3.1.4. Networks (Religion as an Institution)

"Why work with religious communities?" asks UNICEF (UNICEF 2017). As one reason, UNICEFpoints to their extensive networks. "With religious communities counting almost 5 billion members, their potential for action is great. From the smallest village to the largest city, and from districts and provinces to national and international levels, they offer a variety of networks for the care and protection of children" (UNICEF 2017). While focused on children, UNICEF's statement can be easily applied to other realms of development, including peace and conflict transformation. Religious actors can rely on extensive regional and transregional networks that enable them to quickly mobilize additional financial and human resources. With their grassroots foundation, religious networks are furthermore able to access even remote areas, all significant requirements for successful and sustainable conflict prevention and conflict transformation.

### 3.1.5. Provision of Service Delivery (Religion as a Set of Teachings, Religion as Practice, Religion as Spirituality)

For many religions, caring for the poor and marginalized is an integral part of their belief system. Well-known religious narratives like the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25–37) encourage a spirit of empathy and willingness to help others, even strangers and at costs to oneself. Service delivery thus becomes part of one's spirituality that is acted out in specific practices. These include food provision, clean water, refugee services, microfinance, education or medical services, which become especially urgen<sup>t</sup> in times of crisis. In their service delivery, FBOs do not necessarily differ from secular NGOs, with whom they often cooperate, ye<sup>t</sup> for religious actors, the mode of interpretation and motivation stems from within a specifically religious framework. For many religious traditions, giving alms to the needy and/or tithing are central aspects of their own religious self-understanding and spirituality.

### *3.2. Material Contributions of Religious Actors to Peace*

### 3.2.1. Values and Normative Concepts (Religion as a Set of Teachings, Religion as Practice)

Religious traditions contain not only dogmatic truth claims, but also ethical imperatives regarding what is viewed as right and wrong. These are based on values and certain normative concepts regulating everyday action and behavior. Many religions regard life itself as a gift by God which means that efforts must be taken to protect one's own and other people's lives from harm. As the German pastor and Nazi resistance fighter Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906–1945) puts it: "Since by God's will human life on earth exists only as bodily life, the body has a right to be preserved for the sake of the whole person" (Bonhoeffer 2005, p. 185). Based on this premise, Bonhoeffer deduces the necessity of basic human rights as normative concepts. From life itself as a fundamental value, other values follow, such as compassion, justice, peace and reconciliation. Multiple narratives and teachings in different religions serve the dissemination and strengthening of these values. "Religious communities have developed structures and defined relationships shaped by these values, and their belief systems

encourage e fforts to speak out on behalf of and assist the disadvantaged, marginalized and vulnerable" (UNICEF 2017).

### 3.2.2. Holistic Anthropology (Religion as Discourse, Religion as Spirituality)

With secular NGOs often focusing on the material improvement of individuals and communities, FBOs bring in a holistic perspective. Based on their distinct anthropology, they seek to provide support not only to the body, but also to the soul. Connecting the material and spiritual, the physical and the emotional, religious actors embrace a holistic understanding of human flourishing. The significance of assisting not only the body, but also the heart and soul of people becomes apparent, for instance, in post-conflict situations such as in post-genocide Rwanda. Here, religiousactors such as Christian churches or FBOs often combine reconciliation with development initiatives. In the small town of Remera, the Presbyterian Church, for example, supports the "Lights". This group helps perpetrators and survivors through building long-term relationships with one another. These processes are supported by regular bible studies and meetings where issues of healing, forgiveness and dealing with the past are addressed. At the same time, pairs of survivor and perpetrator receive practical support, for instance, through apple saplings. By caring jointly for the saplings and splitting any income they generate, they are not only able to improve the material situations of themselves and their families, but in their daily interactions, empathy, trust and reconciliation can start to grow. Welcome synergetic effects thus help to improve the sustainability of both religious peace and development work.

### 3.2.3. Dealing with Trauma and Meaning (Religion as a Set of Teachings, Religion as Spirituality)

Experiences of violent conflict are traumatic. While physical scars are clearly visible signs of the violence and injustice su ffered, emotional wounds often remain hidden. Yet, if they are not attended to, they tend to fester, cementing feelings of powerlessness and insignificance and/or hatred and desire for revenge, thereby perpetuating the spiral of violence. Survivors of gross human rights violations often struggle with integrating these experiences into their life story, in other words, with finding meaning. Here, religious frameworks can provide valuable assistance. The conviction of ultimate justice and redemption helps individuals to connect their own personal life story to the larger eschatological framework, which can impart hope and meaning to traumatized victims. At the same time, religious concepts such as forgiveness and grace help in dealing with feelings of shame, guilt and failure, emotions inevitably occurring in contexts of violent conflict and a ffecting both victims and perpetrators. In Islam, for instance, concepts such as predestination and the total sovereignty of God together with the values of respecting others and reestablishing order and harmony can help to facilitate processes of healing and reconciliation (Abu-Nimer and Kadayifci-Orellana 2008).
