Response Paper “Religious Resources for Peace” By Watini

Luc Reychler  gives a method of peace that it is written in International Journal od Peaces Studies, Volume 11, Number 1, Spring Summer/Summer 2006. Reycler claims that in peace building there challenges of peace research. 1.) Seeing the big picture. To sustain peace there are the essential requirements that some of it are: A.) System of comunication, consultation, and negotiation must be effective, B.) An integrative political-psychological climate, C.) A critical mass of peace building leadership and so forth.  To support five clusters, it need many aspect such as legal, educational, health, humanitarian aid, information and environmental system. To support them, there are the important roles is building block and there are fifth building block 1.) Building block focuces on the establishment  of an effective communication, consultation and negotiation system at different levels both conflicting parties and members. 2.) Building block is the presence of a critical mass of peace building leadership (Reychler and Stellamans, 2005). (pg. 6-8). 2.) Mastering sustainable peace building architecture. To build peace we have to get a better understanding of sustainable peace building architecture. 3.) Synergizing the know-how and learning. One of an improving learning of violence is providing space for trans-disciplinary research. 4.) Dealing with the reality of the peace building context. Thus, in peace building  there is not easy to create its because in peace research there are have to use huge worldview and have to know the field of violence and have collaborated with many sector and appropriate with context. On the other hand, we cannot to tend in some party so we have to see both of perpetrator and victims and consider different levels: the elite, middle and grassroots levels.

The other Title of passage is “The Religous Component of Mennonite Peacemaking and Its Global Implications” which the author is Marc Gopin that is chapters “fifteen”. Mennonite states that peace work is mission (236). Resolution conflict and an involvement of social justice is one of peacecmaking. To face violence, Minnonite use conflict resolution, a deeply activist and engaged method of affecting humans relations (238). Mennonite community use ethics that are encounter with the image of the other, the awareness of otherness, that generates ethical response of care, compassion or pity. The way of peacepeaking of Mennonite is how they create and sustain their own community (240). They have moral character that is meek and  lowly of heart (242). Minnonite use religion values in peacemaking. It  influences by biblical tradition and depend on historical experience and involving spiritual response to the world around them. If we use Reychler theory, Mennonite manage conflict with using a critical mass of peace buildning leadership that it come from their biblical tradition and historical tradition. Another example is local mechanism for managing conflict that they are joint together to face government that want to built new factory of pulp. There are invironmental injustice. The case is is North Sumatra in November 2002. Sarma, 32 was among 16 people jailed by a court for damaging the Porsea district head’s office during a rally opposing the plan to reopen pulp factory Toba Pulp Lestari (formerly PT Indorayon Inti Utama). Sarma is a church misnister. One day, Sarma saw that there are conversation both a member of his congregation. He tried to meet district head to convey that his community refused to the plan to reopen the pulp factory but it is no response from the district head party so protesters angry. Several of them threw rocks at the office and smashed two windows panes. Police dispersed the crowd and arrested Sharma (Muniggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Januari, 10, 2004). In short, managing conflict is not easy. It is because there are many challenges there. In observation of peacemaking we have to spend much money and many time. Beside that, we have to many creativity in peace research beacuse of  in peace research we have to see both of perpetrator and victim and see many aspects such as politics, diplomacy, defense, economics, education, media, religion, health and so forth. 

Response Paper “Ecofeminism”

By Watini

The passage is written by Amanda Baugh that the title is “Gender”. The paasage is in book “Grounding Religion” that publicated in Routledge, New York, 2011. Ecofeminism or ecological feminism is a feminist perspective based on the assumption that woman and nature are linked and mutually denigrated (130). Ecofeminist’s argument are particularly relevant to religious environmental ethics. One is the assertion that the oppression of woman and nature are related and that establishing proper human relationship among human and other creatures obligates an overturning of patriarchal civilization and corresponding breach between men  and women. The other claims is that women are closer to nature and it categoorized as sacredness and it is recognized as effort to reharmonize life on earth (in The Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature by Bron R. Tylor and friends, (602) Environment, Worlview, and Religion, Yogyakarta: Universitas Gadjah Mada, 2006).  Talking about relation between women and nature, it is like compare that if ecology doesn’t work, women is the first party that they experience many problem that it is shown in “Belakang Hotel” film, 2014.

They are marginalized because they doesn’t work many thing if the nature (especially water ) is very limited. They difficult to clean household and many thing such as, take a bath, washing clothes and plate and cook water even they buy water in market’s toilet to take a bath. To solve this problem,  society in there use method that policy have role to take action. Then, after BLH warn the hotel, there are water arround society there. About gender or eco-feminism, in Yogyakarta there are many organizations to defend their right in many thing like in ecology. They are Rifka Annisa and Pusat Studi Wanita (PSW) in UIN Sunan Kalijaga.

Amanda explains that more than 30.000 women from Britain and the United States opposed patriarchal militaristic agendas. Thus, a series of  conferences on women and the environment in the middle 1970’s, the growth of green politics and the emergence of grassroots movements responding to local environmental issues developed  in there (132). According to Griffin, women have a special intuitive understanding of all human’s connections with the earth. Vandana Shiva describes that women had special knowledge for living sustainably within nature (133). Merchant, Griffin and Shiva is feminist from Western patriarchals worldviews but there are many scholars and theologians written negative legacy of Western Christianity’s treatment of both women and the earth (134).

Sallie McFague, feminist theologian offered a vision of God that supported the equality of women and the value of the earth. Practicioners of feminist spirituality assume that the earth is sacred and all living beings are worthy of respect (135). In religion women  have special possition in nature because women needed is many more than men. There are Women and Life on Earth (WLOE). It is a non-profit organization and internet project whose stated goal is to support “women in international cooperation for peace, ecology and social justice”. The Women and Life n Earth  project developed out in 1980’s. WLOE was inactive by 1982 but in 1999 the organization was restored when several of the original members launched Women and Life on Earth as an internet project dedicated to peace, ecology, and global justice. If we compare in Indonesia, Indonesia also have feminist actor that is Rahman Wahid. In short, women closely related to nature than men. It is bacause women have many needed in water than men. Women are closer to nature and it categoorized as sacredness and it is recognized as effort to reharmonize life on earth.