Key question
Can conflict be resolved peacefully?
Learning objectives
Through this unit, students learn to:
• understand some of the key causes of conflict
• understand how peace can be brought about
• evaluate religious and ethical teaching about peace and violence
• evaluate the notion that global citizens have a responsibility to each other
• understand how this responsibility may be practised.
Activities
Ask students to:
• identify the causes of conflict locally, nationally and globally
• role play a conflict resolution situation between pairs of students
• invite a speaker from an organisation involved in seeking peace and reconciliation, such as the Quakers, the Corrymeela Community in Northern Ireland, community relations councils, UK interfaith groups
• study a situation such as that in Northern Ireland, Rwanda or Kosovo, where two opposing groups are brought together
• compare the beliefs of people who have played a significant role in pacifism or non-violence, such as Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, the Dalai Lama, Badshah Khan (see below), and evaluate the effectiveness of their strategies
• debate revenge versus reconciliation.
Further resources
A Man to Match his Mountains: Badshah Khan, nonviolent soldier of Islam, Eknath Easwaran, Nilgiri Press, 2nd edn, 1999
