Pedagogy for Peacemakers of a Non-Violent World

Noh, Jong-Sun ^[1]

How do we teach people to make peace in a world of war, violence, oppression, exploitation and human rights violations? How do we teach peacemaking for ministers and professional lay workers when the Bible itself has been misused by the powerful to wage war against other people, tribes, nation-states, classes and gender?

The pedagogy for peacemaking must include deconstructing wrongful interpretations of the Bible. It includes such methods as social biography and storytelling of people's experiences. Comparing two radically different stories or two very similar stories of violence and non-violence can help to analyze the nature of a violent situation and how oppressors distort reality. Pedagogy for peacemaking should include situation analysis, rationale and methods for change, and personal commitment for peace.

Pedagogy for peacemaking is one of liberation, emancipation, and eventually of salvation. The pedagogy of Jesus Christ is to love your enemy, the alienated and oppressed people, the people of other civilizations, cultures and religions. Before Jesus, the pedagogy of Joshua of the ancient Hebrew Bible was to kill all the people in the area of Canaan, according to the instructions of Yahweh. In the new period of Jesus, massacre is no longer the way. But there is confusion among Christians, just like the contemporary tribes of Joshua, over the pedagogy for peacemaking and justice-making. Following are case studies of such confusion but also attempts at turning them into opportunities for peacemaking

War against the Marginalized Scapegoat

In a roundtable dialogue on 19 November 2003 to which the Korean YMCA invited US Ambassador Thomas C. Hubbard, I spoke on the relations between the people of the Republic of Korea and the people of the USA in terms of cultural, economic and political solidarity. Solidarity means that Korea and USA have mutual respect for each other�s security and prosperity. But the statement by President George W. Bush on preemption in 2002 and on the axis of evil endangered the peace and security of the Korean peninsula. Asserting that North Korea is now trying very hard to be a genuine friend, I asked that US work towards a non-aggression and peace treaty, normalize diplomatic relations with DPR Korea, and designate her as one of the Most Favored Nations. The economic sanctions against DPR Korea have, since 1950, threatened the life of North Koreans.

Military might includes nuclear weapons. The nuclear-haves should not threaten the nuclear-have-nots with preemption. Denuclearization of the nuclear-haves like Russia, China, UK, Israel, Pakistan, India, Japan and USA is the first step. Some people have intentionally exaggerated North Korean nuclear capability, making the country a victim of misinformation. US President George W. Bush said, "I loathe him (Kim, Jong Il)". It is time for Mr. Bush to say, "I love him with the spirit of Jesus Christ, who encourages us to love our enemy". This single statement of love would in fact solve most of the problems of war, terrorism, and insecurity in Northeast Asia.

Peace for Life in a Global Situation of War

The People's Forum on Peace for Life, "No Peace without Justice", issued a communique on 13 October 2003, in Seoul, which starts with a biblical quotation: "The thief only comes to kill, steal and destroy. I have come that you may have life and have it abundantly" (John 10:10). It is a call and a challenge to churches and partners around the world to join in the movement for inter-faith or multi-religious solidarity to resist domination and militarized globalization and to build peace for life. The forum was jointly organized by the World Council of Churches, Christian Conference of Asia, and National Council of Churches in the Philippines in cooperation with National Council of Churches in Korea. It envisages a global coalition of ecumenical, multi-religious and inter-faith movements in opposition to expanding state terror and US global domination. It cites the Bush administration�s declaration of war on terror as an opportunistic use of violence to consolidate and expand US economic, political, cultural and military power. The forum called this global domination "empire".

Lamenting the wanton loss of life, destruction of communities, and mounting injustice to the greed and arrogance of the Empire, the forum issued a reminder from the Bible: �I have set before you life and death� Now choose life, so that you and your children may live� (Deuteronomy 30:19). In the face of new forms of domination � e.g. preemption, unilateralism, global capital masked as 21st century Christian crusades, the forum recognized the emergence of a global movement in defense of life and advancing the cause of world peace. It called the churches, religious bodies, and others to join the coalition of people�s movements for global peace for life.

