Peace I
Reading and sermon preached by Reverend Carolyn Patierno
September 24, 2006

From the introduction of War & Peace in World Religions, by Perry Schmidt-Leukel, Editor

Religion is as old as humankind. The first signs of human culture also testify to the fact that humans have been religious beings right from the start. And when the early human civilizations reached a complexity which allowed them to express their values and their taboos, their hopes and their fears, and their codes of right and wrong, in more explicit and reflective forms, the medium of that expression was religion. The issue of war and peace is therefore deeply embedded in the teachings and doctrines of the major religious traditions of the world. Building on their specific sources of religious insight – wisdom, enlightenment, revelation – they have provided basic explanations of the existential and cosmic … roots of violence and war. And drawing on the same sources, each of them has proclaimed peace … as an ultimate value, not only as a hallmark of the final eschatological goal that humans could and were destined to reach, but also as an individual mental and a collective social state that is always worthy to pursue.

…. ‘If religion is not part of the solution, it will certainly be part of the problem.’ …. Religions have always been part of the problem, but they have the resources to be and can indeed be part of the solution. Their most important contribution to the latter may be their overcoming of the tensions between them. Peace among the religions will surely be a significant and indispensable step towards peace on earth.

Those of you who receive the All Souls Newsletter know that the focus of my September column was on the matter of peace. Specifically, I ruminated on how easy it is to be lulled into a feeling of hopelessness. What can we do? What can we do here a world away and yet not so very far from the violence in Iraq and Afghanistan … Lebanon, Israel, Sri Lanka, the Sudan, Chechnya, Somalia, Timor, Pakistan, India … and too many others too numerous too painful to name.

What’s more, here we are - religious people – but don’t we sometimes feel this nagging frustration, embarrassment, sometimes in the recesses of our minds and sometimes right upfront where it cannot be ignored, don’t we feel the frustration in knowing that at the root of too many of these brutal conflicts are religious conflicts? And we ask ourselves, we wonder, how may one responsibly advocate for, participate in the religious life?

“Do away with it!” we may hear ourselves cry even if we do so only in the recesses of our minds. Perhaps not what you want to hear your minister admit, but it’s true, naive as it is, I have had those moments, those fearful, hopeless moments.

And then I get a grip. I realize that the response I just described is one of hopelessness and fear. At our congregational meeting last week, Fr. Emmett reminded us that one of the most important reasons we commit ourselves to religious life is to help each other banish hopelessness and fear within and beyond our walls.

And I get a grip because I know that we’ve got work to do. On Labor Day Sunday, I harkened back to this quote from Dorothy Day, founder of the Catholic Worker movement. I shall now return to Day’s wisdom

People say, what is the sense of our small effort? They cannot see that we must lay one brick at a time, take one step at a time. A pebble cast into a pond causes ripples that spread in all directions. Each one of our thoughts, words and deeds is like that.
No one has a right to sit down and feel hopeless.
There’s too much work to do.

Indeed, there is too much work to do. And in the matter of creating peace, you needn’t be at the negotiating table to make your own contribution. In fact, you needn’t be anywhere other than living your life as an instrument of peace, walking the extra mile.

For today, with honored guests among us, most of whom walked those miles as a religious witness for peace, let’s turn our attention to world religions and their interpretations of war and peace. You may be surprised by what we learn together.

Said the reading: “The issue of war and peace is … deeply embedded in the teachings and doctrines of the major religious traditions of the world. Building on their specific sources of religious insight – wisdom, enlightenment, revelation – they have provided basic explanations of the existential and cosmic … roots of violence and war.” “Deeply embedded” - yes. Ambiguous and contradictory – yes again.

Overall, there is not one world religion that has a singular or explicit perspective on the matter of war and peace. (In Christian tradition, for example, consider the Quaker perspective of war and peace in comparison to the Southern Baptist perspective.) But what each has in common is a surprisingly similar understanding of human nature, which is not surprising as my personal theology tells me that religion is in large part a matter of human interpretation. The following are the ways these perspectives were described and summarized in the book, War & Peace in World Religions taken from the Gerald Weisfeld Lectures in 2003. (These are, of course, rather crude descriptions as they briefly simplify this broad and complex subject matter.)

Buddhism teaches that lasting peace cannot be found in this world – only in Nirvana. War is understood only as a last resort and only if a cruel, inhumane rule must be abolished and only if all other peaceful means of resolution had already been exhausted.

