancient and modern world. These two men initially interpreted their texts in certain negative ways that were geared towards violence, but eventually were confronted with other positive meanings that one could derive from the same texts and that eventually led to peacebuilding (a la R. Scott Appleby).27 Today, the duo has been actively involved in the work of reconciliation. According to them, they both have resigned from cleric work in the mosque and church and have devoted their energies to ensuring that religious and ethnic violence are completely eradicated in Nigeria. Because of the gains of their efforts, the former Kaduna State governor has given $10,000, and has also allocated a parcel of land at the center of the city to build an Inter-religious Dialogue and Peace-Building Center, which, according to them, has reached the roofing stage. Apart from Kaduna State, where the work started, these two people and their new followers have traveled within and outside the country to continue the work of peacebuilding.28 As one would expect, this move is not without some certain degree of difficulties and oppositions and pain. In fact, it is clear that a peacemaker is an ambiguous and liminal entity who is neither here nor there in social reality. Marc Gopin says “People have to know you and trust you enough to feel that you are on their side. You do not have to be on their side in such a way that you are betraying others, but you have to show you care” (Marc Gopin, p.1). However, these two people, according to them, have put themselves under a great oath to continue and are ready to lose their lives in the process. I see this kind of inter-religious dialogue as a way of showing compromise and the moving beyond self—the way we see it demonstrated also by Musa Al Sadir, a Shi’ite leader in Lebanon 27. R. Scott Appleby, The Ambivalence of the Sacred: Religion, Violence, and Reconciliation. (NY: Rowman & Littlefield, 2000.) 28. The two claimed that it was in recognition of this peace-building effort that the UNO and the British government have agreed to sponsor the video clip of 39 minutes to show how far they have gone in the country in forestalling the waves of violence.

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who foresaw the coming of civil war and began to initiate a “genuine dialogue” through his sermons between religious groups emphasizing the importance of peace. In a similar vein, Marc Gopin says that he had to break protocol and ask for forgiveness on behalf of all Americans for an act very atrocious and inhuman done to “a man who was in Abu Ghraib for six months and in a coffin for 22 days.” In his word, “I apologize to you in the name of the American people” (p.1). The “symbolic gestures,” demonstrated by these people, are what Ayse Kadayifci-Orellana calls “acts far more powerful than sermons.”

Conclusion This paper has traced the causes of violence and the efforts made to date to forestall violence in modern day Nigeria. The paper also showed how Yoruba people deal with the issue of religion and how they manage crises and violence in their midst. It has been shown that Yoruba people stereotype all the three major religions in their midst with a view to “make light” of these religions.29 Stereotyping has been seen as one form of a “joking relationship.” Zenner (1970:191) notes that information about inter-ethnic images can be derived from proverbs, folktales, jokes, etc. Joking relationships found in proverbs have been connected to stereotypes which are considered by A.R. Radcliffe-Brown as “the means of establishing and maintaining social equilibrium.” For him, joking relationships are a “peculiar combination of friendliness and antagonism” in which there is a charade of hostility and rivalry veiling a real friendliness between the two (1940 195-196). One example each, of stereotyping of Islam, Christianity, and African Traditional Religion are shown below. In respect to Islam; The Imam who says that there will be famine, his son or daughter will not eat Arabic slate. (This is used when the people are being threatened by the preaching of the Imam (a Muslim cleric) who is predicting woes and calamities).

In respect to Christianity; There is no fight in the church, let the Reverend say his prayers 29. Janet O. Sheba’s article on “Ethnic Stereotyping in Yoruba Proverbs” in International Journal of African and African-American Studies, vol. 1, no. 2, January 2005.

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and I say amen. (This is usually said to show that whatever the Reverend must have said in his preaching to incite division, people will not allow it to happen.)

In respect to the Traditional Religion; The god or goddess that does not favor one should be thrown into the bush. (This is to show that people are not too fanatical about a particular ideology; any ideology that will affect their lives and harmonious communal interrelationship is cast aside).

The peace paradigm of the Yoruba people is the direct outcome of their diversity and plurality, which I believe Nigeria and every nation of the world must be willing to adopt by allowing for compromise instead of rigid ideologies. Fortunately enough, Islam is said to have “Inner Pluralism” and Christianity also claims to have some degrees of accommodation for other human beings. The suggestion of this paper is that the community of Christians with ethics of maintaining peace at all cost beyond mere greetings with Shalom should learn to live amicably with the community of Islam with Salam, without unnecessarily castigating the community of Indigenous Traditional Religion who advocate for Ìwà-Pèlé (gentle character). If gentle character of the Indigenous Traditional Religion is given a priority, it would not be difficult to have respect for human life and worth thereby maintaining peace in a Shalom and Salam environment. I see this as a practical communion that extricates “exclusivism,” which will help in playing down on the idea of defining self from others. I believe that every human being should learn to co-exist without fear of intimidation and harassment.

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Bibliography Aguwa, Jude C: Religious Conflict in Nigeria: Impact on Nation Building. (Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1997). Akiwowo, A: Ajobi and Ajogbe: Variations on the Theme of Sociation. (Inaugural Lecture Series 46. Ile-Ife: University Of Ife Press. 1983). Appleby, R. Scott: The Ambivalence of the Sacred: Religion, Violence, and Reconciliation.(NY, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. Inc. 2000). Ayeni, Victor and Soremekun Kayode: Nigeria’s Second Republic: Presidentialism, Politics and Administration in a Developing State. (Lagos: Daily Times Publications, 1988). Battle, Michael: Practicing Reconciliation in a Violent World. (London: Morehouse Publishing, 2000. Clarke, Kamari: “The Hand will go to Hell: Islamic Law and the Crafting of the Spiritual Self.” Chapter 5 in Justice in the Making, pp. 252–84. Fadipe N.A: The Sociology of the Yoruba. (Ibadan: University of Ibadan Press. 1970). Falola, Toyin: Violence in Nigeria. (NY: University of Rochester Press. 1998). Freud, S: The Future of an Illusion. (London: Hogwarts Press. 1927). Gopin, Marc: “Dialogue: A Different Model of Peacemaking,” in Harvard Divinity Bulletin. 2007. Hathout, Hassan: Reading the Muslim Mind, with a foreword by Ahmad Zaki Yamani. (Indiana; American Trust Publication. 1996). Heft, James L: Beyond Violence: Religious Sources of Social Transformation in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. (New York: Fordham University Press, 2004.) Helmick, Raymond G. et al eds: Forgiveness and Reconciliation: Religion Public policy and Conflict Transformation. (Philadelphia and London: Templeton Foundation Press. 2001). Ilesanmi, Simeon O: Religious Pluralism and the Nigerian State. (Ohio: Center for International Studies. Ohio University Press. 1997). Kadayifci-Orellana, S. Ayse: Living Walls—“Visions of Peace and Reconciliation in Religious Traditions: Historical and Contemporary Patterns.” Held at the Center for the Study of World Religions, Harvard Divinity School, May 15 2007. Laitin, David D.: Hegemony and Culture: Politics and Religious Change among the Yoruba. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 1986).

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Marx, K.: Early Writings. (New York: McGraw Hill, 1964). Nandy, Ashis: The Intimate Enemy: Loss and Recovery of Self under Colonialism (Delhi, India: Oxford University Press, 1983). Nussbaum, Martha: The Clash Within: Democracy, Religious Violence and India’s Future (Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2007). Olupona, Jacob K. and Toyin Falola eds: Religion and Society in Nigeria: Historical and Sociological Perspectives. (Ibadan: Spectrum Book Limited 1991). Radcliffe Brown A.R: On Joking Relationships. (London: Cohen West Lt, 1940). Sheba, Janet O: “Ethnic Stereotyping in Yoruba Proverbs” in International Journal of African and African-American Studies, Vol. 1. No. 2, January 2005. Thich Nhat Hanh: Interbeing: Fourteen Guidelines for Engaged Buddhism. Yoder, Carolyn: The Little Book of Trauma Healing: When Violence Strikes and Community Security is Threatened. (Philadelphia: Good Books. 2005).

Internet Access Huda, Q-U: Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, Volume 15, Number 3, July 2004. 331-347(17) Publisher: Routledge, part of the Taylor & Francis Group, USA. http:// www.ingentaconnect.com/content/routledg/cicm/2004/00000015/00000003/ art00003, accessed 05/12/2008. Dr. Joseph Olu Toriola titled: The Ife/Modakeke Crisis: An Insider View. http:// search.sabinet.co.za/images/ejour/ifepsyc/ifepsyc_v9_n3_a4.pdf accessed 05/11/2008. And, the Obagbalula of Ife chief Gabriel Adetola Agbe’s article, The Ife/Modakeke Crisis: An Insider View. http://search.sabinet.co.za/images/ejour/ifepsyc/ifepsyc_v9_n3_a3.pdf, accessed 05/11/2008.

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Revelation Is Not a Zero Sum Game Allen S. Maller

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or almost 14 centuries Jews, Christians and Muslims have read each other’s holy scriptures from an adversarial perspective, rather than viewing other scriptures as potentially enriching our understanding of our own scripture. Almost all readers thought of revelation as a zero sum sport like tennis rather than a multiple win sport like mountain climbing. In a zero sum game any value or true spiritual insight I grant to another scripture somehow diminishes my own. This was the result of the widespread use of scripture for missionary purposes. In the last two centuries university academics have written many studies of comparative religion which they claim are objective and not distorted by their religious beliefs. Unfortunately, academics who treat other religions academically usually do not believe that other scriptures are actually divinely inspired. Indeed, many academics do not believe that their own scriptures are divinely inspired. I follow a different model, one I learned from prophet Muhammed. Here is an example: The Mishnah (an early third century compilation of the oral Torah), states, “Adam was created as an individual to teach you that anyone who destroys a single soul, Scripture imputes it to him as if he destroyed the whole world.” (Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5) And the Qur’an states, “one who kills a human being, unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land, would be as if he slew the whole people, and if any one saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people.” (Qur’an 5:32) Academics explain the similarity of the two statements by assuming that since the Jewish statement is several centuries earlier than the Qur’an, Muhammad must have heard it from a Rabbi or other educated Jew in Medina. But if Muhammad is a prophet of God who confirms the Torah of prophet Moses, why would he need to learn this statement from another human being. Academics would reply that the statement is not written in the Dialogue & Alliance

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Torah, it is written in the Mishnah (which was written by the Rabbis more than 1000 years after Moses). But the Rabbis maintain that the Mishnah is part of the oral Torah that was passed down throughout the generations. Indeed, the Qur’an itself introduces this statement as follows, “It is because of this that We ordained for the Children of Israel ‘one who kills a human being....’” (Qur’an 5:32) No prophet of God needs to be informed by another human what should be written in Holy Scripture. There are several verses in the Qur’an that mention things from the oral Torah. I believe that when the Furqan is mentioned in the Qur’an it is a reference to the oral Torah, which the Qur’an also confirms, by its references. My perspective is that prophets and Holy Scriptures can not oppose one another because they all come from one source. They differ because the circumstances of the nation receiving them differ. Where they differ they cast additional light on each other. My belief is based on an important hadith of prophet Muhammad. A disciple of Muhammad named Abu Huraira relates, “The people of the Book used to read the Torah in Hebrew and then explain it in Arabic to the Muslims. Allah’s Apostle said (to the Muslims). “Do not believe the people of the Book, nor disbelieve them, but say, ‘We believe in Allah, and whatever is revealed to us, and whatever is revealed to you.’” Following Muhammad’s teaching I, too, neither believe nor disbelieve in the Koran. If I believed in the Koran I would be a member of the Muslim ummah (community). But I cannot disbelieve in the Koran because I believe that Muhammad was a prophet and I respect the Koran as a kindred revelation, to a kindred people, in a kindred language. In fact, the people, the language and the theology are closer to my own people, language and theology than that of any other on earth. How does this perspective affect my understanding of their Koran and my Torah? First of all, I seek to shed the light of each scripture on the other. For example, in a surah entitled “The Cow,” (verses 246–251), the Koran refers to events that occurred in Jewish history several generations after the time of Moses: 246. Have you not thought about the group of the Children of Israel after (the time of) Musa (Moses)? When they said to a Prophet of theirs, “Appoint for us a king and we will fight in Allah’s Way.” He said, “Would you then refrain from fighting, if fighting was prescribed for you?” They said, “Why should we

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not fight in Allah’s Way while we have been driven out of our homes and our children (taken as captives)?” But when fighting was ordered for them, they turned away, all except a few of them. And Allah is All-Aware of the Zalimoon (polytheists and wrong-doers). 247. And their Prophet (Samuel ) said to them, “Indeed Allah has appointed Talut (Saul) as a king over you.” They said, “How can he be a king over us when we are better fitted than him for the kingdom, and he has not been given enough wealth.” He said: “Verily, Allah has chosen him above you and has increased him abundantly in knowledge and stature. And Allah grants His Kingdom to whom He wills. And Allah is All-Sufficient for His creatures needs, All-Knower.” 248. And their Prophet (Samuel ) said to them: “Verily! The sign of His Kingdom is that there shall come to you At-Taboot (a wooden box), wherein is Sakinah (peace and reassurance) from your Lord and a remnant of that which Musa (Moses) and Haroon (Aaron) left behind, carried by the angels. Verily, in this is a sign for you if you are indeed believers.” 249. Then when Talut (Saul) set out with the army, he said: “Verily! Allah will try you by a river. So whoever drinks thereof, he is not of me, and whoever tastes it not, he is of me, except him who takes (thereof) in the hollow of his hand.” Yet, they drank thereof, all, except a few of them. So when he had crossed it (the river), he and those who believed with him, they said: “We have no power this day against Jalut (Goliath) and his hosts.” But those who knew with certainty that they were to meet their Lord, said: “How often a small group overcame a mighty host by Allah’s Leave?” And Allah is with As-Sabirin (the patient ones, etc.). 250. And when they advanced to meet Jalut (Goliath) and his forces, they invoked: “Our Lord! Pour forth on us patience and make us victorious over the disbelieving people.” 251. So they routed them by Allah’s Leave and Dawood (David) killed Jalut (Goliath), and Allah gave him (Dawood (David)) the kingdom (after the death of Talut (Saul) and Samuel) and Al Hikmah (prophethood), and taught him of that which He willed. And if Allah did not check one set of people by means of another, the earth would indeed be full of mischief. But Allah is full of