Wrong Biblical Interpretation and Misuse of the Bible

William M. Arkin, a military affairs analyst, wrote for Los Angeles Times (Oct. 16, 2003) on the nature of holy war. Entitled "The Pentagon unleashes a holy warrior," the article described Jerry Boykin as a Christian extremist in a high Defense post who can only set back the US approach to the Muslim world. In June 2002, Boykin stood at the pulpit of First Baptist Church of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma and spoke about photographs he took from an army helicopter in 1993, after the disastrous "Blackhawk Down" mission in Somalia which resulted in the death of 18 Americans. Boykin claimed that when he came home and had the film developed, he noticed a strange dark mark over the city. He consulted an imagery interpreter trained by the military who said, "This is not a blemish on your photograph. This is real." Since then Boykin has described himself as a warrior in the kingdom of God, inviting others to join with him in fighting for the US through repentance, prayer and exercise of faith in God. "Satan wants to destroy this nation, he wants to destroy us as a nation, and he wants to destroy us as a Christian army," he claims. Boykin's use of the Bible is clearly a misuse that should be deconstructed and debunked.

A Story of Life and Ecocide in Korea

My ancestors were natives in the peninsula of Korea for thousands of years. Before 1945, Pyongyang was called 'Jerusalem', where the largest number of churches and Christians enjoyed abundant life in Christian faith. I once asked my mother, "Why then do they go for Communism?" She replied, "Christians did not have proper faith in Jesus, that's why." Probably the Christians were not a liberating force for the poor and the oppressed, except for their paternalistic acts of charity. Some Christians joined the structural revolution with socialist ideology, and became the enemy of capitalists, including churchgoers with capitalistic interpretations of Jesus. Hate syndrome characterized the relations between the two groups of people. I call it "Collective Phobia Division Psychosis".

Since 1986, North Korean Churches of the Korea Christian Federation and National Council of Churches (South Korea) have been working closely for reconciliation, peace with justice and liberation of the oppressed people. We are slowly building better relations between Christians in the South and Socialists in the North. The late Rev. Koh, Kijoon, then secretary of the Korea Christian Federation in North Korea, asked us to be peacemakers, rather than trying to be the personal evangelists for North Koreans. Rev. Koh said that they would never give up the socialist alternative and that they are socialist Christians. They read the Bible from their own socialist perspectives.

In the spirit of jubilee (Leviticus 25, the Lord's Prayer, Luke 4), revolutionary structural changes are needed or there will be no hope for the poor. Japan should pay reparations and compensation to people in North Korea for their colonial exploitation, kidnapping of women for the Japanese military sex slavery, and terroristic killings during their 36 years of colonization. Japan should stop its military build-up. The US should stop economic sanctions and create a peace system for reconciliation with North Korea. No superpowers should use the land and people of Korea for their hegemonic proxy wars anymore.

Korean Christians should be humble, more repentant, and try to make life abundant for the poor and non-Christians all over the world. The so-called war on terror is not the clash of civilizations but a desire for control of oil. We should strive to resolve conflicts with reconciliation, both at religious and economic levels, and with ecological cooperation for life. We are seriously facing ecological killing, or ecocide.

Pedagogy for Emancipation and Liberation

(1) In today�s world of injustice, inequality, poverty and oppression, it has become critically important to see the relations between Christians and people of other religions. People of all faiths in Asia should do their role as catalysts and facilitators for peace and justice in the 21st century. It is a matter of life and death. The relationship between Christians and people of other faiths should be more cooperative for liberating the oppressed people and to transform the world into a world of peace, justice, sharing and love.

(2) It is important for apologies and reparations to be made for the victims of war, massacre and annihilation. Although Robert MacNamara, former US Secretary of Defense, confessed that the US administrations made a mistake on the Vietnam war, no apologies were made for the deaths of three million natives in Vietnam, two million in Kampuchea, and 51,000 young Americans. The same thing happened when the British arrived in Australia and killed so many; no apologies were made to the Aborigines. Likewise, the Japanese killed more than 200,000 people in Nanjing, 20 million at Shenyang, and wounded some 16 million in and after 1931. They abused young Korean and other Asian women through sex slavery and killed some 130,000 to 200,000 people during the Pacific War. But there have been no apologies or reparations by the government; they would not even admit the massacres and some Japanese still glorify the war against natives in Korea, Southeast Asia, China, and Manchuria as a "holy war", for the liberation of Asians from western invasion. New textbooks for young Japanese do not tell the true stories of the massacres of innocent and peaceful people by the Imperial Japanese Army. This is unjust and must be corrected.