Judaism understands true peace as a utopian ideal. There is a moral license which permits war despite the recognition that peace is the ethical ideal.

In Christian thinking a utopian world would be a world without war & wars. This vision is rarely seen as realistic possibility. For example, Augustine wrote that a just war is preferable to an unjust peace.

In my experience Hinduism is the most complicated religion to comprehend. There are layers and layers of philosophy that must be understood in order to grasp the tradition as a whole. That said, I share the following: the ideal of harmony and peace is consistently preached and ritually enacted but the attempt to realize it in the historical-political sphere has too many times created violence and disharmony.

Similarly, there has been and is no single, true Islamic understanding of war & peace as the Koran, like the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament, contains contradictory perspectives.

Of course, followers of each of these traditions examine ancient scripture while interpreting modern political and cultural realities. The Islam scholar raises the question: “How to deal with reinterpretation or conflicts in scripture?”

Not surprisingly, this task is delicate and difficult. On a daily basis we see this difficulty play out in the current affairs of most Christian denominations and Jewish sects. The same is true of Islam. You may have heard that Ingrid Mattson, a professor of Islamic Studies at Hartford Seminary, was just elected president of the Islamic Society of North America. In an article in the New York Times, she recounts a class during which was discussed a saying that was ascribed to Muhammad. Prof. Mattson suggested that the quote “should be analyzed in its historical context.” A male student from Saudi Arabia contended that all such sayings were sacred and not to be challenged. The tension in the room escalated until the student stormed out of the room.

And yet … and yet … Ms. Mattson was elected to this significant and very visible position.

“How to present Islamic reform without diminishing Muslim identity? Which direction will Muslims turn?” so asks Lloyd Ridgeon, the Islamic scholar who participated in the Weisfeld Lectures. These are questions that need to be asked of all faith traditions.

In his introduction to these essays, Perry Schmidt-Leukel poses a powerful question:

The question that needs to be addressed seriously … is precisely the question of what it is that makes them so suitable and susceptible for such misuse. What are the genuinely religious roots of violence? If religions are not prepared to uncover and alleviate their own potential for conflict, this potential will remain effective, inhibiting and even counteracting the religious resources for peace.

Dan Cohn-Sherod is a Reform Rabbi and the contributor who addressed the Jewish perspective. He points out that “issues … rise in modern warfare that are not envisaged in classical Jewish sources.” He’s right. How could the ancients have imagined weapons of mass destruction, for example? Therefore, what’s needed is a mode of conflict resolution which will enable antagonists to live together in peace.

He points out that Jews have long held a tradition of debate … that this tradition does not include the expectation of eventual agreement but still, the understanding of being one people remains.

The writer points out that when there are four Jews in a room, there are six opinions. Sound familiar? But 4 opinions or six … that’s okay.

There is hope. We are reminded that we don’t have to reinvent the wheel of the universal religious ethic. What we all have in common is the belief that every human being must be treated humanely … and that what you do not wish done to yourself, do not do to others. You’ve all seen the poster that names the “golden rule” from the perspective of major faith traditions.

“If religion is not part of the solution, it will certainly be part of the problem.”

We cannot afford to be part of the problem. Our friends having just returned from their journey where with each step they took one more step to peace for us and everyone. As importantly they stopped all along the way to speak with people of differing beliefs – this morning joining us after speaking with Moslems at the Islamic Center where they were joined by Rabbi Rosenberg who brought along youth from Temple Emanu’El.

Interreligious dialogue is made less complicated if the truth of each religion is not what is at stake but rather addressing the needs and wants of the human family.

What great things we have to offer as people of faith. We offer a willingness to discuss, debate, and disagree in love. In these days of awe, we offer opportunity for atonement & redemption. As Ramadan begins, we offer time for discernment and sacrifice.

Most of all, there is the hope that is found in the company of others who need human connection and prove that in linking hands and arms, the work of creating peace feels possible. It may not be for all time … it may not be in all circumstances … but now that humankind is capable as never before to destroy our earth as we destroy each other, a new approach is desperately needed.

The hard questions are there for us to answer.
The hard work is there to be done.

Again, there is no need to reinvent the wheel. Only a need for you and you and me to believe it is possible.

Welcome home to the pilgrims. We thank your for your witness and example. We continue the work – together.

Amen.

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