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Critical or humanist scholars have said of this passage in the Koran that Muhammad confused three different stories in the Bible. One is the story about Gideon, who is told by God that his army is too large and to test them by water. Reject those who kneel and lap water like a dog, and those who kneel even if they lap from their hand. Take only those who scoop water with their hand and drink standing up so as to be always ready if attacked. (Judges 7:4–7) The second story from 1 Samuel 8:4– 22 and 9:15–21 is about Samuel’s selection of Saul to be the first king of Israel. The third story relates that after several ups and downs in Saul’s rule, there was a battle that Israel won decisively because David killed Goliath (I Samuel 17:1–58). These academics assume that Muhammad simply mixed up the three stories for some unknown reason. But since I believe Muhammad is a prophet and the Koran is sacred scripture, I think that the Koran simply combines these three events into one archetype that stresses two themes: “God gives the kingdom to whoever God wills.” And, “Many a small group has overcome a numerous group by God’s leave.” This is why the Koranic passage ends with the battle against the Philistines, “So they (Israel) routed them (the Philistines) by God’s leave and David killed Goliath.” By placing the statement of Israel’s victory first and David’s second, the Koran shows that the emphasis isn’t on David’s personal courage and skill but on the victory of a small number of believers over a large number of non-believers. The reference to “At-Taboot (a wooden box—the ark), wherein is Sakinah” (verse 248) refers to the holy ark (a wooden box) containing inside it, the stone tablets of the ten commandments. Physically, the ark contained both the second pair of tablets as well as the first pair of tablets that were broken (the remnant of Moses’ and Aaron’s house) because Aaron had let As Samiri convince some of the people of Israel to build the golden calf. Spiritually, the ark contained the Sakinah (Hebrew-Shakhinah) the presence of God. Sensing this presence, people feel assured and at peace. In the oral Torah (the Furqan for Jews) the Shekhinah rests on people when they join with others to study God’s words, when they visit the sick, and at other special times. Another example, is the cow that the surah is named after. (Surah 2 The Cow verses 67–73):

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67. And (remember) when Moosa (Moses) said to his people: “Verily, Allah commands you that you slaughter a cow.” They said, “Do you make fun of us?” He said, “I take Allah’s Refuge from being among Al-Jahiloon (ignorants or fools).” 68. They said, “Call upon your Lord for us that He may make plain to us what it is!” He said, “He says, Verily, it is a cow neither too old nor too young, but (it is) between the two conditions, so do what you are commanded.” 69. They said, “Call upon your Lord for us to make plain to us its color.” He said, “He says, It is a yellow cow, bright in its color, pleasing to the beholders.” 70. They said, “Call upon your Lord for us to make plain to us what it is. Verily to us all cows are alike, and surely, if Allah wills, we will be guided.” 71. He (Moosa (Moses)) said, “He says, It is a cow neither trained to till the soil nor water the fields, sound, having no other color except bright yellow.” They said, “Now you have brought the truth.” So they slaughtered it though they were near to not doing it. 72. And (remember) when you killed a man and fell into dispute among yourselves as to the crime. But Allah brought forth that which you were hiding. 73. So We said: “Strike him (the dead man) with a piece of it (the cow).” Thus Allah brings the dead to life and shows you His Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) so that you may understand. (Translation by Mohsin Kahn.)

Critical or humanist scholars have said that in this passage Muhammad simply mixed up two different accounts in the Torah about two different rituals, each of them involving slaughter of a cow. In one (Numbers 19) the cow itself is of a very rare and unusual color and kind. In the other case ( Deuteronomy 21) the circumstances of the slaughter are dreadful, grotesque and alarming. Muslim commentators have long since taught that a cow is to be slaughtered rather than a sheep or a goat, to remind the people never to worship a golden calf or anything else in place of the one and only God. The group of Israelites who keep questioning Moses about the cow’s details, its

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color, its age, and its use are simply stalling. They want to avoid killing a cow because during many decades of living in Egypt where the cow goddess Hathor was worshiped by the Egyptians, they had grown to revere cows. But since I believe both Moses and Muhammad are prophetic messengers, and both the Torah and the Koran are sacred scriptures, I think the Koran combines these two very different and unusual sacrifices in order to teach an additional important truth. The Koran teaches that even rituals that are hard to understand rationally are tests, and thus can be ways to express our love for God. In order to understand this truth one must study the written Torah text and the oral Torah (the Furqan for Jews) that the Rabbis derive from the written text. In Deuteronomy 21:1–9, the issue is atonement for an unsolved murder. A corpse is found in an open field. Everyone claims they know nothing about who did it, or everyone blames people from some other place. The elders of the nearest village take a cow that has never pulled a yolk, bring it to a stream in a wadi which is not tilled and break its neck. The elders vow, “Our hands did not shed this blood.” This ritual is strange, and unique. Breaking the neck of a 2–3 yearold heifer is a very violent act. Thus, one can understand that at least some of the elders, who all must participate in this ritual according to the oral Torah, might make a extra strenuous effort to find out who killed the victim, so they could avoid being part of this repulsive ritual. The effectiveness of the ritual breaking of the cows neck is in the dire threat getting someone to reveal the killer’s identity. Then the ritual would not be needed. Now we can appreciate the Koran’s words (2:72), “When you killed a living soul and were denying any responsibility, God would disclose what you were concealing.” Nevertheless this is a paradox. The ritual that produces the results is the one that doesn’t take place. In Numbers 19, the issue is that contact with a corpse pollutes. To undo corpse pollution there is a seven day ritual which involves being sprinkled on the third and seventh day with a prepared mixture of fresh water and the ashes of a red cow. “Instruct the People of Israel to bring you a red cow without blemish, with no defect and on which no yolk has been laid.” (Numbers 19:2) The rite is unique in the Torah because the priest conducting the ritual contracts some pollution in the process of depolluting the other person. Also, the oral Torah (the

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Furqan for Jews) explains that the cow must be entirely red including her hoofs and horns. The Muslim commentator Zamakhshari also says that the hoofs and horns of the cow mentioned in the Koran must be the same color as its hair and hide.. Such a cow is extremely rare, and the ritual, in which the priest conducting the rite contracts some pollution in the process of depolluting the other person, is a logical paradox. Many Jews, as well as Gentiles, claimed the rituals defied reason and attacked them as magical. The Koran relates that this group of Jews ridiculed these rituals and challenged Moses, “Do you make fun of us?” (2:67) The Rabbis thought that in general wise people would be able, with sufficient study, to understand the reasons for most of the Mitsvot (God’s commandments). But there were a few of God’s commandments, however, (with the red cow being chief among them, that were given to test our trust in God. The Rabbis defended all the commandments, especially the red cow, as the will of God. It should be accepted as part of our commitment to God even if it seemed totally irrational and paradoxical. Moses retorts to his critics, that following God’s commandments keeps me away from the foolishness of those who make fun of what they do not understand: “I take Allah’s Refuge from being among Al-Jahiloon (ignoramuses and fools).” This is the general truth that the Koran teaches using both of the cows combined to serve as examples of one principle. One of the major differences between the Koran and the Torah is the Torah’s attention to details (names of people and places) and the Koran’s emphases on universals. The Torah has long lists of geographical locations and of genealogies that many people today, especially non-Jews, find boring. The Koran rarely identifies locations, and often omits the name of the people it mentions, as in the case of Samuel the prophet in the first text I referred to. Indeed, Muslim commentators disagree about many of these details. Some say the prophet who appointed Talut king of Israel was Samuel and others think it was Joshua or Simeon. These disagreements occur because they do not use the Bible to fill in the details for the generalities of the Koran. On the other hand, many Rabbis get caught up in the details of the Torah and even expand them into super details. Thus, the rules relating to dietary observance of Passover and prohibited work on Shabbat have multiplied endlessly, We need to learn from the Sunnah of the prophet as narrated by Abu Huraira: The Prophet said, “Religion is

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very easy and whoever overburdens himself in his religion will not be able to continue in that way. So you should not be extremists, but try to be near to perfection and receive the good tidings that you will be rewarded. (Bukhari Volume 1, Book 2, Number 38) Another important lesson from the prophet’s Sunnah as narrated by his wife Aisha who says, “Whenever the Prophet was given an option between two things, he used to select the easier of the two as long as it was not sinful; but if it was sinful, he would remain far from it.” (Bukhari Volume 4, Book 56, Number 147) This is the path that I and most Reform Rabbis have taken in the last two centuries. If Orthodox Jews in the time of Muhammed had followed the prophet’s teaching, Reform Judaism (the largest of several different religious groups of Jews in North America) would have begun 14 centuries ago, instead of only two centuries ago. The Koran was also far ahead of its time in many other ways. One of the most important ways was the Koran’s oft-repeated statement that believers (Muslims) should believe in all the messengers of God. This message of religious pluralism and toleration is sorely needed in the twenty-first century. The Koran states: “They say that none will enter Paradise unless he be a Jew or a Christian. That is their wishfulness. Say ‘Produce your proof if you are truthful.’” (Surah 2 verse 111) At the time of Muhammed both Rabbis and Priests did claim that only their own believers would enter Paradise. The Koran instructs Muslims that this claim is not based on the Jewish or the Christian scriptures but only on the desires of those people who make these claims. In truth, nowhere in the Torah of Moses, the Zubar of David, or anywhere else in the Hebrew Bible is this claim that only Jews will enter Paradise asserted. The great Sage Hillel, who lived in the first century prior to the birth of Jesus, taught that the righteous of all nations have a place in Paradise. (Tosefta Sanhedrin) Jesus also taught, “In my Father’s house are many dwelling places; if not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.” (John 12:2) But after the death of Jesus, claims were made in his name that only those who believed Jesus was the son of God who died on the cross to save all humans from going to Hellfire, would to able to enter Paradise. In reaction to these polemical Christian claims, some Talmudic Rabbis began to counter claim that only Jews would enter Paradise. Yet even then the Rabbis did not think that eternal punishment

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was the fate of all those excluded from Paradise. Gehenna-Hellfire was conceived of as a temporary abode generally believed to last a maximum of 12 months. The great sage, Rabbi Akiba, stated. “The punishment of the wicked in Gehenna lasts 12 months.” (Mishnah Eduyyot 2:10) This is repeated in the Talmud (Shabbat 33b) and elsewhere it is stated that sinners, both Jewish and non-Jewish, are punished in Gehenna-Hellfire for 12 months. (Rosh HaShanah 17a) Thus the Koran accurately states, “They say, ‘the Fire will not touch us except for a fixed number of days.” (2:80) The Koran instructs Muslims to say to both Jews and Christians, “If the abode of the Hereafter with God is reserved for you alone, excluding other people, then long for death...but they will never long for it.” (2:94-5) So, the answer to those who claim that “none will enter Paradise unless he is a Jew or a Christian” is “No! Rather, whoever submits his whole being to God as one devoted to doing good, aware that God is seeing him, his reward is with his Lord, and all such will have no fear, nor will they grieve.” (2:112) Thus, the Koran affirms that those Rabbis who strayed from the words of Hillel, “The righteous of all nations have a place in Paradise” were wrong. Those followers of Jesus who abandoned his teaching, “In my Father’s house are many dwelling places; if not so, I would have told you” and instituted the doctrine that “No man can find salvation except in the Catholic Church. Outside the Catholic Church one can have everything except salvation.”(Saint Augustine) These are also wrong. Tragically, during many centuries of Medieval debate between the three religions, everyone thought that religion was a zero sum game (one winner–one truth vs. many winners–many truths, i.e. soccer or tennis vs. hiking or mountain climbing). Thus, some Muslim commentators also began to take the same exclusionary view condemned by Prophet Muhammed by adding specific Muslim theological beliefs to the statements of the Koran: “No! rather, whoever submits his whole being to God as one devoted to doing good, aware that God is seeing him, his reward is with his Lord, and all such will have no fear, nor will they grieve.” (2:112) And more explicitly, “Those who believe (Muslims), those who advocate Judaism, Christians, Sabeans, whoever truly believes in God and the Last Day, and does good, righteous deeds, surely their reward is with their Lord, they will not fear, nor will they grieve. (2:62) Thank God, in twenty-first century America the majority of most

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religious groups now believe the teachings of the Koran cited above (2:112 and 2:62). A survey of over 35,000 Americans in 2008 found that most Americans agree with the statement: Many religions—not just their own—can lead to eternal life. Among those affiliated with a religious tradition, seven-in-ten say many religions can lead to eternal life. This view is shared by a majority of adherents in nearly all religious traditions, including 82% of Jews, 79% of Catholics, 57% of evangelical Protestants and 56% of Muslims. (From the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, © 2008, Pew Research Center.) Or as the Qur’an clearly states, “For every community we have appointed a whole system of worship which they are to observe. So do not let them draw you into disputes about this matter.” (Qur’an 22:67) Ultimately, “On the Day of Resurrection God will judge between you about what you differed.” (Qur’an 22:69)

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Religion and the Effort to Sustain Peace in a Nigerian University Community M. O. Adeniyi

Introduction

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onflict and peace are coeval universal phenomena. They are bound by time, place, or people. Whenever conflict occurs, it is precipitated by combined factors that include social, economical, political and religious. Whatever the dominant cause, the effect of conflict on our campuses always has been disastrous. Notable consequences of conflict on our university campuses include: wanton destruction of university properties, dismissal of students, all the way to closure of the university. Most of the time Muslims and Christians live together in peace in Nigeria. They live together within extended families and in society, as neighbors, in markets, in business institutions, and in offices and institutions of higher learning. Now, however, religion has become a very sensitive matter and, as a result, university campuses have become seriously threatened. The aim of this paper, therefore, is to discuss the concept of peace: Quranic and Biblical, to examine causes of conflict in general, to discuss conflicts in a particular university as a case study, and to show how these conflicts can be resolved in order to allow free running of academic programs, with a view to achieving peace. The paper concludes with suggestions that can bring about peace to Nigeria in general and our university campuses in particular.

