Inquisitive. Relevant. Thought-Provoking. A Blog for reflection on Religion as an element of Public Life, coordinated by the Centre for Religion, Conflict and the Public Domain, Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies, University of Groningen.
Earlier this year, Joram Tarusarira published his important book that analyses religious actors and identifies a specific form of engagement that they display in contexts of peacebuilding and conflict transformation. Joram Tarisarira is a lecturer in Religion and Conflict and Deputy Director of the Centre for Religion, Conflict and the Public Domain, Faculty of Theology and Religious …
Continue reading "Reconciliation and Religio-political non-conformism in Zimbabwe"
Two weeks ago, Colombia’s congress ratified the peace agreement that has been painstakingly negotiated, voted on and renegotatied in the last months. In today’s post, dr. Sandra Rios analyses some of the key factors, including the role of religious actors, at stake in the journey to peace in Colombia. Sandra works for the Utrecht University of Law …
Continue reading "Peace in Colombia: An ambitious project finally starts"
Tomorrow, 1st of December, Professor John Paul Lederach will, in a lecture organised by The Centre of Religion and Conflict in the Public Domain, talk about ‘Mobilizing the moral imagination: Religion in the landscape of fragmentation’. Join us for the lecture and the discussion with great panel of expert respondents: dr. Michelle Parlevliet, specialist in …
By Joram Tarusarira The only way forward is the conversation, the meeting, the dialogue…’ - Fr. Gerry Reynolds 30 November 2016 marks one year after the death of Gerry Reynolds, a Redemptorist Catholic priest based at Clonard Monastery in Belfast in Northern Ireland, who passed away at the age of 82. Fr …
Continue reading "Remembering the peacemaker priest in Northern Ireland: Father Gerry Reynolds"
Today marks the 20th anniversary of the beginning of the Rwandan genocide. Both then and now, the international community had many unanswered questions about how the genocide occurred and how the evil that was perpetrated could have happened. In today’s post, Erin Wilson reflects on what religion teaches us about evil, but also about forgiveness, …
Continue reading "Understanding Evil, Encouraging Forgiveness: Lessons from Rwanda 20 years on"
Last week, Prof. Manuel A. Vasquez gave a guest lecture on “Conceptualizing domination and resistance in transnational religious networks” at the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies in Groningen. Here Ella Sebamalai engages with the ideas he raised and applies them to practical contexts, in particular faith-based organisations in the contemporary Sri Lankan context. In his …
Religion and the contributions of youth are two topics that tend to be neglected when we think about peacebuilding. In this post, Erik Meinema reflects on his experiences conducting research on these important issues. Maluku, a group of Islands in Eastern Indonesia, was originally renowned for its religious harmony. However, this reputation drastically changed when …
