Media Developmentvol LVII 3/2010
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Media Development VOL LVII 3/2010 2 A Latin American pilgrimage towards 39 Persistence, a loud speaker and a thesaurus ecumenism Kristine Greenaway Dennis A. Smith 41 Edinburgh 2010 seeks renewal 7 Communication is the call to share Olav Fykse Tveit 43 El derecho a la verdad: De la memoria a la acción 10 Promoting peace and social justice Roberto Burgos through commonality Robert S. Fortner 46 La Dolce Vita ha cumplido 50 años Carlos A. Valle 14 The dialogue decalogue Leonard Swidler 48 Ingmar Bergman’s legacy on Farö Ylva Liljeholm 17 Tiempos para recrear la comunicación profética 51 Film in anti-trafficking and anti-slavery Rolando Pérez campaigns William Brown 22 Comunicar para la construcción de una “otra” oikoumene 54 ICTs past: The telegraph in India Violeta Rocha Sujatha Sosale 26 Chancen und Herausforderungen der 59 Peace journalism training in East Africa Ökumene Levi Obonyo Friedrich Weber 64 IN THE EVENT... 30 Ecumenism - a movement for all seasons John Bluck 68 ON THE SCREEN... 33 The world changed in our generation Ingmar Lindqvist The cartoons on pages 5, 11 and 31 are by Canadian artist and minister Bob Haverluck 36 Unity, diversity, and love in the Middle East and were especially commissioned for Media Development. Riad Jarjour Media Development 3/2010 1 relation, not in opposition, the need to affirm the dignity EDITORIAL to the other. and integrity of people every- • Credible dialogue does not where. In 2005 the World Council of question the claims of other Communication creates com- Churches organized a confer- religions, nor does it seek munity. Genuine communication ence called ‘Critical Moment compromise. It enhances the can strengthen a sense of be- in Interreligious Relations and common search for truth longing and rekindle community Dialogue’. It encouraged reflec- through awareness-building spirit, because the model for tion on the meaning of dialogue and education.1 such communication is partici- and promoted critical thinking Such precepts echo calls patory and inclusive, rather than about future directions. within the communication rights one-way and exclusive. For to- At the conference, Catholicos movement for interactive and day’s pluralistic and multicultur- Aram I identified the essen- participatory processes that re- al societies to coexist peacefully, tial characteristics of what he generate and revitalize the basic a genuine community of peoples described as ‘credible dialogue’. meaning of ‘to communicate’, and nations, including their dif- In order to help religions take a understood as sharing informa- ferent faith-based traditions and coherent and holistic approach tion and knowledge, genuine religions, will have to emerge. to crucial issues in the life of conversation, and creating com- Communication is prophetic. societies, he proposed: munity in solidarity. Prophetic communication • That the integrity and dis- In 1986 the World Associa- expresses itself in both words tinctiveness of each religion tion for Christian Communi- and deeds. It involves critically can be affirmed and respect- cation (WACC) elaborated its reading today’s communica- ed by deepening knowledge Christian Principles of Commu- tions scene, promoting equitable of each other through inter- nication. They evolved out of an access to new information and religious dialogue. increasing realization that, while communication technologies, • That interreligious dialogue communication is the oxygen sharing information and knowl- should be guided by a broad of human interaction, the way edge, and challenging limitations vision of cooperation, while people communicate – their on freedom of expression and clearly spelling out existing reasons for communicating – the right to communicate – even differences. should be subject to an ethic of if the subject is religion itself. • If dialogue is to be credible, reciprocity. It is difficult to conceive of its risks and limitations must In communication terms, the a genuine ecumenism that does be recognized. Principles anticipated the 1993 not affirm the dignity and worth • If the aim is a convergence Declaration of the Parliament of of human beings everywhere. In of opinion based on an the World’s Religions ‘Towards this sense, communication for exchange of perspectives and a Global Ethic’, which called for ecumenism must be a dynamic experiences, the agenda for a commitment to a culture of co-pilgrimage towards living in dialogue should take into non-violence and respect for life; real community and towards account the circumstances in a culture of solidarity and a just justice and freedom for all. which it takes place. economic order; a culture of tol- Its effectiveness will depend • In dialogue people should erance and a life of truthfulness; on its ability to deepen under- not only talk to each other, and a culture of equal rights and standing, to take risks, to listen, they should listen to each partnership between women and and to celebrate difference. n other in a spirit of sharing a men. common humanity. There are five Christian Note • Credible dialogue shapes Principles of Communication, 1. In Changing the Present, Dreaming and reshapes people’s at- the Future. A Critical Moment in In- but two seem to have particular terreligious Dialogue, edited by Hans titudes towards the other relevance when it comes to com- Ucko. Geneva: World Council of and enriches their identity in munication for ecumenism and Churches, 2006, pp. 11-12. 