Conference Agenda

CARNEGIE COUNCIL ON ETHICS AND INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS and UEHIRO FOUNDATION ON ETHICS AND EDUCATION co-sponsors

Merrill House New York, New York

October 24-25, 2002

9:00 AM – 9:30 AM: Continental Breakfast 9:30 AM – 10:00 AM: Introductions Dr. Joel Rosenthal, President, Carnegie Council Mr. Tetsuji Uehiro, Vice Chairman, Uehiro Foundation 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM: A Japanese Buddhist Movement and Its Professor Susumu Shimazono, Tokyo University Dr. Carl Becker, Kyoto University 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM: Lunch 1:30 PM – 3:30 PM: Jewish Perspectives on Pacifism Philip Bentley, Jewish Fellowship Rabbi Arthur Waskow, The Shalom Center 3:30 PM – 5:30 PM: Free 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM: Merrill House Discussion: Peter L. Berger, co- editor (with Samuel Huntington),

7:00 PM: Dinner

8:00 AM – 8:30 AM: Continental Breakfast 8:30 AM – 10:30 AM: , Pacifism and Just War Professor George Lopez, University of Notre Dame Dr. David Rodin, Oxford University 10:30 AM – 11:00 AM: Coffee 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM: Islamic Perspectives on Pacifism Dr. Muhammed Abu-Nimer, American University Dr. Azza Karam, World Conference on Religion and Peace Dr. Sohail Hashmi, Mt. Holyhoke College 1:00 PM – 1:15 PM: Concluding Remarks Mr. Noboru Maruyama, Secretary General, Uehiro Foundation Dr. Joel Rosenthal, President, Carnegie Council Participant List

Education The School of International Service American University

Department of Integrated Human Sciences Kyoto University

Department of English Fairleigh Dickinson University

Center for International Conflict Resolution Columbia University

Director Jewish Public Forum at CLAL

International Relations Program Mount Holyoke College

Director, Women’s Program World Conference on Religions for Peace

Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs

Joan Kroc Institute University of Notre Dame

Secretary General Uehiro Foundation on Ethics and War forces citizens and their leaders to on Religious Traditions of Peace in Times of make difficult choices. George W. Bush and War. Rather than focus on religious justifica- his advisors chose to use military force in tions for war, the Council, with the support of response to the attacks of September 11, 2001. the Uehiro Foundation for Ethics and Initial reactions to the use of force in Education, decided to focus on how religious Afghanistan were largely supportive, although traditions have contributed to cooperation and some voices urged caution. peaceful coexistence. Participants were asked The choice to take the “war on terror- to consider how different religious traditions ism” to Iraq was more controversial. Protests have given adherents the ability to respond to in the United States and around the world sug- situations of conflict with . gested that the administration’s policies may The participants not only looked to not have had the support of a “silent majority.” ancient texts and practices, they reflected upon The use of force outside of the UN context, the the contributions that various religious leaders bellicose rhetoric that surrounded the war, and have made to the current debate over the the demonization of the Iraqi leadership sources of seemingly endless global conflict. appeared excessive to many in the United Rather than despair over a “clash of civiliza- States and abroad. tions,” participants sought to uncover overlap- Along with debates about the use of ping principles of peaceful activism that might force, another set of debates arose surrounding help transform situations of violence into ones the proper role of religion in international of coexistence. affairs. Religious ideas and rhetoric formed the This report provides a glimpse into two basis of these debates, ranging from contested days of searching dialogue and debate about interpretations of just war and jihad to the religion, war, and peace. Its conclusions are moral imperatives of pacifism and nonvio- tentative, but important; for they suggest that lence. even as violence surrounds us, we can see in These two issues—the use of force and religious traditions of peace some stirring the role of religion in international affairs— signs of hope. prompted the Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs to organize a workshop —Joel H. Rosenthal President Conference Report: Religious Traditions of Peace in

