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Residents of Lake's Pen, St Catherine, block roads of the community to protest the police shooting of a man from the area in January.
The following article was submitted by the Public Theology Forum, an ecumenical group of theologians and ministers of religion.
The language being used to describe the situation in which our nation now finds itself communicates a sense of near panic, if not actual panic. This is driven by the new levels reached by criminal violence of a varied nature, but particularly of gun violence, over the past few months.
People speak freely of a fearful spectre of anarchy putting in a haunting presence. They speak of the nation waging war upon, with and within, itself. In the process, factors of deeper underlying and not unrelated issues call for examination of a kind that is not necessarily forthcoming. Yet, such an examination may suggest certain lines of action in response to that which now receive scant regard.
What are some of the factors?
a) Forces of human degradation - social, economic, cultural - seem to be having their own unchecked way of undermining the quality of life and, in so doing, taking the purpose out of life.
b) Various centres and spheres of governance, social control and, moral authority seem to be no longerconsidered worthy of trust.
c) There seems to be no common cause that is sufficiently able to inspire a shared sense of purpose and commitment to that good that would transcend vested personal and, or, group interests.
d) Wholesome living which embraces collective goodwill and wholeness of life, and which honours diversity that is mutually enriching, seems ever so elusive.
No desire to be alarmist
There is no desire to offer an exaggerated picture of the situation or to be alarmist or simply negative for the sake of being so. Yet, the risk of appearing so is much preferred over giving the impression that things are not as bad as they seem, or that they simply represent the inevitable darkest moment before the breaking dawn. However, despite an endeavour to represent the situation as accurately as possible, there is no mood of hopelessness or paralysing despair.
Strongest conviction
There is the strongest conviction that the Christian faith we confess offers us perspectives, prompts us with imperatives and makes available moral resources and human values that can make a vast difference. These all lead to a commitment to transformative actions of a kind that can be shared by all, including those who do not necessarily share the faith commitment.
In our given situation there is one clear and unambiguous moral requirement. This is the necessity of peacemaking. A self-critical awareness on the part of the people of faith should lead to considerations that there might well have been negligence here on their part over time. If this is so, it is with penitence along with a sense of the urgency for this foundational ministry's call to become a priority commitment - Matt. 5: 2 Cor. 5.
Peacemaking a priority
In so doing, it will give a moral lead in something that is indispensable for the kind of transformation that is needed in our midst. Peacemaking is, therefore, being put forward here as a critical necessity. It must be embraced as a priority. It must be pursued with zeal, courage, patience, love and hope.
There are understandings of peace which can still be accommodated in the disordered state of affairs.
It is to celebrate the presence of good order in the midst of people living at the expense of others who are pampered, lulled or intimidated into quiescence. It is peace seen as an ordered state of affairs in which persons or classes of persons are disadvantaged in widely accepted power relations. They are excluded from basic privileges and are victims of arbitrarily determined and assigned human worth and value. This peace is often understood as prevailing where there is relentless enforcement of law and order by questionable means under which people are kept in line. They are subject to imposed discipline effectively defined by the powerful and privileged. Peace can be seen in terms of negotiated calm between the leaders of contending factions, but with no fundamental change beyond conciliatory co-existence.Peace, understood in terms of any of the above forms or in any combination of them, will facilitate an acceptable investment climate and related requirements for economic development, often perceived as the 'highest good'. At the same time, it can be careless of such things as the quality of community life, integrity in public life, the value of community, human rights concerns, the importance of social consensus and the integrity of the whole creation.
What then is the nature of the peace that is conceived to be a necessity and envisaged for the society? Peace here bears the distinctive quality and condition of wholeness, total well-being, and soundness in its entirety. It is largely relational, which then refers to wholeness in terms of shared relationships, which also contributes to the well-being of all who participate in such relationships. It will involve working, including struggling to overcome obstacles, to remove barriers, to resolve conflicts to effect renewal of relationship and reconciliation where alienation and estrangement exist.
Outcome of justice is peace
The integrity and credibility of the peace that is urgently needed are grounded upon the effective establishment and practise of justice. Peace without justice is cheap peace. It is false peace as noted earlier. We are reminded that the practical outcome of justice is peace. This is a distinctive witness of the biblical faith.
As can be seen, the justice that produces peace is practical and concrete. It is identifiable in the coming together of certain things which will characterise the human situation in society.
These are things that peace-makers will actually work assiduously for, defend and uphold at all times. They will do so vigorously but will not betray the end they are seeking by the means with which they seek it.
Here are some of the essential things that will represent justice which, in turn, will make for peace.
(a) Unconditional affirmation of human dignity and worth of all.The dignity and worth of all human beings are based upon the fact that they are created in the 'Image of God'. This is a reality that has not been determined by the accident of class, race, gender or national identity.
b) Uncompromised equality before the law
There can be no peace without the justice of everyone being treated equally by and before the law. The administration and effective operation of personnel and institutions that are meant to execute and apply the law must not be determined in favour of persons based on status, race, class or any other classifications defining superiority or inferiority.