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The Concept of Peace: Quranic and Biblical Perspective According to the Quran 37:102-109, Muslims believe that the peace that was broken between Adam and God in the Garden of Paradise was eventually recovered by the covenant entered into between Ibrahim and God, when Allah asked him to sacrifice his son, Ismail. Ibrahim submitted to God’s will. He was about to sacrifice his son when Allah provided a ram to replace him. The obedience and submission of Abraham to the command of Allah was rewarded by Allah’s declaration of Salamun’ala Ibrahim meaning “peace be upon Abraham.”1 Since the time of Abraham, the word peace has been used for different situations. As a corollary to the above, one of the commonest teachings and pronouncements of religious adherents today relates to peace. In fact, Islam, translated to mean “Peace,” is daily used for greeting of good will. When a Muslim approaches another Muslim, he offers the greeting Salam alaykum. “Peace be upon you.” This greeting, formerly a distinctive Muslim practice, has become a universal mode of greeting heard among the adherents of diverse religions. This is because since this greeting expresses good will, it is used as inter-faith greeting between Muslims and non-Muslims, particularly between Muslims and Christians. Two words are used in the Qu’rán to describe peace. They are: Salam and Sakinah.2 Salam, which literary means “safety” security, immunity, freedom from faults or defects or blemishes.3 It also means soundness, well being, peace, peacefulness, greeting, salutation.4 The word Salam occurs forty-two times in the Qu’rán. Only eleven of these occurrences relate specifically to peace as a state or condition while the remaining thirty-one occasions refer to salutations in this world and hereafter.5 Considering the importance of Salam in the world, for instance, God gave peace to His people, especially the prophets, to keep them safe from the world and its people. God instructed prophet Noah and his people to descend from the ark with peace.6 As we noted earlier, the other word used in the Qu’rán to mean peace is Sakinah.7 It is translated to mean peace. But this

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is a high level peace which is tranquility and calm. Allah sends down peace of reassurance into the hearts of believers that they might add faith to their faith. For example, during the flight of Prophet Muhammed and his closest associate, Abubakr, they had to hide themselves in a cave. Abubakr was afraid of the enemies pursuing them. Then, the prophet told him the words of the Quran: thumma anzala llahu sakinatau ala rasulihi wa ala muminina. Meaning: “Then Allah sent down His peace upon the believers …”8 From the above analysis, it is clear that the Qu’rán is explicit enough on matters relating to peace. These ideas of peace will be further discussed in comparison with the identical ideas of peace in the Bible. From those Qu’ránic passages highlighted, the Qu’rán calls believers to live in the conviction and lifestyle to show that peace is the bedrock of Islam.9 The holy Quran further declares, “O ye who believe! Enter into Islam wholeheartedly.”10 Christians are similarly invited to submit to God when the Bible declares: “You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve.” Islam’s concern for peace is reflected in its doctrines as well as the practices that it prescribes for its adherents. One of the attributes of Allah the Supreme Being is as-Salam, “the source of peace.” When Muslims conclude the formal prayer which they perform five times everyday, they do so by praying for peace, not only for themselves, but also for the “righteous servants of Allah” (i.e. in the testimony of faith-at-tashahhud). They also end the prayer by invoking peace and Allah’s mercy for co-worshippers on their right and on their left in the congregation, in the words of as-salam alaikum waraha mat-al-Allah meaning may the peace be upon you, his favour and his blessing. Similar phenomenon is noted in the Bible. When Jesus appeared to his disciples, he said “Peace be with you.”11 Jesus equally emphasized peace in the next verse when he said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”12 A similar thing is noted in the book of Mark when the Bible says, c

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“Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.” See also another verse in the book of Mark.13 By and large, the home of Hereafter, for which all believers strive, al-Jannah, or Paradise is Daru-S-Salam “the abode of peace” Islam, the faith taught by all the prophets of Allah and perfected by prophet Muhammad, lays a great deal of emphasis on peace, as it is fully in accord with “… the pattern on which He (Allah) has made mankind….”14 Islam, as a religion of submission to Allah, facilitates internal peace and the individual’s peace and it promotes the peace of society. It does this by seeking to bring the individual and humanity into accord with the divine will. “Without doubt, in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find satisfaction.”15 It is on the basis of this Quranic verse that we agree with Noibi when he observes: Peace at these levels and in all these ramifications is one thing that every normal human being and every human society desires and would strive for at all cost. Besides the individual’s natural desire for peace, civilization would be impossible without peace for the society as well as for the individual.16

Factors Contributing to Religious Conflict in our Universities So far, this paper has shown that both Qu’rán and the Bible lay emphasis on peace. Any person, no matter his cultural and religious affiliation, as long as God is central to his life and he gladly submits to the will of God, the peace of God will flow into him and through him to his fellow men. In light of this view, one wonders why conflict has remained in our society in general and on our university campuses in particular. Our investigation and observation have revealed the following causes. Communication Gap The University authorities should realize that on our campuses hardly any university programme can be unaffected by religious consideration. It is in light of this that Olupona opines:

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The relationship between religion and society in Nigeria is obvious and imposing. Recent events strongly suggest that there is hardly any government programme unaffected by religious consideration. Yet, the religious elements and ramifications are often ignored when major decisions are taken.17

If there is anything to go by with that submission, in order to prevent this aspect of causes of conflict on our university campuses, issues on religious decisions should be made known to the religious groups in the university in order to carry them along with such decisions. They should be involved in such policy decisions. The Concept of Finality of Message Finality concept connotes the feeling that one’s religious tenets and ideologies are superior to other religious groups. On the issue of marriage, Christians, according to the Bible, shall marry one wife as the Bible declares to Bishops and Deacons. Muslims on the issue of marriage follow the teaching of Islam which is polygamy. It is an issue that is often misunderstood and sometimes deliberately misrepresented. It is pertinent to make it clear that Islam did not introduce polygamy, the marriage of one man to more than one wife. On the contrary, all Islam has done is to regulate the practice of the institution of polygamy. Although Islam permits polygamy, it has done so with a provision that the husband should treat all his wives with even-handed justice. If he fears that the husband will not be able to do so, then he should marry only one wife. Allah says: “…but if ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly (with them) then marry only one.…”18 Another is the issue of Tawhid, Oneness of Allah as declared in the Qu’rán chapter 112 verses 1-4, and the doctrine of Trinity for the Christians. For example, the Christians believe the Bible is the sole authority in every matter that has to do with Christian faith. The Christians believe that Christ is the only begotten Son of God. Similarly, the Christians believe in the doctrine of Trinity which teaches that although God is one, the same God has

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revealed Himself in three ways as: the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. On the other hand, while the Muslims contend that God is one just as Christians do, Muslims add that just as God was not begotten by anybody, so does He not beget as Son. Above all, if this type of discussion ensues among the Muslim and the Christian students on the campus, it may end in conflict. These sets of students should both appreciate that they are human beings. They are members of a community of Faith living in a particular society. Actually, they should come together to really discuss details to know their needs which involve discussion of the health and well-being and what should be done when things are not what they should be. It is equally good for adherents of both religions to ask the question, “What are we up against?” Rather than thinking again and again terms of “us” and “them” and having the imagination that they are facing each other across a divide, they should know that because they believe in one God, they have a great deal in common in a world where most people ignore God and they face common dangers over many issues. In order to bring peace to our campuses, students of different religions should work together. They should not lay too much emphasis on religious differences and particularities. If the messages sent by God to the various religious groups are true and divine, men should not employ the differences or the distinguishing features of different religions as bases of conflict or tension. Religious Propagation Under religious propagation on our University Campuses, it is important to note the role of the proselytizers among the students who, being over-conscious of particularity in religion, adopt provocative methods of propagation. According to Opeloye, rather than preaching the beauty of their religion, they condemn the other faith.19 Even though Muslims are taught to believe that Islam is the only true religion, just

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as Christianity sees itself as the only way to salvation, this does not mean that they have to resort to condemnation of one another, realizing the fact that only God knows who the true believer is. If students should engage themselves in forceful preachings on university campuses, this may lead to conflicts from the opposing views. What the adherents of religions should realize is that God the Almighty is our common object of worship. He remains what He is in spite of whatever conception of Him we may have. This is the only way to have peace on the campuses.20 We are not saying that religious students on university campuses should not propagate their religious faith, what we are saying is that they should propagate and disseminate areas of common teachings of both Islam and Christianity. It is the style of religious propagation employed by religious youths on the campuses that creates negative effects on our inter-religious relation due to the use of offensive language. That is why Olupona observes that: In more recent years, in the wake of the increasing deterioration in Muslim-Christian relations, the M.S.S. has become more militant, often clash with Christian fundamentalist youth organizations on campus.21

The inference we can draw from that quotation is that the idea or the feeling that we have to do everything within our power to convert everybody to our own religion may not create a good academic environment for learning and research. Social Freedom The factor of social freedom is enjoyed by the students in the University campuses which sometimes led to the influx of various cultic organizations in the Higher Institutions to some extent that cultism has almost become a religious sect in our higher institutions. Moderation is the bedrock of Islam. Students should limit their social interaction with some bad eggs on the campus. Percentage analysis of the causes of deviant behaviours among

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the students indicates that in the behaviours exhibited by the students on the campus, the influence of the peer-group plays a vital role. Students should therefore be moderate in their social freedom. There is no community anywhere in the world with absolute freedom, otherwise there will be anarchy in the system. The most intelligent person is one who knows his limitations. Survey of Conflicts in a Nigeria University In almost all the Nigerian universities there is lots of conflict sometimes emanating from inter-religious faith. We want to examine a particular conflict in a particular university with a view to show how that conflict was eventually resolved. University of Ibadan, Ibadan Dilemma of the Cross and the Mosque at the University of Ibadan This issue, which caused a deep religious cleft on the campus, happened in the nineteen eighties (1980s). The dilemma of the Cross and the Mosque at the University of Ibadan was the highest conflict so far in the history of the institution. The cross was standing erect in the area designated as a religious place of worship. When the new mosque was officially commissioned, it was discovered that the cross was imposing on the view of the devotees in the mosque, giving rise to a metaphor as though Muslims worship it which is an abomination in Islam. Muslims therefore demanded that the cross should be removed and to be erected closer and in front of the church. The Christians on their own part were saying that it was easier to remove the university than to remove the cross. And, as matter of fact, the cross is as old as the university itself. This led to a serious conflict from the Muslim community of the University of Ibadan, members of Muslim youth organizations like NACONYO, as well as the league of Imams and Alufas against Christians. The conflict lingered on for a period of time before an amicable settlement was reached when the cross was screened from the view of the devotees and

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a cresent was erected to truly reflect the pluralist academic community. Subsequent to this, both Muslims and Christians operate on the principle of religious co-existence through distancing and learning to tolerate differences.22 Conclusion In this paper we have shown that Muslims and Christians are inseparable neighbours and have relationships in the university. We have also shown that the key ideas of peace enunciated by the Quran and the Bible go beyond mere theories and can effectively achieve peace on our campus. The paper also considers areas of conflict with specific conflict resolutions on university campuses in our case study. The paper considers several possibilities that may enhance the chance of promoting peace in our universities generally. It is suggested very strongly that if Muslims and Christians can go into their religious Books and analyse their admonitions on religious co-existence and adhere strictly to them, that will go a long way in ensuring peace in the society. The Quaran and the Bible condemn the idea of conflict and killing. We should take into cognizance the multi-religious community of our university campuses, and there is hardly anything any group can do to annihilate others from existing. Peace is more desirable than any other factor of development. In fact, human aspirations are easier to achieve through the processes of peaceful means rather than conflicts. Finally, if the messages sent by God to the various religious groups are true and divine, men should not employ the differences or the distinguishing features of different religions as bases of conflict or tension on the campus. Religions appear in the presence of God as a bunch of beautiful flowers of diverse colours and fragrances, each religion using its own mode of liturgy and spiritual gifts in uplifting the glory of God. Even when one flower is more beautiful than the other, it is still part of the bouquet that constitutes the ultimate beauty.

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Notes and References 1. Abdullah Yusuf Ali, The Holy Qu’rán, Text, Translation and commentary, Bretwood, Maryland, Amana corporation 1989. Q. 37:109. 2. S. Babs Mala, “Peace-passages in the Quran and the Bible and their implications for interreligious relation” a paper submitted at the council for the World’s Religions at the Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife, Nigeria. December 4-8, 1989, p. 4. 3. E.W. Lane, Arabic English Lexicon, Book I part 4, Lahore: Islamic Book center 1978 (1872) p. 1415. 4. J.M. Cowan (ed) Hans Wehr, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1966. p. 425. 5. S. Babs Malla, “Peace-passages in the Qur’án and the Bible.” 6. Abdullah Yusuf Alli, The Holy Qur’án, Q. 11: 48. 7. The word Sakinah occurs six tmes in the Qurán, namely: 2:248; 9:26, 40:48:4, 18:26. 8. Abdullah Yusuf Alli, The Holy Qur’án, Q. 9:26. 9. R.D. Abubakre, “The Qur’án and Sunnah as Basis for good Muslim-Christian Relations,” in Bulletin on Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations in Africa, Birmingham, U.K. 5.1(1987) pp. 8-22. 10. Abdullah Yusuf Alli, The Holy Qur’án, Q. 2:208. 11. The Holy Bible, International Bible Society, Colarado, 1984. Mathew 4:10. 12. The Holy Bible, John 20:19. 13. The Holy Bible, Mark 5:34. 14. Hammudah Abd Ati, Islam in Focus IIFSO, 1986. p. 42. 15. Abdullah Yusuf Alli, The Holy Qur’án, Q. 30:30. 16. Dawod O.S. Noibi, “Islam, the family and peace,” a paper presented at the Assembly of the World’s Religions, Sheraton Walker Hill Hotel, Seoul, Korea on “The Role of the Family in the Creation of Peace,” August 24-31, 1992. Private circulation. 17. “Contemporary Religious Terrain” in J.K. Olupona et al (ed) Religion and Society in Nigeria, Spectrum Books Ltd. Ibadan p. 31. 18. Abdullah Yusuf Alli, The Holy Qur’án, Q. 4:3. 19. M.O. Opeloye, “Building Bridges of Understanding between Islam and Christianity in Nigeria,” an inaugural lecture delivered at the Lagos State University, on Tuesday, p. 19.

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20. M.O. Opeloye, Building Bridges. J.K. Olupona “Contemporary” p. 38. R.D. Abubakre “Inter- Religious dialogue as preached by a Nigerian Islamic scholar: The activities of Shaykh Adam Abdullah Al- Ilori 19131992” in Centre Point, University of Ilorin, Ilorin. Vol.7, No. 2, 1997, pp. 190–91. 21. J.K. Olupona “Contemporary” p. 38. 22. R.D. Abubakre “Inter- Religious dialogue as preached by a Nigerian Islamic scholar: The activities of shaykh Adam Abdullah Al- Ilori 1913- 1992” in Centre Point, University of Ilorin, Ilorin. Vol.7, No. 2, 1997, pp.190–191.

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World Religions in the PostModern Age Henry L. Ruf

A call for religious liberty and a new ecumenism.