can be a source of creative responses to con- The past fifteen years have been a flict? Could religious traditions lead us away time of global cultural and political upheaval. from a “clash of civilizations” and toward The rise of political Islam, the disintegration more peaceful alternatives? of the Soviet Union, the ongoing conflict in Within every religious tradition, the the Middle East, and the rapid pace of global- concept of peace plays a central role. The ization have led many political observers to concept is often grounded in deeply held see a world in continuous conflict for years to metaphysical beliefs about the human being, the divine, and the relationship between the two. On October 24 and 25, 2002, the Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs and the Uehiro Foundation on Ethics and Education cosponsored a workshop to explore that relationship, and to uncover the resources within different religious traditions for formulating peaceful responses to an increasingly violent world. Participants spoke of traditions of peace as found in Buddhism, , Christianity, and Islam. come. Some have argued that the revival in religious belief and activism is further exacer- bating this confusion. Whereas in the 20th Throughout the conference, a number century politics and culture were governed of participants raised questions about the def- primarily by secular ideologies and beliefs, initions of some of the key terms under con- religious fundamentalism may well be the s i d e r a t i o n — n o t a b l y, “pacifism,” “religion,” driving force of the 21st century. and “violence.” While these terms cannot be Religions structure our moral frame- defined with precision, participants did come works in both personal and public life. While to some tentative conclusions about how best religions are not the only source of moral to understand them. norms and principles, they do provide stan- The word “pacifism” derives from the dards against which human behavior can be Latin pax, for peace, and facere, to make, judged. Especially in times of great turmoil which suggests that the term could also be and confusion, religious traditions can anchor believers in moral clarity—offering meaning Pacifism is an active, creative and purpose in the midst of chaos. It is not position, designed to develop surprising, then, that many individuals have solutions in the face of conflict. turned to religion at a time when the interna- tional system appears unmoored and ill understood as “peacemaking.”1 This belies equipped to deal with this turmoil. And while the common conception that pacifism is a many commentators have seen the turn to passive policy, one that counsels inaction in religion as a source of further conflict, might the face of conflict or war. In fact, participants it also be possible that the world’s religions in the workshop agreed, pacifism is an active, creative position, one designed to develop

8 Conference Report: Religious Traditions of Peace in forces. During the and into the points of discussion, it should be stressed that modern period these debates continued, with not all participants felt comfortable with the the “historic ” taking up the definitions offered for these terms. Some par- debate about the relationship between church ticipants asked for greater clarity, but it was and state. By tracing this evolution of agreed that only through an ongoing dialogue Christian notions of church and state and how about their meanings could new insights arise. they lead to conceptions of war and peace, Lopez demonstrated how a praxis-oriented understanding of a religious tradition can lead to new insights. As Rabbi Arnold Resnicoff, former A third important concept revolves Chief Chaplain to the U.S. Military’s around the terms “violence” and “war. ” European Command, pointed out during the Professor Carl Becker, who presented on workshop, almost every religious tradition is grounded upon an ideal of peace. The Garden of Eden, Islamic notions of paradise, Hindu conceptions of nirvana—these concepts pro- vide an ideal toward which believers can ori- ent themselves. But such mythical accounts of para- dise are only a beginning. Religions, in both their scriptures and their praxis, have devel- oped ideas about how to respond to situations of war and violence. The workshop sought to place into historical and political context the development of pacifist ideals in each of the Buddhist conceptions of peace in the w o r l d ’s four great religions: Buddhism, Japanese context, suggested that violence Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. should be seen in a much larger context than simply war. One need only look out the win- dow to see vast disparities in wealth, lack of The first session of the conference housing and healthcare, and general insecuri- focused on Buddhism and pacifism in the ty to demonstrate that something approaching Japanese context. Professor Carl Becker of a state of violence exists in New York City, he Kyoto University asked, “How could Japan claimed. Pacifism can be viewed as a specific maintain one of the highest population densi- response to a war or as an ongoing practice ties in the world while at the same time keep- that seeks to provide just and nonviolent ing internal and external conflict to a mini- options for communities struggling to distrib- mum?” Becker’s answer was to provide an ute scarce resources. Violence encompasses overview of Japanese history since the not just specific actions but also long-term Tokugawa shoguns united Japan in 1603, structural issues. focusing on how economic and social policies These three terms—pacifism, reli- combined with Buddhist religious and cultur- gion, and violence—formed the core of the al norms to prevent competition for scarce workshop. While this report lists the main resources. The political authorities who gov-