People's rights
The defence of people's rights in this regard, the promotion of such rights and the upholding of them as indispensable for sound social order are critical. Further, support for and facilitation of the institutions entrusted with upholding and executing the law are also a moral responsibility in the achievement of peace by way of justice.
c) Equitable distribution of opportunities and resources for the genuine fulfilment of human potential.National resources and opportunities, as well as whatever they facilitate, require equitable distribution among the people. Very often inequity in this area is one of the major causes of gaps and divides, resulting in the existence of social categories such as the privileged and disadvantaged, dominant and dependent, powerful and powerless, the included and excluded. This creates its own resentments, sense of injustice and discrimination against large numbers of people.
Opportunities
There is a great healing effect when people have a strong sense of being active and effective participants, as both contributors to and beneficiaries of what makes for the common good. This is one of the things that brings about peace as justice ensures such a possibility. The greater the opportunities people have at different levels to participate in matters that affect their well-being and destiny, the better it will be for the promotion of justice and peace. Action in peacemaking works toward such an end.
d) Protection of and concern for the vulnerable and powerlessPeacemaking does not seek or pretend to be neutral as far as the need to protect the interests of the vulnerable and powerless is concerned. It takes sides in this regard even if, or when, it puts the peacemaker at serious risk, it invariably does, the poor, the physically and mentally challenged, the young and the aged, the illiterate and unskilled.
Vulnerable and powerless
The HIV and AIDS-infected refugees, for example, are often found in the category of the vulnerable and powerless. They are susceptible to social neglect, exploitation, various forms of deprivation of essentials and abuses of one form or another.
Conditions and actions that make an underclass of fellow human beings reek of injustice and render real peace impossible. Instead, they create situations of systemic injustice and violence of different grades, but unacceptable in any form. Peace-making must target such a situation for renewal, which can only take place by the appropriate transformative action that addresses the needs and interests of the vulnerable and powerless.
(e) Commitment to the politics of forgivenessIn a society that has experienced great breakdown of relationships through violence perpetrated by the strong against the weak, the powerful against the powerless and through discriminatory attitudes and actions officially, semi-officially and surreptitiously practised, peace will be achieved through the politics of forgiveness. This does not rule out the appropriate application of sanctions but the proper restoration of peace goes beyond this.
Some things come together at this point and are absolutely essential. They are very evident when the politics of forgiveness is linked with truth and reconciliation, a very significant linkage. Each situation will require careful examination of the dynamics of the linkage.
General factors
However, general factors such as honest confession of responsibility and complicity, accountability and repentance, openness to the embrace of former villains and victims, a shared vision of a new future with safeguards, ideals and values, that would make a return to what had resulted in the evil perpetrated well nigh impossible, are some of the things that are called for with this approach. Indeed, there will be no greater safeguard than full appreciation of the value and worth of peace with justice, and willingness to pursue it and sustain it.
At any level, in any area, those who have been perpetrators and or beneficiaries of evil against their fellow human beings in public life and the community cannot be authentic agents of the renewal of society in terms of establishing wholeness that is peace, without embracing the politics of forgiveness. It is one of the tasks of peacemakers to work at and mediate this undeniable factor.
(f) Giving rightful place to moral motivation, obligation, education and action.Peace with justice is a moral obligation. It is, therefore, impossible to conceive of peacemaking without openness to the importance of public moral requirements and practise.
Serious undermining
This, as a result, underscores the fact that there is a limit to seeking to create a society of wholeness and human flourishing purely on the basis of technical, political, economic and sociological reckoning as well as pragmatic instincts. There is a serious undermining of the possibility of creating such a society if values of public morality are devalued and or denigrated.
The moral factor brings a necessary realism to identifying and recognising the disintegrative and destructive forces that undermine the peace and sustain injustice, especially in terms of justifying it.
The moral dimension also influences the form resistance takes in response to such forces and powers, so that the end that is sought will not be compromised or betrayed by the means employed to achieve it.
Vision
It offers a vision that integrates the various dimensions of human life and human relationships which will account for the wholeness sought in peacemaking project.
Patience, forbearance, love and hope served by all the moral resources possible, with confidence in the inherent goodness and righteousness of the task, will be needed. There is need for motivation and mobilisation of people of goodwill to become committed to the task of peacemaking. Waging war with the full might of physical and military force cannot be the final answer to our human predicament in society. Waging peace for the healing of the nation is a moral obligation for ensuring lasting wholeness.
Members of the Public Theology Forum are Ernle Gordon, Roderick Hewitt, Stotrell Lowe, Marjorie Lewis, Richmond Nelson, Garnet Roper, Anna Perkins, Ashley Smith, Burchell Taylor, Karl Johnson, Wayneford McFarlane and Byron Chambers, coordinator.