“A thought-provoking book worthy of a broad readership. Having set forth the teachings of each of the world’s religions in a fair and respectful way, Dr. Ruf moves quickly to the challenge of explaining how each of these faith traditions can find their ‘core’ and surprisingly, often some commonality. Thus they can make a positive contribution for the healing of the world.” —Rev. Ray H. Kiely, D.D., The Near East School of Theology, Beirut, Lebanon

ISBN: 1-55778-866-9, Paper, 350 pages

“The book for my Philosophy of Religion course that I have been waiting for! Professor Ruf’s outstanding scholarship is complemented by his exceptional writing and wide-ranging grasp of the matter.” —John N. Vielkind, Ph.D., Professor & Chair in Philosophy, Marshall University, Huntington WV

“Henry L. Ruf’s book World Religions in a Postmodern Age is a bold undertaking that addresses a number of important issues for religious people living in a postmodern age, such as: Is rationally defensible religion even possible after postmodern critiques of religion? If it is, what if anything can be salvaged from previous religious traditions? And what should be the religious person’s attitude toward other religions? Ruf argues that a rationally defensible postmodern religion is possible, and that despite their differences world religions share common features and ethical commitments that can be appealed to as a basis for dialogue and tolerance. These are issues which should concern everyone living in a postmodern, culturally and religiously divided world, and I highly recommend the book.” —Gene G. James, Professor of Philosophy, Unviersity of Memphis

Available at Paragon House www.paragonhouse.com 800-447-3709 D&A 22-1.indd 74

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Shanti, Shalom, Salaam: Reflections on the Quest for a Culture of Peace M. Darrol Bryant

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he first decade of the third millennium has been marked by violence. Israelis and Palestinians are caught in a cycle of violence that seems to have no end. Terrorist bombings in the USA in September 2001 led to the ill-fated War on Terror and an intractable war in Iraq. Conflicts in Chechnya, Afghanistan, and the former Yugoslavia persist. Recent riots and deaths happen in Pakistan and Tibetan protesters are assaulted in Lhasa. It is urgent that we find ways to build a culture of peace.1 It is my view that religious life holds the key. Peace for us lies in scriptures and sacred writings, in practices and traditions East and West, North and South. The wisdom given us in the religious heritage of humankind is where the quest for peace has been most deeply plumbed. It is here that we can learn most profoundly the ways of peace. Of course, there is an irony as many see religion as doing just the opposite, and surely there are alternative and supplemental ways to proceed as well. Neverthless, religious traditions provide us with the best lights for our inquiry.

The Challenge It is known that the very religious traditions I praise above are also sources of conflict. Rather than being beacons of peace, our traditions and adherents often bear conflict and hostility. Hans Kung, the noted European Catholic theologian, said “there will be no peace among the nations and civilizations without peace among the religions” and that “there will be no peace between the religions without a dialogue 1. An earlier version of this paper was prepared for a conference on “The Culture of Peace” in Bangalore sponsored by Tibet House in New Delhi, India. It has been revised for publication here.

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among the religions.”2 We should add this: there will be no peace among the religions until there is dialogue and understanding within the religions, and there will be no peace within the religions until there is peace within the hearts of the adherents of religions. We and our traditions are part of the problem. Consider who and what we are. The first thing we note is the lack of peace in our own hearts: the lack of peace within our own traditions, the lack of peace in how our tradition relates to other traditions. We are challenged by our very diversity. We are believers in part, but unbelievers too, even within our own selves. We are men and women from different societies, with differing histories. We are made up of inner stories and outer positions, uncertain of what will unfold in our time together, anxious about many things, yet filled with positive anticipation. In a word, we are a microcosm of that humanity that everywhere seeks peace but knows difference, tension, conflict, hostility, uncertainty, division. We are human beings attempting to find our way to forms of life together that can sustain and enhance us all. Our efforts at peacemaking reflect our inner division, insight and ignorance, faith and unbelief, practice and forgetfulness. We attempt to give voice to the life of the spirit that creates peace even when we lack the spirit needed to do so. We attempt to speak about those things of the spirit that make for peace within human beings and human societies: those virtues of compassion and mercy, those gifts of justice and love, those practices of charity and mindfulness and sharing, those tones and rhythms of the spirit that are essential to living life together. Our religious traditions cannot give blueprints to social engineers, but we can speak, each in our own words, the wisdom of our traditions as it has been given to us about peace: shanti, shalom, salaam. In my view, one of the most essential contributions that the religious traditions can make to peacemaking in our time is to show, in word and deed, how different traditions can make peace across the religious divisions that separate us from one another. In order to have peace in our societies, we must have peace between our traditions. Here, 2. This formula from Hans Kung has been repeated in a number of writings. I am quoting from his Foreword to The Rivers of Paradise: Moses, Buddha, Confucius, Jesus and Muhammad as Religious Founders, eds., D. N. Freedman and M. J. McClymond (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2001), pp. viii-ix.

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scholars and religious leaders could make a real contribution by being an example of fruitful and peaceful exchange and dialogue. This is the way of dialogue and cooperation that is an essential rhythm of peace. When, as religious people and as scholars, we act in society, we act informed by our own particular traditions of practice and belief. But is the point of our action simply the welfare of ourselves or our own communities? Isn’t our aim the welfare and well-being of the whole? As we move towards peace doesn’t our very being, as well as our self-understanding, as human beings undergo a transformation? Aren’t we realizing the depths of our traditions as we contribute to the well-being of the whole? Even though, as I have suggested here, we are guided in our inquiry by the wisdom of our traditions, this does not mean that the religious heritage of humankind provides us with an actual history of peace. Often, there is animosity found within our traditions towards the other traditions. It is also the case that adherents of the different faiths often fail to practice what they preach, and to live what they believe. But is this paradox itself instructive? Why is it that peace is so seldom realized, and when realized, so fragile? Why is peace so elusive? Are there paradoxes of peace that are inherent to its very nature? If peace is the answer to the question that lies at the very heart of the human in relation to Itself, the Other, and the Ultimate, then what is that question?

Anomalies of Peace We live in the paradox of the inner and outer. In the Zohar, a Jewish writing, we read: “God is peace (shalom), His name is peace (shalom), and all is bound together in peace (shalom).3 Here peace as the Ultimate is affirmed and it is shalom that binds all together. But this theological affirmation, found in many traditions, does not describe our life and world as we find it. Is there a longing more profound to be found within the depths of being human? Is the cry of the heart for peace an eloquent testimony to its absence?

3. See A. Wilson, ed., World Scripture, A Comparative Anthology of Sacred Texts (New York: Paragon House), 1991, p. 394.

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In the Atharva Veda we read: “Peace (shanti) be to earth and to airy spaces! Peace (shanti) be to heaven, peace (shanti) to the waters, peace (shanti) to the plants and peace (shanti) to the trees! May all the gods grant me peace (shanti)!”4 What is the relationship between the peace we seek and the peace we are given, between effort and gift? Do we encounter here a contradiction or a paradox? In the Songs of Arthur Solomon, a Nishnawabe elder, an aboriginal people of North America, we hear: Yes Grandmother, We’ll give you our hands. And our hearts and minds and bodies . . . And as we walk on this sacred earth, We will learn together to celebrate the ways of peace . . . 5

Where do inner and outer meet? Do we move from within to without—from peaceful people to a peaceful society—or vice versa? Is there a clear boundary between the inner and outer that we can draw? What is the relation between inner and outer? These are perplexing anomalies: we know that shanti within can occur in the midst of the absence of shalom without; and even though there is an absence of shanti within there can be shalom without. What does this tell us about the relation of inner and outer? If the ways of peace must be learned, can we ever have peace in a world which is perpetually composed of these? Can the ways of peace be traveled? Can we have peace before we have achieved the goal at the end of the way? Can we learn to walk gently “on this sacred earth,” “with one another,” and “with our God,” simultaneously or sequentially or bit by bit?

Fronts/Ways of Peace What do we find when we look across the religious heritage of humankind? Are we to understand peace in primarily social terms as the shalom of community, or in inner terms as the shanti of self-realization? Are we to understand peace as the cessation of suffering, or in transcendent terms as the salaam of Allah. Is it in such ecological terms as the wu wei of the Tao, or in celebratory terms as in the greeting of 4. Ibid., p. 395, from the Artha Veda19.9.14. 5. See A. Solomon, Songs for the People: Teachings on the Natural Way (Toronto: NC Press, 1990), p. 17.

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ukuthula of the Zulu warrior? Peace as it is given to us in the religious life of humankind does not yield an easy unanimity, nor does it yield only diversity. The consensus rests only in the universal affirmation that peace is desireable; diversity reigns in how peace is understood, and how it is sought. If we see religious diversity as complimentary, then we can argue that our religious heritage pushes us in more than one direction as it urges us to look at least in four places: • Within, at the passions of the human heart to discover, learn and practice the shanti • Without, to the community with its diverse generations and genders to realize the rhythms of shalom that are essential to our collective well-being as it unfolds across time • Above, to the Beyond that funds that salaam that emerges when we are properly related to the Absolute, and • Around, to our Earth and all living creatures that we are bidden to acknowledge and respect so that our life may be long and at ukuthula (Zulu greetings meaning peace) with the planet. While these four directions are not exhaustive, they are perhaps sufficient for our purposes here. Oversimplifying and schematizing this diversity, we could argue that the primal traditions remind us of the ecological dimensions of peace: that peace involves a fitting relationship with the earth. The eastern traditions highlight the inner front of peace: humanity’s relation to itself. The western traditions focus our attention on the social dimensions of peace: the rhythms that sustain the life of communities in time; and the transcendental dimensions of all traditions emphasize the relationship of the human to the Absolute—as essential to the quest for peace.6 Thus the collective spiritual wisdom of humanity points us towards an awareness that human life occurs at the crossroads of several life fronts: within and without, forward and backward, above and below. Here we focus on the inner path of shanti and the outer rhythms of shalom—the inner/outer dialectic. But we will also try to keep in 6. See my Woven on the Loom of Time (New Delhi: Decent/Suryodaya, 1999) for a further discussion of several religious traditions.

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mind the transcendent relationship of salaam, and the virtues of ukuthula that arise from our connectedness to the earth. That the inner and outer, the forward and backward, the above and below, are simultaneously present in the quest for peace.

A Christian Vision of Peace We find in every tradition expressions of a holistic vision of peace. For example, in Augustine’s City of God, Book XIX, Chapt. 13, we read these words: The peace of the body…is a tempering of the component parts in duly ordered proportion; the peace of the irrational soul is a duly ordered repose of the appetites; the peace of the rational soul is the duly ordered agreement of cognition and action. The peace of body and soul is the duly ordered life and health of a living creature; peace between mortal man and God is an ordered obedience, in faith, in subjection to an everlasting law; peace between men is an ordered agreement of mind with mind; the peace of a home is the ordered agreement among those who live together about giving and obeying orders; the peace of the heavenly City is a perfectly ordered and perfectly harmonious fellowship in the enjoyment of God, and a mutual fellowship in God; the peace of the whole universe is the tranquility of order—and order is the arrangement of things equal and unequal in a pattern which assigns to each its proper position.

While Augustine’s terms may not always resonate with contemporary readers, they do point to the multiple dimensions of peace. In Augustine’s statement, peace in its inner, outer, familial, transcendental and cosmic aspects are all included. For Augustine, we could expect only moments of peace within time, and perfect peace was only possible in eternity. For Augustine, it was time itself that rendered perpetual peace impossible. Similarly, the Jewish scripture says that there is a time for everything, and the Buddhist says that everything is impermanent. Augustine’s understanding of shalom involves movement from disorder to order. His understanding of disorder and order unfolds in the context of his Christian self-understanding and theological anthropology. Thus for Augustine, the human disorder, or lust for

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domination, must be overcome if enduring peace is to be achieved.7 His is an understanding of shalom that is relational, social, and temporal. However, for Augustine, peace is never permanent under the conditions of time; it is nonetheless the principal aim and dynamic within our temporal life. The traditions that see shalom as the rhythms that maintain communities and societies emphasize humanity in its relationships to itself and others.

A Buddhist Vision of Peace We encounter quite a different understanding of shanti in many of the Eastern traditions. For example, in the Buddhist Anguttara Nikaya, we read: This is Peace, this is the excellent, namely the calming of all the impulses, the casting out of all ‘basis,’ the extinction of craving, dispassion, stopping, Nirvana.8

The emphasis here falls on an internal transformation, the overcoming of craving and ignorance, as the key to shanti. Here we look within to discover the sources of conflict and its antidote. The ways to shanti are many in the Eastern traditions. There is the way of the Bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhist traditions, the way of the Yogi in Hindu traditions, the way of the Immortal in Taoist traditions. These ways are even more complicated when we note the Hindu conviction that some paths are more suited for those of one temperament and type (the bhakti, jnana, karma, and raj yoga types) than another. This conviction means that we are not looking for a single path to peace, but paths that are suitable for quieting the beast within whatever face he/it takes in accord with the type. In the shanti traditions, peace grows from within as the inner conflict is overcome and one gains essential spiritual insight and wisdom. Thus the emphasis falls on the inner disciplines that can overcome ignorance, root out the sources of suffering, and quiet the cravings that disrupt and distort our being and becoming. 7. Ibid., p. 875. Here Augustine identifies the disorder of humanity as arising from the lust for domination, the foundation of human sinfulness. 8. World Scripture, op.cit., p. 392.

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In the approaches to shanti that emphasize the inner way, the reasons for the absence of peace within the world are traced back to an inner disorientation/ignorance/disorder that must be overcome if shanti is to be achieved. Thus in these traditions, shanti is more than the absence of “war.” Or, we could say that the principle war that the human confronts is the war within, the spiritual war that must be waged if we are to become what we are intended to be. This way to shanti/nibbana that emphasizes inner transformation yet recognizes that it spills over into the life of society is found in Thich Nhat Hanh’s book of teaching with the wonderful title Being Peace. There he writes, If we are peaceful, if we are happy, we can blossom like a flower, and everyone in our family, our entire society, will benefit from our peace.9

Here the boundaries we often draw between human beings, families, and societies are seen to be at least porous if not finally illusory. The term that Thich Nhat Hanh uses is “interbeing” which “means ‘mutual’ and ‘to be’.”10 It is intended to convey something of the interconnectedness of being. As Hanh remarks, “we have talked about the many in the one and the one containing the many… I am, therefore you are. You are, therefore I am. That is the meaning of the word ‘interbeing.’”11 Against the background of this conviction/metaphysic, then, Hanh unfolds a teaching and practice that centers in meditation. For Hanh, Meditation is to be aware of what is going on: in your body, in your feelings, in your mind, and in the world. The most precious practice in Buddhism is meditation, and it is important to practice meditation in a joyful mood. We have to smile a lot in order to be able to meditate.12

It is this practice which opens the way to compassion, love, and understanding according to Hanh.13 It is this way that brings forth our “Buddha nature” which is the heart of “Being Peace.” There is a deep conviction here that the practice of meditation is key to the 9. Thich Nhat Hanh, Being Peace (Berkeley: Parallax Press, 1987), p. 1. 10. Ibid., p. 87. 11. Ibid., p. 87. 12. Ibid., p. 106. 13. See especially Hanh pp. 107ff.

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achievement of peace—a peace within that also affects the world without. In his chapter on Meditation in Daily Life, Hanh concludes: It is really beautiful to begin the day by being a Buddha. Each time we feel ourselves about to leave our Buddha, we can sit and breathe until we return to our true self. There are three things I can recommend to you: arranging to have a breathing room in your home, a room for meditation; practicing breathing, sitting, for a few minutes every morning at home with your children; and going out for a slow walking meditation with your children before going to sleep, just ten minutes is enough. These things are very important. They can change our civilization.14

The inner way transforms the world without, the inner passes over to the outer affecting the life of the world. The divisions between inner and outer are overcome.