What could be done to defend the weak from another war? Christians have not effectively defended the life and rights of the weak; rather, most of the time, they joined intentionally or passively in killing peoples of other religions, ideologies and ethnicity. Thus, Christians need a pedagogy for peacemaking and justice-making.

(3) A pedagogy for peacemaking is urgent in a culture of economic exploitation. Some people make more than US$100,000 a year but many make less than US$365 a year. Those who make more try to exploit the poor through strategies of military, culture, education, and arts, which result in ecological abuse. It is said that 6% of the world�s population own more than 80% of the world�s wealth; 20% own 87.5%; while 80% share the remaining 12.5%. Much of the problems and injustices lie with the top 6% who eat the flesh of the weak. This is where churches should help to proclaim liberation.

(4) There is a need to denounce the demonizing and witch hunting theologies. After the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, Colin Powell said, "I am running out of demons. I am down to Castro and Kim, Il Sung." This is a demon hunting theology. In the 16th century, the Catholic Church killed many women as they tried to kill demons and Satan believed to be in women. Now we know that the women who were killed were in fact prophetesses with the spirit of justice, peace and liberation, based on the biblical teachings of Esther and Amos. Conversion is necessary for demon-hunters and witch-hunters in the 21st century.

(5) Christians need to deconstruct the ideologies, practices and theologies of oppression by enemy-making people with superpower hegemonic expansionism. China is not the enemy of the USA. North Korea is not the enemy of the USA or South Korea. China, USA, DPRK and ROK, and other countries can all be friends for peace and common welfare in the 21st century. Christians need to understand the root causes of the enemy-making mentality.

(6) Christians need to have proper understanding of Christ in Asian Culture. The misuse and abuse of the concept of Christ for hegemonic interests of the west should be challenged. Lack of understanding of the liberating Christ leads to enemy-making. Christ is not the problem; human beings are.

(7) There is a need to overcome the possibility of the next war, which results from scapegoating North Koreans. It is important to remember that superpowers colonized Korea with Taft-Katsura Secret Agreement (1905) between USA and Japan, and United Kingdom and Japan. In 1945, Japan would have been divided into two for their war crimes, but US General McArthur divided Korea instead. This made Koreans two-time victims in the hands of Japan and USA. More than 5 million people were killed and wounded in the war because of this unjust division. The free market economy is now dominating Korean economy, which enslaves the people. Churches, Christians and religious people are divided under global structures of exploitation. Solidarity in diversity is necessary for the people. "Minjung" has been used mostly in South Korea with non-Marxian connotations while "Inmien" has been used in North Korea with Socialism. North Koreans have "Inmien Theology" while South Koreans developed Minjung Theology. Inmien Theology of Kang Ryang-Wook (1903-1983) and Kim Chang-Jun (1890-1959) in North Korea has been socialist with strong Marxist analysis. They are indeed socialist Christians.

(8) Neither hard nor soft utopianism is the answer. But the natives are still working for the historical liberation of the oppressed, for their utopian world to come. This is the task that marginalized people should consider most urgent than what the war-mongering superpowers are waging. The task is to deconstruct the existing polluted values, concepts of peace, and justice in the minds of the people, and to reconstruct the positive and just concept and strategies for the liberation of the weak natives and the aborigines. People need to be organized for their own liberation and salvation, and Christians should play the role of assistants, facilitators, and catalysts for building the world of life, peace and justice.

Jubilee Praxis and Strategies

The jubilee spirit in the Book of Leviticus and the gospel according to Luke 4:19 may provide the clue for solving the problem of the liberal market economy and the exploitative economic giants. Spiritual solidarity of the oppressed people and the Christian universities in the 21st century will prevail even in the midst of wars, massacres of the natives, exploitation of the weak, and oppression if churches and universities work together with genuine experiences and praxis of converting the oppressors.

Notes:

1. Noh, Jong-Sun is a professor at Yonsei University, in Seoul, Korea. His paper was originally shared at the North East Asia Theological teachers� consultation on 8-9 February 2004 in Seoul, Korea.