2 Media Development 3/2010 and injustice. With time I learned that difference need not be A Latin met with fear. I learned that God is bigger than I had been taught. Perhaps the Creator was not subject to my rules, nor to the dogma so carefully articulated American by my church. As I grew up I began to understand that I understood very little; I learned to make room pilgrimage for nuance, ambiguity and contradiction. Guatemala: discovering an ancient silence I first arrived in Guatemala as a volunteer in 1974. towards I spent the year traveling throughout the country: observing, listening, learning. I was embraced by a warm, wise and generous people who, at the same ecumenism time, observed this young gringo from a distance, marked by an ancient silence. Dennis A. Smith I returned to Guatemala in 1977 as a mission worker for the Presbyterian Church (USA) and soon Personal reflections on ecumenism and discovered that my academic training had not pro- WACC’s Christian Principles of Communi- vided me with the analytical framework I needed to come to grips with the economic and political ex- cation by its President. clusion experienced by most Guatemalans. Patient grew up in a middle-class Evangelical home where Guatemalan mentors and a few veteran missionar- I I learned to take religious belief and practice very ies introduced me to Latin American literature, his- seriously. This rather hermetic world was not very tory and culture. comfortable with difference. We viewed people from In my youth, I had embraced a technological other traditions with suspicion and, sometimes, fear. optimism that saw God working in a special way For example, after John Kennedy was elected Presi- through the electronic media. What better way to dent of the United States in November of 1960, I evangelize the world than through television and remember sensing an undercurrent of tension at our radio? Gradually, I learned that such powerful me- church: Had the US become subject to Rome? How dia were hampered by a built-in defect: they only could God have allowed such a thing to happen? permitted monologue. Using these media to initiate Nor were we comfortable with Pentecostals. The nuanced conversations, to build real relationships, exuberance of Pentecostal worship – exotic prac- was contrary to the technology itself. tices like speaking in tongues and divine healing Furthermore, such media, in the context of rap- – generated suspicion. We were taught that such idly growing global entertainment and information manifestations were only appropriate for the primi- empires, tended to create an imbalance of power: tive church; we suspected that such spiritual self- producers and broadcasters – even religious ones – indulgence was a sign of immaturity. had a monopoly on words and images and used this Yet this apparently closed faith community of- power to promote their own agendas; the audience fered me many opportunities to broaden my world, was cast in a passive role. to find myself face to face with ‘the other’. One In the 1970s I found colleagues with similar summer our youth group offered Bible classes to concerns who came to question the efficacy of the poor children in the logging camps of Northern electronic media as evangelistic tools. Perhaps the California. That summer we also visited jails and electronic media were best used to promote moral talked to prisoners. Another summer I lived on Na- principles, we suspected. Perhaps professionally de- vajo lands, working with a church mission. Such signed micro-programs could speak to the spiritual experiences led me to ask myself questions about angst of the age, offering consolation and challenge history and about social systems rooted in violence in the person of Jesus. Perhaps the media could be Media Development 3/2010 3 used to teach and encourage those who were al- novelas – over-the-top soap operas that ooze with ready believers. stereotypes of gender and class. But communica- In the late 1970s I had my first contact with the tion researchers like Rosa María Alfaro and Jesús Latin America region of the World Association for Martín Barbero have documented how poor folks Christian Communication (WACC). WACC Lat- in Latin America can resignify what they watch; the in America colleagues challenged me to consider disenfranchised use TV to give them a language for new notions of what communication is and how it describing what seems to be out of control in their works. They helped me to see communication as a lives – especially their relationships and their role process rooted in human culture, not technology.