By Rachel Bergen When Anick Ht sees images of churches burning on the news, he knows what viewers will think. The culprits: probably Muslim. Muslims: probably dangerous. Islam: obviously promotes violence. But this isn’t the Islam Anick grew up with. While it may seem as though radical Islam is taking over the world, he believes…
Tag: peace
Peace Heroes
By Rachel Bergen Superheroes can fly, they have super strength, they can shoot webs from their hands, and they fight bad guys. These characters are out of this world. Hollywood superhero movies can raise a lot of money at the box office, but these characters aren’t real. In real life heroes are somewhat less awe-inspiring, and…
“I voted for peace”
By Max Ediger In a recent blog post, I shared about Pope Francis’ visit to the Central African Republic (CAR) where violence between Muslims and Christians has seen many communities destroyed and people killed. The Pope’s visit was meant to begin a process of rebuilding trust an harmony between the conflicting groups. Just a few…
We are Brothers and Sisters
“Christians and Muslims are brothers and sisters.” Pope Francis said this after meeting Muslim leaders at the Koudoukou mosque in Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital of Bangui during a six-day peace pilgrimage last month in Africa. He added that “together, we must say no to hatred, to revenge and to violence, particularly that violence which…
Laos After the War
By Max Ediger Between 1964 and 1973, the United States dropped more than 2 million tonnes of ordnance on Laos during 580,000 bombing missions. That’s equal to one planeload of bombs ever eight minutes, 24-hours a day, for nine years — therefore, Laos is the most heavily bombed country per capita in history, according to…
Interfaith partnerships in Indonesia
By Sara Klassen, edited by Rachel Bergen Before she went to School of Peace, Suwarti Ningsih says she was almost a fundamentalist in her identity as a Christian. “If Muslims came to our house we had to be careful. My mom taught me like that. I could not directly accept what they would talk about….
Peace Radio Program started in Marawi City, Philippines
By Tirmizy Abdullah, SOP 2010 alumni One of the current projects of the Office of the Presidential Advisor on the Peace Process (OPAPP) in the Philippine Government is a radio program on peace in the cities of Marawi, Cotabato and Zamboanga. I formally started the radio program called “Suwara Kalilintad” (Voice of Peace) at 96.9 FM Radyo Natin…
Antidotes to Religious Extremism
Reflections from the APIYN Youth Camp Opening Ceremonies By Max Ediger On December 7, Sopharak “Small” and I were invited to attend the opening ceremony of the 2015 Asia-Pacific Interfaith Youth Network (APIYN) Youth Camp that was held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The youth camp this year is themed “Multi-religious Youth Action to Overcome Violent Religious…
Forgiveness and Healing
By Max Ediger Even when violent conflicts come to an end, the pain caused can linger on for years in the form of trauma. Trauma is an emotional response to distressing events caused by the conflict which does not go away and results in unpredictable emotions, flashbacks, strained relationships and even physical symptoms such as headache and nausea. For victims of…
Protecting Karen Traditions
By Saw Mort When I was in Umphiume refugee camp on the Thai/Burma border making a video about Karen traditions and culture, I met and interviewed 85-year-old Pu Hsaw Hpah Wa. During the interview he told me he is very worried that the use of traditional musical instruments will erode and then slowly disappear from Karen…