We Are the Voice of the Grass: Interfaith Peace Activism in Northern Uganda

Abstract

David Hoekema, professor of philosophy emeritus at Calvin College, portrays the history of the Acholi people from the late 1980s until 2006 as a struggle beneath two battling elephants in his book We Are the Voice of the Grass: Interfaith Peace Activism in Northern Uganda. Hoekema lifts the title from an interview with Bishop Matthew Odong, who uses the Acholi proverb, “When elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers,” to identify the Acholi people’s suffering during years of civil war and life within the squalor of internally displaced persons (IDP) camps. Caught between the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) led by self-proclaimed spirit medium Joseph Kony and the Ugandan army led by (current) president Yoweri Museveni, the Acholi of northern Uganda endured dehumanization and slaughter from both sides. From this suffering emerged a group of Christian and Muslim religious leaders who—together as the Acholi Religious Leaders Peace Initiative (ARLPI)—voiced the pain of their people to the Ugandan government and the world. Not only did ARLPI successfully advocate for peace negotiations between enemy forces that led to the controversial Ugandan Amnesty Act of 2000, they also led the way for the LRA’s exit from Uganda. Today ARLPI continues the necessary work of reconciliation and development in Acholiland.Uganda’s complex history of colonialism, independence, and civil strife is re-examined from a postcolonial perspective in the first three chapters. Hoekema first dispels racist myths about the Acholi people, combatting their portrayal as helpless, underdeveloped, and inherently violent. The roots of such mischaracterizations originate from the 1800s and are still manifest in contemporary news reports, the infamous “Kony 2012” propaganda video, and in public statements by Ugandan president Museveni himself. With a corrected perspective, Hoekema then recounts Uganda’s religious history in chapter 4 to illustrate the tensions and demographics between Muslims and Christians (including their traditional religious practices) prior to the LRA insurgency. Throughout Voice of the Grass, Hoekema tells the history of Acholiland from below, extensively quoting Christians and Muslims on both sides of the conflict to correct misleading colonial and governmental narratives.The real heart of the book, chapters 5–8, details ARLPI’s formation and intervention in the war. Acholi priests, pastors, and imams banded together for their people, forming a nonpartisan organization that aimed to make known their people’s suffering to the international community, and bring the LRA and Ugandan army to the negotiating table. Within a month, they met with Museveni, reminding him of the need for forgiveness and reconciliation. Tangible changes came slowly, though. ARLPI had to gain the trust not only of their people, but of enemy forces. Years of botched peace talks, broken ceasefires, and worsening conditions did not sway religious leaders from advocating amnesty for LRA child-soldiers. Hoekema draws out the ethical questions of amnesty, asking whether justice must be sacrificed for reconciliation. Yet Hoekema also acknowledges that ARLPI’s efforts achieved their intended goal. In 2006 the LRA left Uganda and the religious leaders shifted their focus from nonviolent peacemaking to rebuilding Ugandan society in the aftermath of war. Hoekema analyzes what made ARLPI’s efforts at reconciliation successful and lays out the organization’s four pillars—advocacy, dialogue, reconciliation, and humanitarian support—as elements that peacemakers and religious leaders can uphold in their own communities.The LRA conflict was so complex that a book this comprehensive feels like an overview, albeit one that continuously gives voice to those who experienced the conflict firsthand. Hoekema excels in big-picture historiography, though the details of how ARLPI began remain unclear. Hoekema claims the religious leaders are hesitant to take credit for individual initiatives. However, the lack of clarity on how ARLPI began (rather than simply why) deprives the reader of answers to the pressing question, “How do I begin?” Did interfaith peacemaking begin as simply as sitting down to talk with another religious leader? How did ARLPI arrive at seemingly all the right principles from the start? Hoekema emphasizes ARLPI’s perseverance and boldness, but the reader hardly gets to know the leaders involved. Future work needs to be done examining specific Acholi communities through war and reconciliation. More, too, should be written on the dilemmas ARLPI encountered. It would seem, given Hoekema’s conclusions, that reconciliation is possible without justice. Such an ethical and theological conundrum deserves more ink.For peacemakers, peace scholars, religious leaders, and those interested in reconciliation, We Are the Voice of the Grass is a compelling narrative of how sustained interfaith activism helped end a civil war. ARLPI’s peacemaking principles may translate to other contexts, yet their specific activities are worth more extended ethical and theological analysis. Hoekema’s work on ARLPI is ripe for further study.