10 Conference Report: Religious Traditions of Peace in world.” But this focus on the individual’s per- which seek to protect a nation from outside sonal attitude is not the end point; rather, threats, this version promotes a view of Japan members are encouraged to translate personal and other Asian civilizations as sources of change into advocacy for and peace that the international community harmony. should emulate. Professor Shimazono explored how Rissho Kosei-Kai, in other words, one of Rissho Kosei-Kai’s founders, Niwano provides an example of a religious movement Nikkyo, developed this focus on the individ- grounded in individual personal reform that ual into the larg e r New forms of activism, seeking moves progressively context of peace outward from the advocacy. Like many a tikkun olan, or “repair of nation to the interna- in post-WWII Japan, the world,” may look to Jewish tional community. This Niwano thought care- traditions when creating new conception of pacifism fully about the role of means of resistance to unjust as an active and cre- the military and war. power and violence. ative force in bringing He concluded that peace to the world gave while Japan did have the right to a self- the workshop participants an important per- defense force, it needed to pursue a policy of spective on how Buddhism can contribute to “non-armament” that gave concrete meaning a globally active . to the ideal of nonviolence. This would enable Japan and other nations to pursue a policy of eradicating poverty. The Biblical sources of Judaism Niwano also played an active role in include historical examples of divinely the creation of the World Conference on inspired warfare and admonitions to use vio- Religion and Peace (WCRP), an international lence to defend the community. Moreover, the o rganization comprising different religious experiences of the Holocaust and the history representatives that promotes peaceful resolu- of modern day Israel have made pacifism a tions of conflicts.3 As one of six founding minority viewpoint in Jewish intellectual members, Niwano believed that an interfaith thought. organization would be able to advocate for Despite these textual and practical peace by linking to the activities of the United views to the contrary, there does exist a paci- Nations and other global advocacy groups. fist strain of thought and action in Judaism. In addition, Niwano believed that not Rabbi Philip Bentley, former president of the only should Rissho Kosei-Kai advocate for , mentioned a num- peace, but that Japan as a nation should be a ber of Biblical and Rabbinic sources that force for peace in global organizations. This demonstrate the importance of peace within reflects the “civilizational” approach to peace the Jewish tradition. In his paper, Bentley that Niwano and others advocate. A s developed these resources further, exploring explained by Shimazono, it arises from the how the Jewish tradition could respond in nationalist focus on Nicherin Buddhism, times of war. He suggested that the attacks of which some have considered a Japanese September 11, 2001, could be interpreted in nationalist understanding of Buddhist teach- the tradition as a hurban, or catastrophe, a ings. Unlike other forms of nationalism, phrase used to refer to the destruction of the

12 Conference Report: Religious Traditions of Peace in presentations demonstrated that it is also pos- Christian approaches to war and peace with a sible to derive alternative forms of political critical analysis of the just war tradition. action from the Jewish tradition. Combining Rodin led the workshop through a review of textual and praxis-based understandings of just war principles, concluding that the tradi- this rich religious tradition upholds a form of tion provides a “tragic” response to situations pacifism that contributes to tikkun olan. of conflict and violence. Rather than embrace a deontological position of certainty in the law or a purely consequentialist position of In the American context, pacifism has concern with the ends of action, the just war traditionally been associated with Christian tradition seeks to find a middle ground denominations, particularly with , between the two. It provides a series of prin- Anabaptists, and —the traditional ciples that can be used to assess the use of “peace churches.” Beginning with their violence by a state, while also recognizing debates about whether or not to participate in that those principles must be applied in situa- the Revolutionary War, these denominations tions where individuals and communities act have struggled with how to live in a society without moral principles and in pursuit of that takes up arms Recently, many Christian churches have moved closer to to defend embracing a pacifist position on matters of war and peace. itself or to advance an American security agenda. immoral ends. Rodin’s criticism of the just Their public struggles over how to respond to war tradition focused on the fact that while it the use of military force have helped to shape seeks to find a space between a focus on prin- the American public debate on war and peace. ciples and a focus on ends, some of the tradi- Interestingly, many Christian church- tion’s solutions—such as the “doctrine of es have recently begun embracing a pacifist double effect”6—move it away from trying to position on matters of war and peace. The limit war and violence and toward justifying U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops pub- the use of force. lished a seminal document in 1984, which, Rodin also reminded the workshop while giving deterrence conditional accept- that the just war tradition, while no longer ance, moved the American Catholic Church purely Christian, did arise from early into a much more critical position in relation Christian attempts to reconcile the teachings to U.S. military power.5 Recent statements by of with the adoption of Christianity as the Episcopal, Lutheran, and Methodist the religion of the Roman Empire. As individ- churches in response to the war on Iraq indi- ual Christians were asked to serve in the cate that these churches have also moved sig- imperial army, they turned to their religious nificantly closer to a pacifist position on mat- leaders for sanction. Although pacifism ters of war and peace. remained a strain in Christian thought, the just These developments reflect the ongo- war tradition developed out of the early ing tension between the two Christian tradi- Christian attempt to justify military service. tions of just war and pacifism. David Rodin, George Lopez, who was an active par- director of research at the Oxford Centre for ticipant in recent debates on just war, began Applied Philosophy, began the discussion of his presentation with a reminder of the trajec-

