[Date]

Religious Contribution for peace building

SM.Sajir

Faculty of management and commerce

South eastern university of Srilanka

Introduction

This introduction provides an overview of “How religion can contribute to enhance the

social harmony and the peace among the multi ethnic community?”

This title divide into three sections,

The first section addresses the origins and meanings of the terms 'religion', 'social

harmony’ and ‘peace’. It also explain about various religion and world population in each

community.

The second section explain about World’s Most Prevalent Religious Teachings about

peace.

The third section addresses Religious beliefs as intangible components supporting

peacebuilding processes.

Section 01.

Religion A specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreedupon by a number of per

sons or sects.

World’s Most Prevalent Religious population

Christianity 2.1 billion

Islam 1.6 billion

Hinduism 1.1 billion

Buddhism 376 million

Social harmony Social harmony is an ideal state in which the values of a group align with the collective

output of the group's thoughts, actions and beliefs. Social harmony is generally associated

with utopia, a society in which there is no violence or aggressive competition.

Peace Building Peace a state of mutual harmony between people or groups, especially in personal relations.

Peacebuilding is an intervention that is designed to prevent the start or resumption of violent

conflict by creating a sustainable peace. Peacebuilding activities address the root causes or

potential causes of violence, create a societal expectation for peaceful conflict resolution and

stabilize society politically and socioeconomically.

Section 02.

World’s Most Prevalent Religious Teachings about Peace

Christianity

According to Christianity, reconciliation is an act of God and was initiated by Him through the

death of Jesus Christ. God is reconciling the world to Himself. All Christians are children of

God. God has written the law in their hearts and they are commanded to love God and their

fellow humans. Where disputes arise, the offended is commanded to take initiatives to reach

out to the offender and sort out the differences.26 If no agreement is reached, the next step

is to involve a third party, and if this does not work, seek support from the whole community.

Christians are not to keep anger for the entire day; instead, they should seek reconciliation.

The offended party is therefore commanded to forgive an indefinite number of times.

Christians should love God and their neighbour as God loved them by saving them through

Jesus Christ.

Islam

Islam connotes the attainment of peace through submission to Allah or through conformity of

his Will. Perhaps one of the most important observations to make is that God or Allah in

Islam is often referred to as Merciful. He is also compassionate. The Quran teaches order,

orderliness, morality and human betterment. This can be achieved through the guidance of

God the Most Merciful and Compassionate who has the power to lead men into the straight

path. The power for people to reconcile comes from God and can thus be achieved. Muslims

should keep and promote peace and justice with all, including enemy, keep the greeting

peace be unto you, and exercise tolerance.

Hinduism

Hinduism followers constantly reflect inward and make a commitment to achieve subjugation

of desire, renunciation of petty desires and personal motives, upholding of practical interests,

tranquillity, self-control, patience, peace of mind, and movement towards liberation from the

concerns of this world. Hinduism teaches its followers to practice truth seeking, and upholds

moral purification as a constant practice in renewing ones conduct and behaviour.

Reconciliation starts with individuals who analyse themselves, reach out to others, and then

build a community or society in which they can live harmoniously.

Buddhism

Buddhism exhorts followers to seek enlightenment. Enlightenment is found through

exercising right view, right aspiration, right speech, right conduct, right endeavour, right

sound-fullness, and right contemplation. This calls upon a person’s decisions to emanate

from informed judgment and deep reflection. Extremism is discouraged in Buddhism;

instead, Buddhists strive to find the middle way in conflict resolution. As part of moral living,

Buddhists are prohibited from taking life, from what is not given, from misconduct, from false

speech and from intoxicants that lead to clouding the mind. They are exhorted to maintain

good relations, behaviour and conduct within the community.

Judaism

Judaism emphasises a covenant relationship between God and His Chosen people.

Pertaining to relations between people, Judaism emphasises justice, love, kindness and a

humble walk with your God. Living harmoniously with God requires harmonious relations

with fellow humans. Furthermore, every member of the faith should be responsible for the

moral conduct of those neighbours one is able to influence. The words of Hillel summarise

the profound teaching about relationships between man and man: What is hateful unto you

do not do unto your neighbour. The rest is commentary, now go and study. Reconciliation

can be taken to mean: taking responsibility for harmonious living with God and neighbours.

Section 03.

Religious Beliefs as Intangible Components Supporting Peacebuilding

Processes

Peace in the main religious teachings

Religion is a powerful constituent of cultural norms and values. Because it addresses the

most profound existential issues of human life (e.g., freedom and inevitability, fear and faith,

security and insecurity, right and wrong, and sacred and profane), religion is deeply

implicated in individual and social conceptions of peace. Religion has also developed "laws

and ideas that have provided civilization with cultural commitments to critical peace-related

values, including empathy, an openness to and even love for strangers, the suppression of

unbridled ego and acquisitiveness, human rights, unilateral gestures of forgiveness and

humility, interpersonal repentance and the acceptance of responsibility for past errors as a

means of reconciliation, and the drive for social justice.

The teachings and practices of major world religions reveal spiritual and moral formulations

that support peace, social justice, reconciliation, and harmony within and between humanity

and divinity. Theologically, for instance, all three of the Abrahamic faiths set store in mercy

and forgiveness, qualities that are indispensable in seeking resolution to long-standing and

deeply entrenched conflicts. For all their differences, there is much that people of faith have

in common, not the least of which, of course, is spirituality itself. Therefore, one can argue

that "the recognition of a shared concern to develop 'honest, loving, and holistic relationships

with God and neighbour' can form the basis for the rebuilding of constructive relationships

destroyed by violence. On this basis, religious actors and faith-based NGOs advocate

nonviolence and train others in the methodologies of nonviolence or promote reconciliation

because of their religiously based pacifist conviction.

These philosophical and theological bases can best be captured if one is acquainted

with the scriptures and teachings of the major world religions. Theologians and

scholars from different religions have elaborated the understanding of peace

according to their religion and identified values and principles that constitute a

peacebuilding framework that may guide scholars and practitioners who are

interested in promoting such concepts in a contextualized manner, taking into

account local communities’ frames of reference. Indeed, some analysts have

stressed the fact that relying on these values may be more appealing to local

communities than supposedly universal sets of guidelines that may seem at odds

with their own vocabularies…

Section 04.

Conclusion

Religion is the way of people life, mostly human being activities based on their religion, and

religion is the main part of their life, religious activities can be various but mostly all religion

based on the peace. Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and all other religion teach

peace. Those religious main part is peace. We can definitely enhance peace and social

harmony through following religion, if one person follow a religious thoughts he will be a

peace full person in the world.

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_religious_populations

http://www.peacebuildinginitiative.org/index9aa2.html?pageId=1827#religious-beliefs-as-

intangible-components-supporting-peacebuilding-processes

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/harmony

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/religion