A Taoist Vision of Peace A somewhat different account is found in the Tao Te Ching, #37, where we read: Tao invariably takes no action, and yet there is nothing left undone. If kings and barons can keep it, all things will transform spontaneously. If, after transformation, they should desire to be active, I would restrain them with simplicity, which has no name. Simplicity, which has no name, is free of desires. Being free of desires, it is tranquil. And the world will be at peace of its own accord.15

Here, peace is the name of the Tao’s unfolding. The human task, then, is to live in harmony with that cosmic rhythm that is the very nature of things. While the Taoist way also involves an inner transformation, it is linked with the Yin-Yang movement of the Tao that is most evident in the very processes of “nature.” In Taoism, we see most clearly the way in which religious traditions link the inner to the cosmic, the conviction of the micro/macro identity. Again, the particulars vary across tradition as each tradition articulates its understanding of that human/cosmic identity. 14. Ibid., p. 115. 15. See World Scripture, op.cit., p. 392.

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The ways of peace are many.

Peace in the O.E.D. In the English-speaking world, our understanding of peace is linked to “war”—if the entry we find in the Oxford English Dictonary (OED) is any indication. According to the OED, the English word “peace” is derived from the Latin pacem, pax. The OED then gives six principle meanings of the word: 1. freedom from, or cessation of, war or hostilities; that condition of a nation or a community in which it is not at war with another. 2. freedom from civil commotion and disorder; public order and security. 3. freedom from disturbance or perturbation (especially as a condition in which an individual person is); quiet, tranquillity, undisturbed stage. 4. freedom from quarrels, or dissension between individuals; a state of friendliness; concord, amity. 5. freedom from mental or spiritual disturbance or conflict arising from passion, sense of guilt, etc., calmness. 6. absence of noise, movement, or activity; stillness; quiet; inertness. The OED concludes with a 14th entry, “to make peace: to bring about a state of peace, in various senses.” What is striking here is the essentially negative definition of the term. It is defined in terms of “freedom from” or the “absence of” rather than in terms of a positive content. It is also obvious that in the OED, peace is understood in essentially social terms and by way of contrast with its opposite, war. Need we attempt to discern the “freedom for” aspects of peace as well as the “freedom from?” Have we exhausted peace when we speak of it in social terms? What is the interface of peace within the members of social groups and peace without in the relations between different groupings within society, across our planet, with the earth, and with all living things?

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Peace as a Social Rhythm If we see that peace is the condition that arises when war has ceased, we need to recognize the diverse levels and meanings of the term “shalom.” While we could probably all agree that there is no peace when there is armed conflict between different societies, groups, or communities, could we also agree that the absence of war does not exhaust our grasp of peace? Isn’t the absence of armed conflict a necessary but not sufficient condition for peace? In a social context, the quest for shalom arises in response to overcoming those forces that would destroy the rhythms of shalom. Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy (1888-1973), a German-born American social thinker, makes this observation concerning peace: …peace is not the sleep and torpor of non-movement. Peace is not suspended animation. Peace is the victory over mere accident. Peace is the rhythm of a community which is still unfinished, still open to its true future.16

Thus, here peace is not simply the absence of war though that is essential. Nor is it simply diminishing conflict. Peace is not an absence, but a presence. Shalom is those essential rhythms that make our life together possible. It is what must be there within the human heart, as presence and hope, to make meeting possible and fruitful. It is what must be there in the relations between male and female, young and old, teacher and learner, to make those relations flourish. It is not sameness, but orchestrating differences so that all—persons, families, communities, traditions—flourish. Peace is those rhythms within the lives of persons and communities that make possible the quest for justice and the achievement of fairness. Peace is the rhythm between the inner and outer, the forward (future) and backward (past) that is essential to human welfare and to social well-being. Peace is the rhythm that allows us to orchestrate all the differences of age, gender, birthplace, viewpoint, economic status, experience, education, etc., that characterize the members of society into a community.17 16. See E. Rosenstock-Huessy, The Christian Future or the Modern Mind Outrun (New York: Harper & Row, 1967), p. 242. 17. See also E. Rosenstock-Huessy, Speech & Reality (Norwich, VT: Argo Books, 1969).

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Societies exist in time and weave together members into a social body. Societies are knit together with the bonds of the spirit: compassion, love, justice, hope, fairness, duty, affection, etc. Societies break down when these spiritual bonds are broken by fear, ignorance, marginalization, injustice, etc. From April 30-May 2, 1992, Los Angeles erupted in fire and violence in response to the perceived injustice and racism of the jury verdict in regard to Rodney King, who had been beaten by four LA police officers. Before this eruption, was there genuine social peace? In the writings of Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy, peace is approached in a social way. It has to do with the rhythms that make for life within the community. This approach reflects his embeddedness within the Judeo-Christian traditions of the West. But his efforts towards what he called a “social grammar” deserve a wider hearing. The quest for peace in society arises because of the recognition that members of a community come from “different times and spaces” and that those differences must be orchestrated into the life of society. For Rosenstock-Huessy there is a perpetual effort needed for societies to attain/ maintain peace. That perennial quest for peace arises, RosenstockHuessy argues, because of a four-fold challenge. Every society is faced inward and outward in space, and forward and backward in time. Thus it is essential that rhythms between these fronts be maintained if there is to be peace in society. We must cultivate an inner unanimity or shared inspiration within, as well as efficient and just social insitutions and patterns without. We must retain a healthy respect for the achievements of the past without denying the need for change. But in facing the future a society must pass on to new generations faith and confidence to meet that future lest the society become decadent. Finding adequate rhythms among these four fronts of life is the perennial challege of all societies. Finding those rhythms brings peace; the failure to find those rhythms brings social unrest.

The Many Faces of Peace Peace as a social rhythm between different groups within society. Peace as a state. Peace as a process. Peace as an end. Peace as a means. Peace as a condition. Peace as the soul in communion with God. Peace as the realization of Self. Peace as the cessation of all desire. Peace as the overcoming of suffering. The meanings of peace are many.

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In thinking about peace in our time, we must recognize the new situation in which we find ourselves. All of our societies are part of an inter-dependent global order that unfolds within the context of a common or shared ecological matrix. One historic imperative that now lies before us, as men and women of the spirit, is to remember the natural world, our Mother Earth, as the context of our societies. We have created technological patterns of industrialization and agriculture that now threaten the very earth which sustains all life. We need to radically transform the relationship of technological patterns to the ecological structures which sustain us all. As members of society, we are called upon both to nurture that which enhances our common life and to criticize that which destroys the environmental foundations of society. The issues here are profound and complex, but it is again an area where cross-religious initiatives might make an important contribution. As human beings, we all participate simultaneously in several societies: we are all part of cosmic, ecological, social, familial, and personal worlds. These “worlds” interpenetrate each other. Our actions in one world affect life in all those worlds. We need to learn the rhythms that can simultaneously enhance the whole both in its diversity and unity. To my mind, one of the best and most concrete examples of this is the social experiment of Mahatma Gandhi. In his prayers and inner practices were the spiritual seeds of his social action, in his ashrams were the common practices that could sustain life together as they respected the religious convictions of all while acting for the whole. The spiritual was not separated from the secular, nor was the spirit confused with ideology. Gandhi’s experiments are a shining example of how communities, incorporating diverse religious traditions and addressing problems of social inequality (caste) and technical order, can contribute to society. Yet his experiments were rooted in the particularities of his own Hindu vision. Thus, to what extent can his efforts be instructive for others?

Four Foundations of Peace Gandhi is, to my mind, a great example of the religiously inspired peacemaker in his efforts to build the rhythms of peace between Hindu and Muslim and Parsee and Christian, for his efforts to overcome “caste boundaries” that denied the dignity of all human beings,

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and for his exploration of human forms of technology. In these efforts he identified some of the rhythms of peace. What are those rhythms? The first rhythm of peace grows out of the recognition of the dignity of all human beings. Without this basic acknowledgement of the dignity of all human lives, we cannot find our way to the rhythms that make for peace in society? How essential this is is evident in the case of the “untouchables” who became, in Gandhi’s words, “the children of God.” The affirmation of human dignity is not the same as human rights, nor is it to be equated with modern notions of equality. In Christian terms this is the affirmation of humanity created in the “imago dei;” in Buddhist terms, it is humanity as “Buddha nature”; in Hindu terms, it is the Self. Recognition of human dignity is the bass note for life together. It is also essential that we learn to truly listen to the other even though we will be changed by that listening. This is the second rhythm of peace. It is a reciprocal process affecting all involved in the process. As we listen to one another and in turn speak, we begin to build links of understanding and of shared memory that are essential to the life of society. It is the absence of social speech, of dialogue and exchange, that underlies the conflict between Hindu and Muslim in India. The third rhythm of peace that grows out of the earlier two is the effort to find ways to share life with one another and find areas in which we can cooperate with one another. We do this in our intimate meeting with one another and in those forms of meeting that occur across larger social spaces. Social institutions that provide the pathways for cooperation and regulate social processes in ways that are just and right are essential to peace within the life of society. The fourth rhythm of peace that is essential to recognize in our time is that no particular religious tradition will be able to excercise hegemony in the matter of peace on the planet. Thus it becomes essential to find rhythms of peace that acknowledge and respect the ways of others that hold different understandings and follow different paths towards peace. These are some of the rhythms that can begin to restore life within and between communities.

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A Poetic Conclusion The disturbing question that hangs over us now is whether or not peace is an impossibility, a utopian longing, given the corruption of the human heart, the poisons of the mind, the pervasive “ignorance” that clouds our mind, the ceaseless grasping that leads to suffering. How can there be peace given a disordered humanity or within a disordered humanity? However, let me conclude in a poetic voice: Shanti, shanti, shanti, the words fall from our lips to longing hearts ensnared in desire and bound by suffering. from whence comes the power that can heal the longing spirit, awaken the heart, calm the mind, light the fires of joy and bliss that lie hidden within the longing soul. Shalom, shalom, shalom, the cry comes for a longing community, made of women and men, young and old, mother and father, weavers and spinners, and more; eternal forms of passing humanity turned in and out, forward and backward, in communities large and small across the globe: longing for life with justice for all,

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Epistemology of the Exact Science(s): Mathematical Knowledge vis-à-vis Spiritual Knowledge Héctor Rosario

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his manuscript explores epistemologies of mathematical and spiritual knowledge. It embodies a critique of the categorical error in mathematics that logical truth is absolute in its inferred unification of mind and spirit. I validate trans-rational approaches toward spiritual truth as distinct from the truth statements of mathematical logic.

Introduction In 1930 the preeminent logician of the twentieth century, Kurt Gödel, presented results stemming from his doctoral dissertation at the second conference on Epistemology of the Exact Sciences in Königsberg. Gödel startled the audience with what came to be known as Gödel’s First Incompleteness Theorem. This result, coupled with the Second Incompleteness Theorem presented in 1931, is sometimes referred to as Gödel’s Theorem. Unfortunately, it has become one of the most (mis)quoted mathematical results in philosophical and religious discourse. Logician Torkel Franzén has aptly demystified these misconceptions in Gödel’s Theorem: An Incomplete Guide to Its Use and Abuse.1 The misunderstanding primarily springs from applying technical terms in mathematical logic—like “formal system” and “incomplete”—to similar terms in colloquial language. This is further aggravated by a misplaced faith in mathematical knowledge as absolute and eternal. Such mentality worships logical truth as divine and numbers as uncreated entities. This is the Pythagorean religion to which many mathematicians adhere. Nevertheless, mathematical knowledge, as well as knowledge about the physical word, is insufficient in the pursuit of spiritual knowledge. Dialogue & Alliance

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Definitions To advance my thesis I must clarify what I mean by “spiritual knowledge,” but first allow me to clarify other terms. Epistemology is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature and limitations of knowledge, whereas “exact sciences” refer to mathematical or deductive sciences. To paraphrase Tarski—the other great logician of the twentieth century—every mathematical science is a deductive science and every deductive science is a mathematical science.2 Thus, an epistemology of mathematical sciences attempts to understand the processes of knowledge acquisition within those realms. Spirituality, on the other hand, is concerned with matters regarding the purpose of humans as entities with unique relationships to the Divine. Spirituality also implies a separation between body and spirit. An epistemology of spirituality, or a spiritual epistemology, attempts to describe the ways in which spiritual knowledge is obtained. Both the mathematical sciences and spirituality aim at the acquisition of knowledge, and both attempt to predict the outcome of events provided certain conditions are met. But the nature of those two types of knowledge is distinct. Let us examine them more closely. Spiritual knowledge is defined herein as absolute and objective knowledge about who we are and what our relationship with other entities is, in particular our relationship with a Higher Being. In addition, knowledge that allows us to realize the meaning of existence as eternal spiritual entities, knowledge that allows us to transcend suffering, and knowledge that allows us to understand death, will be considered spiritual knowledge in this discourse. The effects of this knowledge on its possessors are seen in the qualities these individuals develop, like humility, compassion, tolerance, truthfulness, and forgiveness. The degree to which these qualities are present in an individual show the degree of that person’s spiritual advancement. An opponent may concede that, under this definition, mathematical knowledge is not spiritual since the cultivation of virtues or the exploration of the afterlife are independent of mathematical activity. Yet, I am interested in having colleagues consider that they might be in illusion if they think that either mathematics or science will reveal to them spiritual realities, or that such knowledge will make them more humble, tolerant, and forgiving—not as mere accidents—but as the mathematical sciences’ reason for being.

