The book introduces a theoretical framework to understand the role of religious leaders in conflict transformation and peacebuilding.

Using real-world case studies and examples, Hunsinger and Latini helpfully guide pastors and lay leaders through effective and compassionate ways to deal with discord.

Civil war and conflict within countries is the most prevalent threat to peace and security in the opening decades of the twenty-first century. A pivotal factor in the escalation of tensions to open conflict is the role of elites in exacerbating tensions along identity lines by giving the ideological justification, moral reasoning, and call to violence. Between Terror and Tolerance examines the varied roles of religious leaders in societies deeply divided by ethnic, racial, or religious conflict. The chapters in this book explore cases when religious leaders have justified or catalyzed violence along identity lines, and other instances when religious elites have played a critical role in easing tensions or even laying the foundation for peace and reconciliation. This volume features thematic chapters on the linkages between religion, nationalism, and intolerance, transnational intra-faith conflict in the Shi’a-Sunni divide, and country case studies of societal divisions or conflicts in Egypt, Israel and Palestine, Kashmir, Lebanon, Nigeria, Northern Ireland, Sri Lanka, Sudan, and Tajikistan. The concluding chapter explores the findings and their implications for policies and programs of international non-governmental organizations that seek to encourage and enhance the capacity of religious leaders to play a constructive role in conflict resolution.

Religious dimension of contemporary conflicts and the rise of faith-based movements worldwide require policymakers to identify the channels through which religious leaders can play a constructive role. While religious fundamentalisms are in the news every day, we do not hear about the potential and actual role of religious actors in creating a peaceful and just society. Countering this trend, Sandal draws attention to how religious actors helped prepare the ground for stabilizing political initiatives, ranging from abolition of apartheid (South Africa), to the signing of the Lome Peace Agreement (Sierra Leone). Taking Northern Ireland as a basis and using declarations and speeches of more than forty years, this book builds a new perspective that recognizes the religious actors' agency, showing how religious actors can have an impact on public opinion and policymaking in today's world.

This book provides fresh insights into the role of religious leaders in conflict transformation and peacebuilding. Based on a large dataset of interviews with Christian and Muslim leaders in Bosnia and Herzegovina, it offers a contextually rich analysis of the main post-conflict challenges: forgiveness, reconciliation, and tragic memories. Designed as an inductive, qualitative research, it also develops an integrative theoretical model of religiously-inspired engagement in conflict transformation. The work introduces a number of new concepts which are relevant for both theory and practice of peacebuilding, such as Residue of Forgiveness, Degree Zero of Reconciliation, Ecumene of Compassion, and Phantomic Memories. The book, furthermore, proposes two correlated concepts - "theological dissonance" and "pastoral optimization" - as theoretical tools to describe the interplay between moral ideals and practical limitations. The text is a valuable resource for religious and social scholars alike, especially those interested in topics of peace, conflict, and justice. From the methodological standpoint, it is an original and audacious attempt at bringing together theological, philosophical, and political narratives on conflicts and peace through the innovative use of the Grounded Theory approach.

Peace on Earth: The Role of Religion in Peace and Conflict Studies provides a critical analysis of faith and religious institutions in peacebuilding practice and pedagogy. The work captures the synergistic relationships among faith traditions and how multiple approaches to conflict transformation and peacebuilding result in a creative process that has the potential to achieve a more detailed view of peace on earth, containing breadth as well as depth. Library and bookstore shelves are filled with critiques of the negative impacts of religion in conflict scenarios. Peace on Earth: The Role of Religion in Peace and Conflict Studies offers an alternate view that suggests religious organizations play a more complex role in conflict than a simply negative one. Faith-based organizations, and their workers, are often found on the frontlines of conflict throughout the world, conducting conflict management and resolution activities as well as advancing peacebuilding initiatives.

Churches thrive on communication; they are stifled by conflict. Renowned Christian educator Kenneth O. Gangel joins his colleague Samuel L. Canine to bring good news to the church - communication skills can be learned and conflict can be managed. The church need no longer hide conflict nor excuse itself for poor communication, but can instead acknowledge where it has problems and seek transformation. The authors offer scriptural strategies for overcoming conflict and for building trust in relationships - even relationships among deacons or between deacons and pastors. Drawing from recent studies in the social sciences, Gangel and Canine show the church how to manage strife and foster dialogue so that the church can flourish. Chapter titles include Learning To Listen, Power in Conflict Management, Negotiation and Bargaining in Conflict Management, Organizational Causes of Conflict, Coalitions in Conflict Management, Managing Conflict Destructively or Constructively, Stress: Cause And Cure, and The Workaholic Syndrome. This book is a valuable resource for training church leaders. It is also an important resource for those who are already pastors, for whom the issues are daily realities and not just academic theory. Through its use in churches and seminaries, the book is designed to lead God's church through its conflicts to renewed vigor in ministry and growth.