14 Conference Report: Religious Traditions of Peace in of Islam for an American audience. At the In effect, Hashmi argued for a combi- workshop, three such individuals provided nation of textual and praxis approaches to the group with a range of perspectives on understanding Islamic notions of peace. Islamic notions of peace. Sohail Hashmi of While focusing on the text of the Qur’an and Mt. Holyoke University led off the final ses- its various interpretations, he also argued the sion by reminding the audience that if “paci- case for devoting greater attention to the life fism means the renunciation of all violence, of the prophet. There exists room for this approach in classical Islam, which treats the hadith, or stories about the life of the prophet, with authority. By exploring both the texts and the practice of Muslims, especially the first Muslim, new understandings of peace and war can arise, Hashmi said. The next two presentations moved the discussion more toward praxis, with the speakers examining contemporary responses by Muslims to situations of war. Mohammed Abu-Nimer, a professor of conflict resolution at the American University School of International Service, has been engaged in especially for political purposes, then a paci- peace activities for over a decade. A native of fist ethic is difficult to sustain within the the West Bank, Abu-Nimer directs workshops Islamic tradition.” Despite this, Hashmi went for Muslims (and others) on methods of non- on to provide an interpretive strategy for violent conflict resolution. Building on the uncovering Qur’anic notions of peace. presentation of Hashmi, Abu-Nimer asked the As an overall strategy, the hermeneu- conference why, if teachings on peace and tic approach of abrogation should be aban- nonviolence exist within a tradition (as they doned when interpreting the Qur’an, he said. do in Islam), believers seem so resistant to This would allow scholars to highlight the these forms of political action. How can we praxis of Mohammed during the Meccan explain the gap between the text and the period—when he lived in a community not praxis? under siege and had the ability to construct Abu-Nimer listed a set of conditions peaceful strategies of relations with other facing the Muslim world today that prevent communities and within his own community. individuals from absorbing the nonviolent The standard interpretation of this period is teachings of their religious tradition. that Mohammed was forced by necessity to Internally, many Islamic societies are plagued be nonviolent, as a member of a minority sub- by rigid bureaucracies that stifle individual ject to harassment by the majority population. initiative and foster corrupt political systems, Hashmi suggested that instead, the prophet’s and by a patriarchal structure that undermines praxis can be read as an alternative method of universal political participation. Making mat- responding to a situation of warfare, one ters worse, traditional religious hierarchies do consciously chosen to demonstrate the power not encourage new forms of interpretation of nonviolence. and religious activism. At the same time, a

16 Conference Report: Religious Traditions of Peace in

Activism in the United States in relation to meditation—and his childhood in post-WWII the war on terrorism and the war against Iraq Japan with the collective quest for peace. has been led by religious leaders. Grounding Recalling the workshop’s opening presenta- activism and protest in religious language and tions on Buddhism, Maruyama concluded by tradition makes it acceptable to many, lending saying: the peace movement significant strength. Peace movements also provide ways to con- When it comes to religions, I have always paid respect to individual nect with believers from different countries religious experience as means for who share the same or similar traditions. This the practice of good in our world . . transnational element of religion gives it even . I think what is central for under- more power to violence and develop standing one’s religion is the reli- alternative strategies. gious experience, not a complex In concluding the workshop, Noboru theological tradition. . . . Let’s put Maruyama, director of the Uehiro our dogmatism aside and endeavor to make our traditions of religions Foundation, linked the personal praxis of his more enriched, not only at the own religious experience—which combines national level but at the personal Buddhism, Christianity, Shintoism, and Zen level as well.

1 Duane L. Cady, “Pacifism” in Donald A. Wells, 5 See The Challenge of Peace: God’s Promise ed., An Encyclopedia of War and Ethics and Our Response ( Washington, D.C.: U.S. (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1996), pp. 374- Conference of Catholic Bishops, 1983). 78. 6 The doctrine of double effect is a philosophical 2 Robert Kisala, Prophets of Peace: Pacifism argument that suggests that an action may be and Cultural Identity in Japan’s New Religions morally justifiable even if it leads to an unintended (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1999), pp. and negative consequences—as long as the inten- 2-3. tion of the actor is morally justifiable. In terms of just war, the concept is used to justify the killing of 3 For more information about the WCRP, see civilians when attempting to attack a military http://www.wcrp.org. target. 4 See David Firestone, “Many Are Called to March, but Few Are Chosen for Arrest” in the New York Times (20 January 2003).

18