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The Pythagorean Religion Princeton mathematician Edward Nelson—a devout Christian—has labeled the Platonic view of numbers as the “Pythagorean religion,” asserting that Plato’s understanding and appreciation of mathematics was heavily influenced by the Pythagoreans.3 Yet, “like an underground religion, it is observed in private and rarely mentioned in public.”4 “Why do we mathematicians, makers like poets and musicians, describe what we do as discovery rather than invention? This is the Pythagorean religion.” —Edward Nelson

For Pythagoreans—inventors of numbers and other curiosities— numbers are uncreated: the source of all that is in the world. But if numbers are uncreated then they are divine and thus on a par with God in the polytheistic pantheon of mathematics. As a monotheist, Nelson rejects this idea. Suppose now that numbers are created by a Higher Being. Then, their nature and existence are dependent on the will of their Creator, who could have created them differently. He finds this absurd. “What other possibility is there? Simply that numbers do not exist—not until human beings make them.”3

Epistemology of Mathematics How mathematical knowledge is obtained is a highly debated topic far from being resolved. A primary reason for the debate lies in the conflicting philosophies of mathematics. There are three competing views in the philosophy of mathematics, with an emerging fourth that attempts to reconcile those three. Any ostensible epistemology of mathematics must conform to one of these philosophies since mathematicians tend to be passionate (albeit covertly) about their views, which casts a shadow over the allegedly objective nature of their discipline. Platonic (Classical) view Platonists believe that mathematical objects exist independently of the human mind. This predominating view is generally attributed to Plato, although as intimated earlier, it goes back to the Pythagorean Brotherhood. It

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boasts among its most faithful believers the likes of Bertrand Russell and Kurt Gödel. In this classical view, mathematical objects have a pure existence in a Platonic world of ideas. Humans can only access that knowledge, but never create it, since Platonists believe that mathematical objects exist independently of the human mind. For instance, there are many theorems in classical mathematics where one demonstrates—by contradiction—that the assumption that all objects fail to have a property is false, and hence there must exist at least one object with the property, even if there is no method for constructing that object [3]. This faith in the existence of mathematical objects with no idea on how to construct them led to the rise of a contending philosophy of mathematics: intuitionism. Intuitionist view During the late 19th century, L.E.J. Brouwer launched an attack against the classical view of mathematics and demanded that it was not enough to claim that an object existed, but that one needed to be able to construct such an object. David Hilbert vigorously assailed this position—masquerading as a formalist—and a long debate ensued. According to Nelson, both Brouwer and Hilbert, along with their followers, failed to understand a short result of Gödel’s from 1933, in which he showed that the intuitionist view was just an extension rather than a restriction of classical mathematics[3]. Gödel proved that “what Brouwer really did was extend classical mathematics by the creation of two new logical operators: the constructive there exists and the constructive or, stronger than their classical counterparts” [6]. But unfortunately, Gödel’s result continues to be ignored by many a philosopher immersed in this dispute. Formalist view To the formalist, a mathematical formula does not denote anything in particular. It is simply a string of symbols that follow a strict set of rules. A mathematician’s job is to construct proofs—or concatenate formulas—that speak of nothing but themselves. Here semantics is sharply distinguished from syntax. This distinction propelled the development of mathematical logic since George Boole by making it possible to surmount difficulties that Aristotelian logic was inadequate to confront.

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“Formalism denies the relevance of truth to mathematics.” —Edward Nelson

As intimated above, David Hilbert portrayed himself as a formalist, although he seems to have adopted this view as a way to combat Brouwer’s intuitionism. This in no way diminishes Hilbert’s great contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the foundations of mathematics, but his thoughts on Georg Cantor’s Set Theory are revealing: “No one shall expel us from the paradise that Cantor has created for us” [6]. Although Hilbert attributes creation to Cantor, his religious and romantic wording closely resembles that of a classicist. Besides, Hilbert appears to have faith in mathematical truth, something irrelevant to the formalist. I quote from Nelson: Formalism denies the relevance of truth to mathematics. But, one might object, mathematics works—the evidence is all around us. Does this not imply that there is truth in mathematics? Not in the slightest. Suppose we find a primitive people, or an advanced people, but a people with a worldview utterly alien to ours, who have an herb that is quite effective for a certain illness. They explain its efficacy in terms of the divine action of the shuki on the body’s okrus. We find that the herb is equally effective in our society. How much evidence does this provide for belief in the shuki? None at all. The syntax is correct; the semantics is irrelevant. So it is with mathematics. It works. But this is no evidence whatsoever that the religion of mathematics has any truth in it.3

Humanistic view The last view, first expounded by Philip Davis and Reuben Hersh in The Mathematical Experience over two decades ago—and by William Byers in the recently released How Mathematicians Think—attempts to harmonize the other three views by taking into account the human aspect of mathematics. Regardless of whether mathematical truth is objective or not, the fact remains that—as far as we know—only humans have the capacity to develop it, enjoy it, and understand it. Therefore, any philosophy of mathematics, according to them, must deal with the creative processes involved in the doing and understanding of mathematics. That might have something more revealing to teach us about the human condition itself. Nevertheless, I have come

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to the conclusion that the humanistic approach is contained in formalism—not as portrayed by Hilbert—but as espoused by Nelson. For instance, “My claim is that there is no Platonic reality underlying mathematics; mathematicians prove theorems, but the theorems are not about anything.”

—Edward Nelson

However much amplification the following description of truth may require, truth is a correspondence between a linguistic formulation and reality. My claim is that there is no Platonic reality underlying mathematics; mathematicians prove theorems, but the theorems are not about anything. This is how mathematics differs profoundly from science. Mathematicians no more discover theorems than the sculptor discovers the sculpture inside the stone. But unlike sculpting, our work is tightly constrained, both by the strict requirements of syntax and by the collegial nature of the enterprise. This is how mathematics differs profoundly from art. To deny the cogency of the Platonic notion of truth in mathematics in no way deprives mathematics of meaning. In mathematics, meaning is found not in a cold, abstract, static world of Platonic ideas but in the human, historical, collegial world of mathematicians and their work.6

Epistemology of Spiritual Knowledge I regard knowledge as either spiritual or non-spiritual. Non-spiritual knowledge may be subtle—like understanding the intricacies of mathematical logic—or it may be gross, like learning how to exploit other humans. Yet what is common between the subtle and gross forms of non-spiritual knowledge is that they aim at gratifying either mental or physical desires that go beyond the basic psychological or biological needs. Spiritual knowledge, on the other hand, aims at understanding our existence as eternal souls—not out of curiosity—but as a natural urge of being human. Spirituality is better seen in a mystic light. Mysticism, from the Greek word mystikos (an initiate), is the pursuit of a direct experience

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with the Divine. It seeks awareness into the mysteries of life and death, happiness and sorrow, truth and untruth. Zoroastrians and Hellenistic Greeks, Jews and Romans, Christians and Muslims, Mayans and Incas, Hindus and Buddhists—and probably every religion in the world—have had mystical elements in their fold. I am not claiming that the practice of these different traditions will foster the same experiences or that their ultimate goal is identical. I am simply noting that they have certain practices that attempt to access the spiritual realm by using the mind and body in specific ways. These might include meditation, music or dance, among others. Mystics, although they respect rational discourse, are open to realities that transcend the rational mind. In mathematics, however, the rational mind remains the ultimate criterion by which knowledge is judged. Granted there are many divergent conclusions that mystical traditions have between one another, but the root of these contradicting views lies not in the unreliability of the mystic path as a legitimate medium for the transmission of spiritual knowledge, but in the receivers themselves. Consider the following analogy. If someone watches the evening news with an improperly tuned TV or with a considerable amount of static in the signal, that person might miss important words, like nouns or connectives. If the person is questioned about a particular piece of news that was transmitted during that time, he can only give incomplete information or guess the missing words, potentially altering the facts. However, for one with a properly tuned TV, only dishonesty may separate him from correctly transmitting the information. Certainly, the problem worsens if one takes into account psychological factors in the processing of information. How to tune in one’s TV—that is, our body and mind—so that it can clearly and unequivocally hear the sound emanating from the soul, is something that must be learned from an experienced guide. Just as a novice surgeon will be ill-advised to perform (and hopefully prohibited from performing) surgery without the guidance of an expert physician, a novice spiritual seeker will be ill-advised to pursue the spiritual path without assistance. But often we are too arrogant or too timid to consider this alternative. Nevertheless, it is wise to look for help. Spiritual knowledge dawns unannounced. Yet, the awakening of this innate knowledge requires the pursuit of purity, truthfulness, and

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goodness. Since I was a child, I had the conviction that perfected people existed—people fully aware of the spiritual dimension who were without a trace of lust, anger or greed—even if I never met them. This is where the spiritual epistemology becomes personal, as it is with any philosophical search. It is up to us to search for those pure souls and learn from them as much as we can. We may have one more day to live or fifty years, but death is certain. Therefore, we must utilize our time wisely.

Mathematical/Scientific Knowledge and the Spiritual Quest Scientists, particularly physicists, believe there are absolute laws controlling the universe, although they concede that science can only give an approximation to those laws. Classical mathematicians, on the other hand, are more audacious and believe not only that there are laws governing a Platonic universe of mind, but that they can access those truths unequivocally by way of the deductive method. Equating mind with spirit, many mathematicians make the fundamental mistake of taking logical truth as absolute. One may wonder what other legitimate path there is to access absolute truth, if the exact sciences fail to deliver it. I reiterate: the mystic path. We will be at a loss to reject the mystic path, especially for the pursuit of scientific knowledge. Scientific or mathematical knowledge might satisfy some of our intellectual or practical needs, but they will never satiate our need to understand the spiritual dimension. Although the pursuit of scientific and mathematical knowledge can give an indication of spiritual reality to the sincere seeker, this knowledge is ultimately irrelevant in the spiritual quest. A common man or woman, with no specific training in the mathematical sciences, can gain equal access to spiritual knowledge. This is the true great equalizer, not mathematics. The only prerequisite is humility that will lead one to surrender to the Divine or to his devoted adherents.

Conclusions I have shared with you my realizations during the past few years, as I prepared to write for this series of conferences. As a classical mathematician, I was first ontologically inclined. This led me to write on Gödel’s rational theology in 2006. As a formalist, I later became

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epistemologically inclined. This transition was seen in the Vaishnava Ontological Argument last year, which was a parody of my intellectual search. However, as part of my journey for spiritual realization, I have forsaken both of those paths to cultivate profound experiences that transform the way I live and that will impact the way I die. This is the path of the mystic. I invite you to join the experience.

References T. Franzén; Gödel’s Theorem: An Incomplete Guide to Its Use and Abuse, A.K. Peters, Wellesley, 2005. A. Tarski; Introduction to Logic and to the Methodology of Deductive Sciences, Fourth Edition, Oxford University Press, New York, 1994. E. Nelson; “Confessions from an Apostate Mathematician,” http://www.math.princeton.edu/~nelson/, 2000. P. J. Davis, R. Hersh; The Mathematical Experience, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1999, p.339. W. Byers; How Mathematicians Think, Princeton University Press, Princeton, 2007. E. Nelson; “Mathematics and Faith,” http://www.math.princeton.edu/~nelson/, 1999.

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New World Encyclopedia Organizing knowledge for happiness, prosperity, and world peace

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The Greatest is Love Jo Ann Crooks

H

e awoke from a momentary blackout to find a scene which could only be from hell. Everywhere orange flames of jet fuel fire lapped at the ceiling, and thick black smoke choked the air. He could hear men and women screaming, in pain and fear. Some people collected at broken-out windows. He only stood and watched. Why could he no longer feel the pain of the searing heat, he thought? He stood for a few more moments, watching, when suddenly he felt himself being lifted, higher and higher, away from the scene of the smoke and pain. There were four spiritual beings with him. He believed they were angels. He had learned about angels when he was a boy, and when he got older. Mohamed had been a very sensitive boy. He would rather run home to study than to play with the other boys. He wanted so much to please his father, who expected him to be a good student. The injustices he saw growing up planted the seeds that began to mold him into the young man he would later become. Mohamed began to see his life, as in a movie. He saw his childhood. He saw his time in Germany as a student, and the woman who taught him English. She had been only kind to him. He saw the men who taught him Jews and Christians were his enemies, and the enemies of God, and must die. He saw the growing work of the al Qaeda, and how hard he worked to hide their activities. He saw his trip to Afghanistan to meet with Osama bin Laden, and the plot that began to emerge to bring harm to America. He remembered the fear and the thrill he felt. He saw his time in America. He remembered the faces of the American people, walking by him. He saw the flight school, the plotting, the teaching, then the praying, and the morning of the flight. There was something—was it a voice, warning him? He felt something. He Dialogue & Alliance

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felt sick. But he had come this far. He was the leader. The rest of them were depending on him. He had to go through with it. The beings dropped him off without a word and disappeared. He couldn’t understand. He was told his whole life he would be rewarded as a martyr and receive all the delights of his eternal reward in the next life. Not that he had done what he did for his own happiness or glorification. He did it because it was right.  He was alone. It was dark. Suddenly, it began to rain. There was lightening and thunder all around him. There was no shelter.  He held his hands over his ears. He sat down, protecting himself as best he could from the pelting rain. He tried to run, but everywhere was the same. He tried to rest, but could not. Faces, faces of those he had killed, appeared one after the other, everywhere he turned. There was no escape. He began to cry. Slowly, he began to question. Hadn’t he done the will of God? It was all he ever wanted to do. He had been so sure… He felt someone take him by the hand. Suddenly he was standing outside a house in America. The sun was shining and the smell of the trees and the flowers planted in the garden smelled so good to him. A blond-haired woman stood beside him. She still gently held his hand. He had learned not to touch women, that it was a sin, but her touch reminded him of his mother, bringing back memories of so long ago, her gentle touch, and kisses stolen when she thought he was asleep, and his father was not watching. He only pretended to be asleep. He loved those kisses. She let go of his hand and, facing him, spoke. “My name is Melinda Johnson. I worked in the World Trade Center. I was there that day, September 11th, the day you flew the plane into the floor I worked on. I was killed by your hand.” A twinge of pain pierced his heart. He averted her gaze that strangely pulled him in. He felt no judgment from that gaze, only love, the same love he remembered in his mother’s eyes. “Mohamed,” she said. “This was my home. I have been sent to help you understand. God knew you were not ready to look at what you had done. I am the first of three spirits who will be sent to you. Look and learn.” In an instant they were inside the cozy home. Inside were a man and two children, seated at the kitchen table. It was a home, like many

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he had seen in America, but he never had one of his own. He had never had a wife, or children. No, his dedication had been singular. His mission had consumed his whole life. He had willed it so. “I still can’t believe Mom is gone,” said a boy, whose age he estimated at about ten. The little girl just sat there and cried. “I hate those men,” the boy continued. “If I could get a hold of them, I would shoot them.” “Now Nate,” the boy’s dad said. “You know what you’ve learned in church. Jesus taught us to forgive, even our enemies.” “I don’t want to forgive,” the boy yelled, and the “big boy” demeanor he tried so hard to wear since his mother’s death washed away in his tears. His dad came over and put his arms around his neck from behind. “If we want to kill people, out of anger, who have harmed us, we are no better than they are. As Christians, we are called to a higher way of life.” “I don’t understand,” the boy whispered through his tears. “I know,” his dad said. “It’s hard to understand. But I know if we keep killing them because they kill us, it will never end. Someone has to forgive for it to stop.” “I miss Mom,” the boy said. His father just kept holding him. He reached one hand over to the little girt, who sat and said nothing. Mohamed’s mind began to spin. For so long, he had fought to block the thoughts that were now seeping into his mind like rays of light. When he would walk the streets of America, or Germany, and see families together, walking, laughing; when he saw the innocent faces of the children, he almost doubted. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe all he was taught was not true. Maybe these people were not the enemy, the devil. But he always tried to put those thoughts out of his mind. They always lingered, though, just on the edge of his mind. He didn’t want them to be there, but he could never completely make them go away. In an instant, he was back in the dark and rain. He remembered the woman told him he would have three visitors. He waited, thinking about the boy, and the face of the little girl. Soon a man stood beside him, and touched him on the shoulder. In an instant they were transported to a busy neighborhood. Children played on the streets outside. Older men sat on the steps. Shoppers walked by with carts.

