Religion, Violence, and Conflict Resolution

Abstract

Religion has a dual legacy in human history regarding peace and violence. Conflict resolution theory must examine more systematically the decision‐making of religious actors and leaders in order for strategies of peacemaking to be effective in the relevant contexts. It is the argument here that the study of religion and conflict resolution will yield an important new field of inquiry. A series of topics need to be addressed, including the mixture of religious and pragmatic motivations in behavior, the struggle between intracommunal moral values and other traditional values that generate conflict, multifaith dialogue and pluralism as conflict resolution strategies, the sociopolitical impact of religious leadership on conflict generation and resolution, the limited scope of religious ethics in regard to the rejection of nonbelievers and traditional outgroups, and the promising role of interpretation of sacred tradition in generating peacemaking strategies.