Welcome to the Journal of Religion and Spirituality in Social Work Special Issue on Healing, Reconciliation, Nonviolent Conflict Resolution and Peace. We are so grateful to have contributions from authors reflecting on diverse approaches and contemplative practices as they relate to the pressing issues of our time such as war, social injustice, violence and polarization. We are particularly grateful to Catherine Faver for her extraordinary work in curating the sacred passages included in this special issue. It is our hope that these passages will inspire reflection and provide an opportunity for you to practice contemplative scholarly inquiry. Our book reviews, expertly delivered by Dr. Barbara Early, also showcase some of the most insightful dialogs and reflections on spirituality as it relates to social work, peace, reconciliation, and nonviolence, in our time.
It is our hope that you will enjoy this issue as we have, delving into each manuscript to learn how that particular spiritual or religious tradition or conceptual framework ties in with social work practice, policy or education. We hope you can use the examples the authors’ references to understand and teach the relevance of diverse spiritual teachings to social work values and social work practice. The process of learning about other traditions and practices can itself be a healing and unifying peace-building process. In some ways the effort to understand another’s spiritual traditions launches our interaction with others on a fundamental level, the level of values which drive spirituality. Thus, we can resource our collaborations in social work with the rich soil and soul of our diverse faith traditions.
In the lead article, drawing from their many years experience at Catholic Relief Services, Bolton, Steinitz, Talla, remind readers that current global wars and conflicts have caused record-number displacement of people, and 80% of the humanitarian need experienced by people on the planet. Conflicts not only result in death, community devastation, and lifelong disability, but also are accompanied by other forms of brutality such as rape and sexual assault. Within this devastation there is hope and promise in an approach to peacebuilding that combines the ecological framework, social work values, Catholic Social Teaching principles and the CRS 3B approach to helping to restore communities. Through three case studies (Mindanao Philippines; South Sudan; Central African Republic), the authors show how these elements are applied in a peacebuilding approach that seeks to re-weave the social fabric of communities addressing micro, mezzo, and macro systems.
Building on the approach to peacebuilding work in areas of war and conflict, Faseke in the second article, describes both historical and religious content as it relates to the Nigerian conflict, and the religious leaders from the Quaker community who applied their principles and approaches to address it.
In the third article, Lumanog, discusses the compatibility between Marxism and Buddhism by examining some of the critiques of capitalism offered by the Dalai Lama, and to a lesser extent, other Buddhist practitioners and scholars. Lumanog first reviews the basic tenets of Buddhism and its dual application toward personal and social transformation toward greater compassion, nonviolence, and peace, lifting up exemplars such as the Dalai Lama, and to a lesser extent, Thich Naht Hahn, and Rev angel Kyodo Williams. He then explores areas of convergence and divergence among Budhism and Marxism. He concludes his thoughtful manuscript with an application of a Buddhist/Marxist orientation to social work practice reminding readers that social work calls on its practitioners to participate in collective resistance and activism in the face of oppressive structures, and points to contemporary social work scholars to suggest ways of doing that.
Next, as our contemporary social discourse attempts to equate anarchism with violent means, Anisin’s article explores the role of anarchism and nonviolence by analyzing the viewpoints toward violence and peace of several historical and contemporary anarchists, many of whom grounded their anarchistic philosophy in a faith tradition. He concludes this analysis by offering implications for social work practice as it relates to applying some of the principles of an anarchist approach to social problems.
In the manuscript, Noah: A Story of Peacebuilding, Nonviolence, Reconciliation, and Healing, Friedman provides a beautiful description of how this biblical story is both metaphor and guideline for both preservation and peaceful engagement drawing from the Jewish faith tradition. Finally, the manuscripts in this special issue conclude with a contribution from Fitzgerald, who offers a concrete contemplative activity designed to hold controversial and polarizing conversations which social workers must inevitably navigate.
In addition to these interesting and sometimes provocative manuscripts, this special issue includes very thoughtful reviews of six books that reflect a range of perspectives and approaches that could inform social work approaches to peacebuilding, nonviolence, and reconciliation from a range of faith perspectives. We hope you will take the time to read through this diverse set of book reviews as you consider new readings for your courses or for your own edification.
We, the editors, have experienced a truly enjoyable learning and growing process as we engaged with the articles, prayers, book reviews and with each other toward the development of this volume. It is our great hope that it will resource and inspire you as you learn of all these “acts of faith” that are being offered to toward peace, healing, reconciliation and nonviolent conflict resolution. We follow this editorial with prayers, literally as the prayer section does follow, and figuratively in that as scholars of faith we do pray that the success of all your endeavors for peace, nonviolent conflict resolution, healing and reconciliation are enhanced, enlightened and buoyed by all that you read here. Enjoy!