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The man spoke with a slight accent. “My name is Ahmed Hassan,” he said to Mohamed. There was no anger or accusation in his eyes either, as Mohamed expected. “I worked in the World Trade Center. I came to America to give a better life for my children, my family. I came for freedom. I am Muslim, like you. This is my apartment where I lived.” It was smaller inside than the previous house, but it felt so warm inside. It reminded him of his own home as a child. The house was filled with bustle. A meal was being put on the table. It was the traditional sunken living room, where the family sat together on the floor. There was an old woman, a younger woman, and three children. Mohamed recognized the language. They gave thanks for the meal, and everyone began to dig in. There was tiredness in the eyes of the younger woman. Ahmed spoke. “This is my family. I took care of my mother. I went to the Mosque every week. I prayed faithfully every day, including the morning of September 11th. When I died, I was taken to such a beautiful place, and I am with my grandparents, my father, and all those I love. I was sent to help you understand what life was for. It was love, Mohamed. Nothing more. Nothing less.” Mohamed felt the sharp pain in his heart again, but before he could say anything, he was back again in his lonely, dark hell. It seemed he was there for a long time. There was a lot of time to think. What had he done? What if flying the plane into the World Trade Center had been murder—murder of almost three thousand innocent men, women, and children? That would make him one of the worst criminals in history. The pain he felt in his heart now was almost unbearable. He fell down to his knees and hands, and tears began to mix with the rain falling down his face. All he had ever wanted was to do God’s will. His religious leaders had told him they were right. These people deserved to die. Now, when he saw those families, when he saw the suffering of those in the World Trade Center, he knew we are all the same—feeling the same love and the same pain. One more visitor remained, he remembered. Where would he go? What would he learn? A bright light appeared. It was hard for him to look at the face of the visitor.

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“I am the Prophet Mohammed,” the visitor said, “for whom you were named.” Mohamed fell prostrate to the ground. The rain had stopped and he could see what seemed like the light of a sunrise appearing in the sky. “Please stand up,” the elder Mohammed said to the young man. Mohamed stood up, shivering. “When I was alive on earth, I was told many things. From the eternity of Allah, I have continued to learn many new things since leaving my physical life. No man is an enemy. We are all of God and of a single family. As children, we are all brothers and sisters. I work together with what you always have called ‘prophets known and unknown’.  I work with the founders, saints and martyrs of all other great religions to bring peace and true understanding among the inhabitants of earth.” Mohamed could bear it no longer. He cried out, “What have I done? I will be hated in all the earth! I caused so much pain. If I could end my existence, I would.” The Prophet Mohammed put his hand gently on the young man’s shoulder. “My son,” he affectionately called him, “It causes me such pain as I see people twist Allah’s injunctions and truth to cause such pain and suffering on the earth. Even your pain, I myself feel.  Allah loves us like a father.  Allah forgives us to help us see our error and the evil within us. “We must carry on the ways of Allah while here in the spiritual world,” he continued. “We must work here as we should on earth, to prevent those perversions that caused you to do the great evil you did.” Mohamed noticed the sky was light now. The landscape had been transformed. There were now trees, flowers, a lake. “Why am I here” asked the younger Mohamed? “Many prayers went up to the throne of God for your soul,” spoke the Prophet. “Though hate would be easier, natural, the people who prayed for you were taught to forgive. They then resemble God Himself, who forgives us, even when we don’t deserve it.” Mohamed stood up. “I will spend the rest of eternity making up for what I have done. I will do only good!” The Prophet spoke one more time. “Allah loves us like sons and daughters. Just as with our own children, there is nothing we can do or not do that can ever change that, or change how much Allah loves us.

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It is our own actions that cause us pain, and inflict pain on one another, and therefore, cause the utmost pain to the heart of Allah. It is that we need to ask forgiveness for—from Him, and from each other.” “If only I had known these things while I was alive,” Mohamed said, through tears. “You may be able to keep someone else from wasting their life,” the Prophet said. With that, he disappeared and the young Mohamed was surrounded by all those he loved who had passed on. He could not believe such happiness could be his. She was waking up from sleep, wondering if the fading memory was a dream, a figment of her imagination, or something else. The man she had seen as the ringleader of the nineteen September 11th highjackers, Mohamed, had come to her and asked her to write and tell people his story. “They must understand the truth. Only love and true understanding between religions can save our world. Only if I can get this message across can I find any peace,” he said. She sat down at her computer. “My imagination or not, from Mohamed or not, maybe this story can make a difference. Maybe it can help someone, filled with hatred, think about the consequences of their actions.” She began to write…                

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Book Reviews Mending a Torn World: Women in Interreligious Dialogue.

By Maura O’Neill. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2007. 160 + xv pp. Paper. $20.00. ISBN 978-1-57075-726-6.

Although the subtitle of this book points to inter-religious dialogue, the real focus of the work is on intra-religious dialogue, that is, conversations within a faith community. In addressing the historical shortcomings of interfaith efforts, O’Neill focuses on two factors: first, the dearth of women (and women’s perspectives and issues) in these efforts, and second, the fact that the people engaged in interfaith dialogue typically come from the more liberal sectors of their respective religious traditions. Mending a Torn World has a clear agenda, namely, the redressing of these historical conditions by foregrounding women, by advocating that their concerns form a basis for dialogue, and by offering practical steps that can be taken to advance both intraand inter-religious conversations. In Part One, “Understanding the Problem,” O’Neill first defines the terms conservative, centrist, and progressive within the contexts of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. She notes carefully that feminism is found across the spectrum, that conservatism does not necessarily imply anti-modernism, that progressivism can embrace tradition, and that salient issues for women diverge not only between traditions but also within them. She then leads the reader deftly through each of the five traditions, outlining the scriptural, doctrinal, institutional, and broader cultural circumstances that have described and prescribed women’s roles in the faith. Mending a Torn World offers a primer of salient issues and suggests the variant views on these issues that women can hold. The book’s discussions of Islam and the non-Abrahamic traditions should prove especially valuable for readers likely to be more knowledgeable about Christianity and, to some extent, Judaism, than the other three religions. The chapter on Hinduism and Buddhism is crystalline in its focus on representations of ideal womanhood (for Hinduism) and on the ordination of Dialogue & Alliance

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nuns as a central problem in Buddhism. O’Neill’s extended treatment of the Hindu epic Ramayana not only explains the enduring centrality of Sita as the ideal Hindu wife but also enables the non-Hindu reader to appreciate the wealth of textual variation, interpretation, and reception of the paradigm. This chapter alone is a rich resource for interfaith learning. In Part Two, “Proposing Some Solutions,” O’Neill identifies obstacles to fruitful religious dialogue, after which she suggests methods, topics, and issues for women’s dialogue. Obstacles to intra-religious dialogue parallel those for inter-religious dialogue (stereotyping and reliance on selective information), to which she adds “fear of loss of identity”—a special problem when the “other” is a co-religionist. A further obstacle for intra-religious conversation is the potential to engage in debate rather than dialogue; in inter-religious dialogue, participants do not assume that they will convert the other to their point of view, whereas in intra-religious dialogue, the pull to “correct” the other can be strong. Methods for dialogue are somewhat general and include defining the purpose of the conversation, introducing participants with personal stories so as to humanize their concerns, and teaching participants to engage in active listening. O’Neill’s topics and issues for dialogue relate directly to women; she lists women’s spirituality, sexuality and gender roles, the relation of the past to the present, and the nature of religious authority as the defining issues for women of all faiths. O’Neill does not suggest that her proposed methods and agendas will overcome or eradicate significant differences among women of faith; rather, she offers hope that the appreciation of others as individuals with personal spiritual journeys and convictions borne of their personal circumstances will yield understanding rather than the outright rejection of the faith of others. There are some infelicities in the book, ranging from minor typos (such as WCC for WOC on page 39) to misplaced footnotes (notes 132 and 133 do not align with the text in chapter 3). Other problems are more pervasive, such as the conflation of sex, gender, and sexuality, particularly when the topic of homosexuality is raised; sexual orientation is a matter of sexuality, not of gender. At times, O’Neill’s passion and determination to bring religious women together in dialogue leads her to overreach: “women are better able than men to bridge the wide abyss of misunderstanding that plagues our world” (7), or “women’s

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dialogue is better able to bridge the gap between religious factions because of its method and its content” (xiii). Even when prefaced by a note indicating that it is the author’s own opinion, such essentialist assertions and monolithic appraisals undercut the value of the work as a whole. At other times, O’Neill’s inclination to present individual women through their stories—and then to refer to them throughout the book—threatens to valorize these particular women as representatives of a certain position (conservative, centrist, or progressive) within a given religion. Women can speak from, but not for, a branch of a religious tradition. Nonetheless, the case for serious intra-religious dialogue among women is overdue and well made by O’Neill. Her conversational writing style is winning and her sympathetic overtures to all women of faith are sincere and persuasive. Without the participation of women spanning the spectra of religious traditions, interfaith dialogue efforts surely cannot move beyond being conclaves of the like-minded and already converted. Vivian Nyitray University of California, Riverside, California

Gandhi & Jesus: The Saving Power of Nonviolence.

By Terrence J. Rynne. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2008. 228 + ix pp. Paper. $20.00 ISBN 978-1-57075-766-2.

Few will contest the claim that Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was the greatest interpreter and practitioner of non-violence (ahimsa) in contemporary times. The sources of Gandhi’s understanding of ahimsa and its transformative implications are many. These include traditional Hindu and Jain teachings and notably the teaching and example of Jesus as articulated, particularly, in the Sermon on the Mount. For Gandhi, Jesus’ words in this famous text constitute the heart of Christianity. This teaching must not be regarded as idealistic, irrelevant to daily life or the preserve of renunciants (sannyasins). Generally speaking, as far as the Hindu tradition was concerned, the ethic of ahimsa was limited to the interpersonal sphere of relationships and the emphasis placed almost entirely on abstention from inflicting hurt on others; the more positive potential of the term was not prominent in traditional discussions.

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Gandhi’s genius was in embracing this fundamental teaching in both Hinduism and Christianity, infusing it with new meaning and demonstrating its practical possibilities in a mass-movement for resisting oppression and injustice and constructing a new community free from violence. In one of those remarkable examples of inter-religious encounters and fertilization, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a Christian minister, turned to the Mahatma to learn the methods of translating this teaching of Jesus into a method of non-violent resistance. Jesus in King’s understanding had furnished the rationale and spirit for ahimsa in struggling against injustice; Gandhi, however, developed and gifted him the method. King saw the unending potential present when Jesus’ teaching about love for the other is united with Gandhi’s method of non-violent resistance (satyagraha). For both Gandhi and King, non-cooperation with evil was a moral obligation as much as was cooperation with good. Rynne’s work on Gandhi and Jesus continues this inter-religious conversation on the subject of non-violence and is an excellent theological example of the mutual enrichment that is possible in such comparative inquiry. Rynne’s work begins with a discussion, helpful to the reader who is new to Gandhian thought, of the salient features of Gandhi’s biography and religio-political thought. This is an accessible and admirably selective exposition of central concepts such as satya (truth), agraha (firmness), ahimsa, and tapasysa (self-suffering). The emphasis is upon Gandhi’s appropriation and infusion of new meaning into traditional thought. With this foundation and clarification, the author treats four Christian theologians (C. F. Andrews, John Howard Yoder, Bernard Haaring, Walter Wink) who are exponents of non-violence and who, like King, came under Gandhi’s influence. All four understand Jesus’ mode of living as central to the meaning of the religious life and reject his death as the will of an angry and vengeful deity. Rynne concludes his study with a call for a new understanding of salvation that is centered on being “united with him [Jesus] in the work of lifting up those whom society has left behind and in carrying on the work of building the Kingdom” (186). Although Rynne’s work is primarily a call to Christians to rethink the meaning of salvation and to self-critically consider the prominence of violence in Christian history and the alternative of non-violence, its significance is much broader. It is an invitation to all religious

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traditions to look at the roots of violence in their own doctrines and structures and to replace these with the life-giving power of non-violence. Rynne’s study is a timely call that should be heard across all traditions world-wide.

Anantanand Rambachan St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota

Conflict and Reconciliation: The Contribution of Religions. Edited by John W. Bowker. New York, NY: The Key Publishing House. 354 pp. Paper. $34.99. ISBN 978-0-97804-319-3.

This book is the result of a project funded by Gresham College, London, which brought together experts in Buddhism, Confucianism, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and conflict resolution, to discuss the extent to which world religions may play a role in conflict resolution. The project was coordinated by John Bowker, who wrote the introduction and co-authored one of the articles. The other contributors were: Andrew Acland, Jeremy Brooks, Lavinia CohnSherbok, Gavin Flood, Mary Grey, Peter Harvey, Christopher Lamb, David Thomas and Xinzhong Yao. The volume makes important contributions to religious studies on a number of levels. It provides an introduction to some of the methods and terminology of conflict resolution. It also provides a great deal of historical background concerning world religions. Another useful feature of the book is the discussion of recent conflicts involving religion, such as those between militant Muslims and Hindu groups in India, Sinhalese Buddhists and Tamil Hindus in Sri Lanka, the opposition of Buddhists in Burma to the Marxist government that has been in power since 1962, Buddhist responses to the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, and Jewish and Muslim conflicts regarding Israel. Although the goal of the book is to assess the extent to which religions can provide resources to end conflicts, the impression that many readers are likely to be left with is that religion is at best an ambiguous resource for conflict resolution. Among the reasons that support such a conclusion is first that all world religions condone violence in certain circumstances. This is not only true of religions such as Christianity which has sanctioned religious crusades, and Islam with its doctrine of jihad, but of Hinduism and Buddhism as well. For example, the

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Bhagavad Gita which was appealed to by Gandhi to justify nonviolent protest is also cited by contemporary Hindu nationalist groups to justify violence against Muslims. And the Dalai Lama, despite his commitment to non-violence, has stated that he cannot bring himself to condemn the insurgents fighting on behalf of freeing Tibet from Chinese occupation (147). A second reason that prevents world religions from playing a more effective role in promoting peace and community is that appeal to these ideals has often been used by religious groups as a means of maintaining the status quo and oppression of minorities. For example, appeal to harmony in classical Confucianism was used to justify a patriarchal order in which women were subordinate to men. Similarly, appeals to community in Hinduism have been used to justify both patriarchy and the caste system. And, within Mahayana Buddhism, where it is taught that there is in actuality no such thing as selfhood and that discrimination is unjustified, men have nevertheless always been privileged over women. Appeal to reconciliation under such conditions is thus a means of promoting injustice rather than justice. Perhaps the day will come when there will be a female Pope, Dali Lama, or Imam, but the hope seems faint at present. Given the discrimination that occurs within religious organizations, Andrew Acland concludes in his article that “religions which preach reconciliation and peacemaking could ... begin by taking a greater responsibility for resolving the conflicts they inspire or in which their followers are involved” (46). Religions could also promote inter-religious dialogue as a means to peace to a far greater extent than at present. Mary Grey, arguing from a Catholic perspective, maintains that Christians are more seriously dedicated to bringing about peace than at any other time in history, and expresses hope that this will continue. But she then admits that “the fact that Pope John Paul II and his successor (as Cardinal Ratzinger) opposed Liberation Theology, and that Papal, or at least Vatican, Catholicism gives no serious indication of seeking peace and reconciliation with other Christians except on its own terms, may seem a contradiction” (276). She is nevertheless optimistic. Given the increasing number of individuals and organizations concerned with inter-religious dialogue, and the success of Dialogue and Alliance, now in its twenty-second year of publication, there is perhaps some reason for optimism in this regard.

