Transforming Conflict: How to Make Peace that Lasts
Conflict happens. Like it or not, it exists as a regular part of life.
We argue with a friend. We bristle at parents’ well-meaning advice. Our kids refuse to go to bed. Our committee at church disagrees about how to use the budget. Part of the congregation starts speaking against the pastor because they have theological differences. The congregation can’t agree on what its stance should be on Black Lives Matter.
Conflict is normal, but we often struggle to handle it well. It’s uncomfortable, it’s scary, it’s painful. We want it to go away, or to resolve it quickly so life can return to “normal."
At Peace Catalyst, we continually deal with conflict as part of our peacemaking work. But we have consistently found that we do not want things to return to normal; we want people and groups to dive into their conflict, working together to discover what new, life-giving relationships might be possible!
To help our staff practice this, one leading peacebuilder to whom we turn is John Paul Lederach, author of The Little Book of Conflict Transformation, among several others. Lederach encourages us to not only manage or resolve visible conflicts, but to use conflicts as an opportunity to transform individual and group relationships in life-giving ways.
The process of conflict transformation challenges us to look beyond the immediate conflict or argument and focus on the relationships involved. Visible conflicts are usually symptoms of much deeper dimensions of mistrust, miscommunication, suspicion, and pain between people, groups, and societies. Conflict resolution may help end the immediate struggle, which is valuable. But unless the conflict is also embraced as an opportunity to heal the underlying broken relationships and create new relational patterns for the future, then the same sort of problems are likely to occur again and again.
At this point you may be thinking, “that’s all well and good, but what does it actually look like?!” Let’s move from the abstract to the tangible. Below, we will explore a community conflict and apply some of Lederach’s principles as we seek to understand and transform the deeper issues and relationships that drive it. This specific situation is fictional, though it is a composite of real-life examples from around the United States that we at PCI face or have often heard about.
A Story: A New Mosque? Not in Our Town!
Our fictional town of Huntsville is a rural town of about 20,000 people in the Midwest. The close-knit, predominantly white and culturally Christian town’s economy revolves around agricultural industries, and its residents pride themselves on their ethic of hard work and self-sufficiency.
Yet in recent years, the dynamics have started to shift. For decades there had always been a few non-white residents, particularly East African immigrants or refugees working in nearby meat-packing plants. Huntsville residents generally valued these hard-working newcomers. But word of the low cost of living and promise of reliable jobs has gotten out—more immigrants are moving to Huntsville. The number of East Africans, most of whom are Muslim, has multiplied tenfold in the past five years. Increasingly, long-term residents—especially some of the white, Christian residents— are expressing frustration and resistance, no longer feeling at home as the “look and feel” of their town is changing.
This conflict escalated a few months ago. The Muslim residents, after collecting their resources and soliciting donations, purchased a plot of land on the edge of town with the intention of building a new mosque, the first in town. This news is not well-received by some of Huntsville’s long-term, majority culture residents.
Some in Huntsville are supportive; many are ambivalent or uncertain; others are outraged. Immediately, a vocal and small-but-growing contingent of upset residents begins to protest the proposed mosque. They speak at every city council meeting; they place signs throughout the town decrying the mosque, often using quite prejudiced language; a few stand in protest outside the building site; some pastors condemn the mosque, and Islam in general, as a threat to the spiritual well-being of Huntsville; reports of verbal and physical assaults of East Africans are on the rise, especially against women wearing headscarves and children going to and from school.
In the midst of this, your church in Huntsville is unsure what to do. The congregation has a range of opinions, and your pastor seems paralyzed—he finds all of the hateful rhetoric and antagonistic actions as un-Christlike, but he is also uncomfortable with the influx of Muslim residents and the potential mosque. He also fears the possibility of this conflict, already quietly present in your congregation, causing painful divisions in the church.
Your pastor, knowing that you are skilled in peacemaking and might have a book that could help, turns to you to guide the church’s response.
What do you say? How do you help your church transform this conflict and build peaceful, just, and life-giving relationships in your town? Naturally, you grab your copy of Lederach’s Little Book of Conflict Transformation.
The Multiple Levels of Conflict
One place that Lederach would suggest starting is to pay attention to the different levels at which a conflict plays out. Every conflict is influenced by and can cause change on four levels: personal, relational, structural, and cultural. These changes can be positive or negative, increasing peace or increasing violence.
“Every conflict is influenced by and can cause change on four levels: personal, relational, structural, and cultural. “
How are these levels playing out in Huntsville?
Personal. On a personal level, people are doing a lot of internal wrestling, especially Christians. Some are praying and reading Scripture more, studying what God has to say about other religions. Others appear to be jumping straight to fear and suspicion, turning typically caring neighbors into angry resistors. Muslim residents are also experiencing internal change as they experience both the trauma of fear and exclusion and the joy of support and acceptance, all while trying to understand their place in this new community.
