Religion and Peacebuilding (Suny Series in Religious Studies)

Acknowledging that religion can motivate both violence and compassion, this book looks at how a variety of world religions can and do build peace.

In the wake of September 11, 2001 religion is often seen as the motivating force behind terrorism and other acts of violence. Religion and Peacebuilding looks beyond headlines concerning violence perpetrated in the name of religion to examine how world religions have also inspired social welfare and peacemaking activism. Leading scholars from the Aboriginal, Hindu, Buddhist, Confucian, Jewish, Muslim, and Christian traditions provide detailed analyses of the spiritual resources for fostering peace within their respective religions. The contributors discuss the formidable obstacles to nonviolent conflict transformation found within sacred texts and living traditions. Case studies of Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Cambodia, and South Africa are also examined as practical applications of spiritual resources for peace.

This book grows on you and merits more than a quick read. Due to its scope, it offers an abundance of useful insights and ramifications. There can be no doubt as to the significance of this book. Robert D. Baird, editor of Religion in Modern India

The book's recommendations to political, religious, and non-governmental leaders 'who seek to take initiatives to promote peace' are of profound significance and provide guidelines toward appropriate action in some of the most entrenched conflict areas of the world. Robert M. Garvin, University at Albany, State University of New York

Contributors include R. Scott Appleby, Andrea Bartoli, Judith A. Berling, H. Russel Botman, Judy Carter, Harold Coward, Frederick M. Denny, Diane D'Souza, Rajmohan Gandhi, Marc Gopin, Patrick Grant, Douglas M. Johnston, David Little, Catherine Morris, Eva K. Neumaier, Michelene E. Pesantubbee, and Gordon S. Smith.