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One omission in the book is that there is no discussion of the stance of world religions with respect to the concept of human rights. Many scholars maintain that this is a purely western idea that cannot be found in Asian religions. Other people reject this thesis and believe that until world religions embrace the concept of human rights and develop institutions dedicated to promoting them to a far greater extent than at present, there will be no world peace, a thesis with which I agree. Gene G. James University of Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee

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THE MUSLIM WORLD BOOK REVIEW The Comprehensive Guide to Literature on Islam and the Muslim world The Muslim World Book Review published quarterly since 1980 offers an indispensable and broad survey of academic writing on Islam and the Muslim world. It draws upon a wide range of multidisciplinary expertise and insight from writers and scholars from across the Muslim world and elsewhere to offer authoritative and mostly but not exclusively Muslim comment on current scholarship. The MWBR includes regular review articles on themes of current interest and topical book surveys. The MWBR is an indispensable resource for librarians, scholars, students and interested general readers who wish to keep themselves well informed about current scholarship about Islam and the Muslim world. Recent articles include:  The Thought of Seyyed Hossain Nasr between the Philosophies of East and West (Reza Shah-Kazemi)  Standing out for Justice even against Ourselves: Muslims and Terror in a Wider World (Yahya Birt)  In and Out of Copyright: Writing and Dialogue (Kenneth Cragg)  In Search of a Lost Legacy: The Politics of National Identity and Islam in Turkey (Mehmet Asutay)  Christianity, Islam, and the Religious Other: From Indifference to Understanding (Ibrahim Kalin) SUBSCRIPTION RATES (Four issues per annum) UK Overseas Individuals £23.00 £31.00 Institutions £38.00 £46.00 Single Copies £ 8.00 £11.00 All prices include postage. Cheques should be made payable to the Islamic Foundation and overseas payment should be made by bankers draft, or Visa, Delta, Euro and Mastercard. You may also place orders online at our website. THE ISLAMIC FOUNDATION; Ratby Lane, Markfield, Leicestershire LE67 9SY, UK Tel: (01530) 244 944, Fax: (01530) 244 946 Email: [email protected] Web site: www.islamic-foundation.org.uk

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Book Notices Beyond Compare: St. Francis De Sales and Sri Vedanta Desika on Loving Surrender to God.

By Francis X. Clooney. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2008. 271 + xiii pp. Paper. $34.95. ISBN 978-1589012110

Beyond Compare is written by Francis X. Clooney, SJ of Harvard Divinity School, a comparative theologian who has spent thirty years studying Hindu traditions. In this volume, Clooney takes classic texts from the two traditions—the Christian Treatise on the Love of God by St. Francis de Sales (1567-1623) and the Hindu Essence of the Three Auspicious Mysteries by Sri Vedanta Desika (1268-1369)—and examines each author’s understanding of the role of reason, scripture, theological presuppositions, imagination, and the ethics of “loving surrender” to God. The book is a valuable contribution to Christian spiritual theology, highlighting the beautiful insights into love by St. Francis de Sales. It also points out how, in our world of many religious paths, we can recover and deepen the ancient tradition of loving surrender into God’s hands by opening ourselves to one of Hindu India’s most famous traditions of loving God as expressed in the writings of Sri Vedanta Desika. Clooney’s deep engagement with these texts provides the reader with the opportunity to advance along the path of surrender to God, meditating on these two paths together, and so deepening our own love and willingness to surrender in love to God. A remarkable commentary on spiritual learning, this book provides a deeper insight into how we can most fruitfully and spiritually think about religious pluralism in the twenty-first century, being open in heart and mind and at the same time remaining loyal to one’s own tradition.

Dialogue & Alliance

Vol. 22, No. 1 • Spring/Summer 2008

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Hospitality and the Other: Pentecost, Christian Practices, and the Neighbor.

By Amos Yong. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2008. 169 + xvii pp. Paper. $25.00. ISBN 978-1570757723

An offering from the “Faith Meets Faith” series in inter-religious dialogue, Amos Yong’s Hospitality and the Other reveals how Jesus’ practice of hospitality is fundamental to Christian life and that it extends to those of all faiths. Yong is a Malaysian-born Chinese American theologian whose scholarly life is dedicated to deepening biblical theology and the promotion of ecumenical and interfaith understanding. In this text, Yong builds on biblical scholarship and insights into the practices of Jesus and the early church, showing that the “other” from a different faith tradition may be alien and a stranger but also a neighbor to whom hospitality should be extended and from whom it is to be received. For Christians, the belief in the unique mission of Jesus as savior has colored views of the “other,” often supplanting hospitality with the need for conversion. Yong’s revolutionary approach contends that the hospitality practiced by Jesus and the early church is what is needed in today’s pluralistic, multi-faith, multi-ethnic society. Such hospitality is empowered by the Spirit of God and provides a basis for interreligious dialogue among adherents of all faiths in the roles of guests and hosts, leading to the possibility of reconciliation and healing. A Palestinian Cry for Reconciliation.

By Naim Stifan Ateek. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2008. 224 + xvi pp. Paper. $24.00. ISBN 978-1570757846

Naim Stifan Ateek is a Palestinian Anglican priest, an Arab citizen of Israel, and the founder of Sabeel, an ecumenical theological center in Jerusalem that works for the liberation of Palestinians. This book continues Ateek’s efforts toward peace and justice in the Middle East that began in his 1989 publication, Justice and Only Justice. The vision Ateek presents is three-fold: the unity of all Palestinian Christians, dialogue between Christian and Muslim Palestinians, and justice and peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Ateek’s vocation and proximity to the situation bring both Biblical and social insights into his

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writings, making this text a valuable contribution to both religious studies and social issues. Following a Foreword by Desmond Tutu, the book begins by “Recapping History”—the history of the Sabeel center and the background that led to the current situation, including the lack of progress toward peace in the past twenty years. The second part addresses Palestinian Liberation Theology in the service of nonviolence and peace. Here Ateek offers discussion and critiques of key biblical passages that illuminate the struggle between Israelis and Palestinians, with particular reference to the Holy City of Jerusalem. He concludes this section with a call for the building of a New Jerusalem that is open to all, not just Israelis or Palestinians, but to all people of the world. In promoting this vision, Ateek reminds us that God is not limited to any place, no matter how holy; it is through transcending the material and physical that we meet God in love and service to fellow human beings. The third part further explores “The Peace We Dream Of.” Ateek identifies the major principles or building blocks upon which a just and lasting peace can and must be built. He calls for a process based on non-violence and justice to move from the pain of injustice and conflict to the way of healing, forgiveness, reconciliation, and peace. Religion and Human Fulfillment.

By Keith Ward. London: SCM Press, 2008. 187 + xviii pp. Paper. $24.99. ISBN 978-0334041634

Religion and Human Fulfilment by Keith Ward, one of the foremost commentators on Christian belief and doctrine in the context of modern science and the world faith traditions, is a short, accessible series of reflections on several ethical problems in the light of four of the world’s major faith traditions—Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism. The text is based on the John Albert Hall lectures given at the University of Victoria in Canada, and the Gresham College lectures given in London by Keith Ward in 2006. Ward contends that morality is an autonomous entity knowable to all human beings, and not intrinsically connected to any particular religious belief. He also assumes, controversially in contemporary times, that religions seek to be forces of good in the world, promoting human fulfilment. He then proceeds to trace the consequences of

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religious views on morality by considering specific moral problems such as violence, human genetic modification, sexuality, and ethical concerns around the beginning and ending of human life, as well as questions about secular and religious law. While Ward disagrees with much of contemporary atheistic thought that religion is irrational and leads people to behave in immoral and unethical ways, he accepts that religion needs to change. The change he suggests is one in which religion and morality work together to give hope to the world, resulting in more humane forms of religion and a more idealistic vision of human nature. The text is a positive contribution to contemporary debate on religion and morality. Mothers of Promise: Women in the Book of Genesis.

By Tammi J. Schneider. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008. 240 pp. Paper. $21.99. ISBN 978-0801029493

The women in Genesis, such as Eve, Noah’s wife, Sarah, Tamar, and others, played a vital role in shaping Israel’s foundation, growth, and development. To fully understand their impact in the formation of the nation and faith of Israel, a closer study than has generally been offered is required. In this book, respected Hebrew scholar and archaeologist Tammi Schneider provides a careful reading of the stories of all these “Women of Promise” whose lives formed a significant part of the foundation of Israel. Her creative approach challenges traditional ways of viewing these women and offers a different perspective on familiar stories. Schneider looks at each woman’s story from various angles and within the context of her relationships and the message of Genesis as a whole. Along with the matriarchs of Israel, such as Sarah, Rebekah, and Rachel, she includes other mothers such as Hagar and Asenath who were Egyptian, as well as women who bear no children yet have great impact on the story of Israel, such as Mrs. Potiphar. Her inclusion of ancient Near Eastern background material and archaeological insights makes for a fresh reading of the accounts of the lives of all these important women. The result is a creative and reliable discussion that is a valuable supplement to studies of Genesis and the roles and importance of women in the Bible. It is a solid resource for studies of Genesis, women in the Bible, and women’s issues.

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Contributors Dr. Frank Kaufmann is Editor-in-Chief of the New World

Encyclopedia, Editor-in-Chief for Dialogue and Alliance, and the Executive Director of the Inter-Religious Federation for World Peace.

Raj Kumar is a freelance writer from the engineering sector. S. L. Gandhi is President and International Secretary of the General Assembly of Anuvrat Vishva Bharati (ANUVIBHA).

Enoch Olújídé Gbádégesin is Lecturer in the Department of

Religious Studies, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Òsun-State, Nigeria.

Allen S. Maller has been the Rabbi at Temple Akiba of Culver City

since 1967. He is editor of a series of High Holy Day prayer books and author of a book on Jewish Mysticism, God, Sex, and Kabbalah.

M. O. Adeniyi is Senior Lecturer of the Department of Religious Studies, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Nigeria.

Darrol Bryant is Professor of Religion and Culture and Acting Dean at Renison College, Canada. Hector Rosario teaches mathematics and mathematics education at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus.

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World Scripture A Comparative Anthology of Sacred Texts is an extraordinary journey through the sacred writings of the world’s great religions. Organized by subject, the quotations, passages, and excerpts presented here provide readers with easy access to teachings on several hundred subjects. This unusual anthology provides a new, holistic approach to understanding religion—stressing what unites rather than what divides.

“World Scripture is most needed, and very beautiful.” —Rabbi Joseph Gelberman, President,

The New Seminary

“A gigantic contribution towards better international understanding and interreligious cooperation.” —Wahiduddin Khan, President, The Islamic Center

Only $22.95 Edited by Andrew Wilson ISBN: 1-55778-723-9, Paper, 882 pages Also available in cloth ($39.95)

“...a step on the way to something new: a scripture for a truly global culture, a resource for a theology fit for an increasingly interdependent world.” —John Kelsay, Florida State University

Among the religious texts represented are Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism, Confucianism, Zoroastrianism, and many of their offshoots. Also featured are the oral traditions of various religions of Africa, Native America, Asia, and Oceania along with their recorded prayers and proverbs.

Available at Paragon House www.paragonhouse.com 800-447-3709

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New Perspectives on the Pressing Issues of World Peace No issue is on the human mind more than the search for peace. There are numerous factors like globalization, national interest, ethnic identity, hunger, the environment, ideology, human nature, and the economy, all of which have an impact on world peace. International Journal on World Peace is concerned with all of these. A scholarly publication, International Journal on World Peace cuts across all disciplines, all cultures, all politics, and all philosophies. Each issue contains diverse articles from authors around the world. International Journal on World Peace is an established journal, published quarterly since 1984. It contains reviews of recent books related to world peace, and is indexed each year. It is abstracted, indexed, or made available on CD-ROM by several agencies. It is a welcome addition to any library.

“International Journal on World Peace is recommended as a core journal of the social sciences.”—Choice Magazine Subscriptions are $30.00 for institutions and $20.00 for individuals. Send your subscription order to: International Journal on World Peace 1925 Oakcrest Avenue, Suite 7 St. Paul, MN 55113 USA Phone: (651) 644-2809 • Fax: (800) 494-0997 Internet: http://www.pwpa.org

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Jewish-Christian Dialogue: Drawing Honey from the Rock Alan L. Berger and David Patterson

Only $19.95 Available September 15, 2008 ISBN 978-1-55778-856-6 | Paperback | 322 Pages | 6" x 9"

The future of Jewish-Christian dialogue will be determined by the difficult and ignored questions raised in this powerful and promising book. Jewish-Christian Dialogue: Drawing Honey from the Rock attempts to clear up the misunderstandings and misconceptions between Jews and Christians while pursuing the historical and theological issues that separate them. Like no other book on the market, Jewish-Christian Dialogue does this in a way that is both theoretical and applied. “In this lucid and cutting-edge study, Jewish and Christian scholars have reflected on their faith traditions and have pursued the historical as well as theological issues that have separated their respective communities for nearly two millennia. Twin premises guide this scholarly exposition: Christians and Jews should not fear the differences that separate them; dialogue requires distinctive perspectives. Berger’s and Patterson’s work is timely and establishes a network of challenges for furthering dialogical experiences.” —Donald Dietrich, Department of Theology, Boston College

Available at Paragon House www.paragonhouse.com 800-447-3709 D&A 22-1.indd 122

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