Relational. All sorts of change is happening on a relational level. Neighbors disagree about the right thing to do. Both churches and the Muslim community debate internally about the best path forward. Depending on their values, residents from all backgrounds are either intentionally reaching out to or antagonizing the “other.” Some friendships have fractured; others have been forged in a common cause. Communication repeatedly breaks down as residents struggle to hear the intention and meaning of what others are saying.
Structural. The conflict extends into Huntsville’s structures, the laws and policies and institutions that guide it. Town ordinances are debated endlessly as residents and officials look to either block or defend the mosque’s construction. Institutions like the schools, parks, and library, as well as businesses, churches, and nonprofits, have a powerful role in shaping public opinion depending on how welcoming and accessible they choose to be to Huntsville’s new residents.
Cultural. Behind so much of this conflict is culture—what people believe is right or wrong, who belongs and who doesn’t. Huntsville is predominantly Christian, conservative, and patriotic. Many Christians think other religions are wrong, or even demonic. Many residents are veterans who have fought against Muslims in the Middle East; others grew up on rhetoric and stories that supported American exceptionalism and painted Muslims as violently anti-American. Often they have their own conceptions of what “Americans” look like and sound like, and what the culture of Huntsville is “supposed” to be and do not welcome that changing. Muslim residents have their own cultural preconceptions: they may have learned stories and theology that leads them to distrust Christians; they have seen the damage that American troops and policies have caused in Muslim countries; they have come to expect racism and xenophobia from Americans; their struggle to hold to their sense of culture and identity in a new land leads them to resist integration.
Clearly, there is a lot wrapped up in this conflict over a mosque!
Mapping the Conflict
With these different levels of conflict in mind, Lederach offers us three inquiries that can guide our peacemaking strategy: The Presenting Situation, The Horizon of the Future, and The Development of Change Processes.
“Before we create a solution, we have to first understand what’s happening and how the problem came about“
Inquiry 1: The Presenting Situation
Before we create a solution, we must first understand what is happening and from where the problem came. Lederach uses two terms to explain how the practice of conflict transformation can help people understand and approach conflict in an attempt to heal underlying relationships: 1) episode, which is the specific issue in conflict right now, and 2) epicenter, which encompasses the recent and historic relational patterns and attitudes that make up the context for this conflict. Unless we address the epicenter, the relational context of the conflict, a new episode or contested issue is likely to arise soon after this one is resolved.
What does this look like in Huntsville? The episode, the current presenting issue, is the conflict over the construction of a mosque. Many city residents feel angry and afraid at the prospect of a mosque in their town, and they are strongly opposing it. But why is this such a big deal? Why are they angry and afraid?
The wider context behind their anger and fear, the epicenter at the heart of this conflict, could include any number of things. Some common issues might be white residents' concerns over the change in the town's culture, the loss of cultural and religious homogeneity, worries of how new immigrants might affect Huntsville's economy and crime rate, and fear that their new Muslim neighbors might not have peaceful intentions. Zooming out further, we can see that these fears and concerns sit against the backdrop of a national narrative warning us about a conflict between Muslims and the West, ingrained in national memory because of the events of 9/11. A corresponding religious narrative sometimes warns Christians that our very faith might be threatened by welcoming other religious expressions into our communities.
Inquiry 2: The Horizon of the Future
By now, you've talked to your pastor, your fellow parishioners, your neighbors, and more, and have a decent understanding of both the issue at hand as well as the larger underlying context. But before you can start addressing the conflict head-on, Lederach points out that you and your partners must stop and consider what a peaceful future might actually look like. Thinking biblically, what might holistic just peace, shalom, look like here—the right relationships, wholeness, and mutual flourishing that Scripture points us toward?
“Before addressing the conflict head-on, stop and envision what a peaceful future might look like.”
Lederach describes this future as a “horizon,” a vision that you can see and move toward, but never fully reach. Like the conflict itself, it needs to be multidimensional, encompassing transformation on personal, relational, structural, and cultural levels. It also needs to address the immediate situation—the resistance to the mosque—while simultaneously changing the relational epicenter underneath.
Because the pastor asked you for help in this scenario, I would encourage you to consider for yourself what a peaceful horizon might look like. But to help get you started...
A horizon that speaks to the immediate issue of the mosque might be allowing the construction of the mosque, with the Muslim community feeling safe, welcomed, and affirmed, and white residents ready to embrace the increased diversity while having their fears taken seriously and addressed.
A personal horizon could be residents viewing diversity as an opportunity to grow and learn, rather than a threat to resist.
