Building New Pathways to Peace

2. To Forgive Is Human: A Theological Reflection on the Politics of Reconciliation

32 2 To Forgive Is Human A Theological Reflection on the Politics of Reconciliation anri morimoto T he contributors to this book share the conviction that a coherent and sustainable notion of peace must include the concepts of security and kyosei. In this view, peace does not mean merely the absence of war or a condition of precarious truce until another conflict breaks out. Peace is something that must be enjoyed by all concerned, and in order for all to enjoy it, it must be sustained by social justice and cooperation, those elements that constitute Johan Galtung’s concept of positive peace and which are explained in the introduction to this book. The notion of positive peace, however, must extend beyond the social and political to the personal and spiritual dimensions in order for peace to be truly convivial (in the sense of kyosei). At the same time, we admit that such a blissful amalgamation of peace, security, and kyosei is not within our immediate reach. One of the insights gained from reading a study of these issues, Toward a Peaceable Future, is that conflict, insecurity, and antagonism are ubiquitous in human society.1 Despite the goodwill of citizens and the effectiveness of institutional mechanisms, enmity and antipathy permeate human relationships . No doubt there will continue to be sustained efforts to establish peace, but such efforts must be based on a realistic understanding of human nature. When people meet, there will be conflicts. When nations meet, interests are likely to collide. Thus, peace, security, and kyosei are often first recognized through their absence: Their case begins in absen- The Politics of Reconciliation 33 tia. Our efforts, then, should be focused on how to restore peace, recover security, and redeem kyosei. If there is any semblance of a grand theory at all, it is the recognition that since no human society is immune from conflict and antagonism, measures for the recovery and restoration of peace, security, and kyosei are of primary importance. Religious traditions have called this effort “forgiveness” and “reconciliation.” A Theological Reflection on Conflict It is sobering to read in Christian scripture that human history began with a murder. The biblical Garden of Eden is the place where the essence of humanity is posited. By default, it is a place of beatitude and plenitude: hence, there is no time, evolution, or dynamism in the Garden. In contrast to this immobile completeness of essence, human existence outside the Garden is characterized by birth, growth, and death. Adam and Eve, the pristine ageless couple, were expelled from the Garden, and it was only then that they produced two sons, Cain and Abel. The family began to expand, and so did the tension and discord within it. This led to fratricide, the first of the countless many to follow . By Greek etymology, the term existence means “standing outside” (ex-histemi). We literally stand outside the Garden. Once expelled from the idyllic peace of the heavenly Garden, human beings began to exist in history. Our existence is thus estranged from our essence. We “exist” in concrete history, and history is the realm of movements, vicissitudes, and fluctuations. Our individual existence in history is from the very beginning destined to intersect, and at times collide, with others. Conflict is a constant in the human situation. John Paul Lederach, a leading figure in the field of international conflict resolution and transformation, paraphrases the first sentence of the Gospel of John in describing the way he sees the troubled world: “in the beginning was conflict.”2 Conflict itself, as Lederach notes, is not sin. It is a natural part of human relationships. The Creation story tells us that human beings are made to be unique so that they constitute a dynamic diversity on the planet. Each person is endowed with a free will of his or her own. Considering this uniqueness and diversity of human individuals , one can see that the world is constituted in such a way that eventual conflict is inevitable. “And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; its desire is for 34 anri morimoto you, but you must master it” (Genesis 4:7). These were God’s words of warning to Cain, who was about to commit the crime of fratricide, and, by implication, to all of Cain’s posterity. There is no escape from lurking sin: it ambushes us at the door. Once we...