Forgiveness & Reconciliation
Forgiveness & Reconciliation
Public Policy & Conflict Transformation
This book brings together a unique combination of experts in conflict resolution and focuses on the role forgiveness can play in the process. It deals with theology, public policy, psychological and social theory, and social policy implementation of forgiveness. This book is essential for libraries, scholars, conflict negotiators, and all people who hope to understand the role of forgiveness in the peace process.
The book's first section explores how ideas like "forgiveness" and "reconciliation" are moving out from the seminary and academy into the world of public policy and how these terms have been used and defined in the past. The second section looks at forgiveness and public policy. One of the chapters, by Donald W. Shriver Jr., addresses forgiveness in a secular political forum.
The third section of the book draws us to a more thorough analysis of the relationship between forgiveness and reconciliation from voices in the academic and theological community, and the final section highlights the work of practitioners currently working with religion, public policy, and conflict transformation, particularly in areas such as Ireland and Africa.
Contributors include Desmond M. Tutu, Rodney L. Petersen, Miroslav Volf, Stanley S. Harakas, Raymond G. Helmick, SJ, Joseph V. Montville, Douglas M. Johnston, Donna Hicks, Donald W. Shriver, Jr., Everett L. Worthington, Jr., John Paul Lederach, Ervin Staub, Laurie Anne Pearlman, John Dawson, Audrey R. Chapman, Olga Botcharova, Anthony da Silva, SJ, Geraldine Smythe, OP, Andrea Bartoli, Ofelia Ortega, and George F. R. Ellis.
Raymond G. Helmick, SJ, taught conflict resolution in the Department of Theology at Boston College. He has mediated in a number of conflicts in Northern Ireland, various Middle Eastern conflicts, and the Balkan countries, among many others. He is on the executive board of the U.S. Interreligious Committee for Peace in the Middle East and served as senior associate of the Center for Strategic and International Studies from 2000–2004. He is the author of numerous monographs and articles.
Rodney L. Petersen is an American scholar in the area of history, ethics, and religious conflict. He is the author or editor of numerous articles and books, including Consumption, Population, and Sustainability and Earth at Risk.
Archbishop Desmond M. Tutu
Acknowledgments / xv
Introduction / xvii
Raymond G. Helmick, S.J., & Rodney L. Petersen
Part I. The Theology of Forgiveness
1. A Theology of Forgiveness: Terminology, Rhetoric, and the Dialectic of Interfaith Relationships / 3
Rodney L. Petersen
2. Forgiveness, Reconciliation, and Justice: A Christian Contribution to a More Peaceful Social Environment / 27
Miroslav Volf
3. Forgiveness and Reconciliation: An Orthodox Perspective / 51
Stanley S. Harakas
Part II. Forgiveness and Public Policy
4. Does Religion Fuel or Heal in Conflicts? / 81
Raymond G. Helmick, S.J.
5. Religion and Peacemaking / 97
Joseph V. Montville
6. Religion and Foreign Policy / 117
Douglas M. Johnston Jr.
7. The Role of Identity Reconstruction in Promoting Reconciliation / 129
Donna Hicks
8. Forgiveness: A Bridge Across Abysses of Revenge / 151
Donald W. Shriver Jr.
Part III. Forgiveness and Reconciliation
9. Unforgiveness, Forgiveness, and Reconciliation and Their Implications for Societal Interventions / 171
Everett L. Worthington Jr.
10. Five Qualities of Practice in Support of Reconciliation Processes / 193
John Paul Lederach
11. Healing, Reconciliation, and Forgiving after Genocide and Other Collective Violence / 205
Ervin Staub and Laurie Anne Pearlman
12. Hatred’s End: A Christian Proposal to Peacemaking in a New Century / 229
John Dawson
Part IV. Seeking Forgiveness after Tragedy
13. Truth Commissions as Instruments of Forgiveness and Reconciliation / 257
Audrey R. Chapman
14. Implementation of Track Two Diplomacy: Developing a Model of Forgiveness / 279
Olga Botcharova
15. Through Nonviolence to Truth: Gandhi’s Vision of Reconciliation / 305
Anthony da Silva, S.J.
16. Brokenness, Forgiveness, Healing, and Peace in Ireland / 329
Geraldine Smyth, O.P.
17. Forgiveness and Reconciliation in the Mozambique Peace Process / 361
Andrea Bartoli
18. Conversion as a Way of Life in Cultures of Violence / 383
Ofelia Ortega
Afterword: Exploring the Unique Role of Forgiveness / 395
George F. R. Ellis
Appendix / 411
List of Contributors / 433
Index / 441