A relational horizon could be residents choosing a posture of welcome and hospitality, desiring to build respect and friendship with their new Muslim neighbors.
A structural horizon could be a shift in policies and institutional attitudes that treat white Midwestern culture as the assumed norm, by integrating Islamic holidays and prayer times into the fabric of the town, encouraging halal options at events, and providing resources in multiple languages.
A cultural horizon could be a reshaping of identity, in which an American citizen and a resident of Huntsville could look like a dark-skinned Muslim immigrant just as easily as a white Christian.
Inquiry 3: Development of Change Processes
Now we get to the heart of the matter—what do you do? How do you connect the dots between the history of the conflict and the future you want to move toward?
“Transformational change means simultaneously addressing both the present situation as well as the underlying context.”
First, Lederach emphasizes processes, plural. Transformational change means simultaneously addressing both the present situation as well as the underlying context, the epicenter. And this needs to happen on personal, relational, structural, and cultural levels. One process or project on its own will not be enough to fully transform this conflict. You can't do it all by yourself, so who in your church or community can you partner with? With whom can you share the process of imagining and working toward future horizons?
Second, expect setbacks. Lederach stresses that conflict transformation is not entirely a linear movement. This sort of peace work is cyclical—things move forward for awhile, hit a wall and lose steam, then start to regress over time before eventually collapsing. At this point, peacemakers (that's you!) reassess and adapt, responding with new processes to renew that forward momentum. So be sure to capitalize on the high energy in town right now, but don't be shocked by resistance or disinterest. Reassess and adapt.
Third, consider your particular place in this. You're not an outsider creating big picture systems to implement; you're a member of a church trying to figure out what to do. Work toward the change that you have the power to create, and then connect with others doing the same from their own community and vantage point.
So—your pastor has given you an open invitation to help guide the church's response. What will you do? Again, some ideas:
Within your church, you might start facilitating small groups, circle discussions, or book studies where the congregation can openly discuss their concerns, learn more about Islam and immigrants, or study how Scripture teaches us to engage with immigrants and other faiths. These would likely focus on personal change, impacting both the immediate conflict and the underlying epicenter.
You could invite representatives from the mosque to meet at your church, the library, or elsewhere in the community to share their stories and hopes, adding a reassuring sense of humanity to the issue. This might allow your congregation to learn about the mosque’s desire to offer community services, or worshippers’ desires to start businesses and strengthen the economy. Other guests could include Christian theologians or faith leaders who work on interfaith issues (perhaps your nearest PCI team?), legal experts to help understand the political dimensions at play, or a church leader who can speak to the positive changes in their community after experiencing a similar controversy. This would also most directly prompt personal change, with immediate and long-term effects.
To address relational change, encourage the congregation to meet their newer Muslim neighbors, ideally outside of the church building. Arrange encounters, shared meals, cultural exchanges, perhaps even a discussion group, where lay people from both the mosque and your church can start to build transformative relationships with the "other." When church members hear the stories and values of their new neighbors, they often will appreciate the qualities and skills that will contribute to their town. These relationships may develop in time to shape the current debate about the mosque's construction, yet will probably have the deepest impact on the broader relational patterns underneath the conflict.
If there are members of your church who are already supportive of the building of the mosque—or at least supportive of the Muslim community's right to do so—they can get active on a structural level. Start showing up at town halls to support the Muslim community. Push community leaders to protect the immigrants' rights and interests, and pressure businesses and institutions to welcome and support a more diverse clientele. Write letters and make phone calls to local and state leaders. Challenge the schools to consider how cultural inclusivity can improve children’s readiness for a changing world. Perhaps even counter-protest those who are at the building site. These actions would most directly shape the immediate conflict as well as pave the way for more significant structural change.
You and fellow peacemakers—or your church as an institution, if people are on board—can also begin shaping the public narrative, creating cultural change. Start preaching, writing letters to the newspaper, or hosting community conversations focusing on the call to love and welcome the "stranger" and the "alien" or promoting a vision of America and Huntsville that embraces an identity bigger than race and religion. For Christians in the community, this encouragement to live out a welcoming, compassionate, and self-sacrificial Christianity can re-ignite faith in the town as they practice loving their new neighbors. This work for cultural change would likely influence the immediate episode of the conflict, while also helping your town begin to embrace a new identity narrative that would shape their interactions for the next generation.
“Peacemaking in the way of Jesus is a beautiful and powerful work well worth the challenge.”
And there you go! With a bit of guiding wisdom from Lederach and the lens of conflict transformation, you've started your church on its journey of facing its fears, welcoming those who are different and excluded, and becoming a force for peace and compassion in your town. It likely won't be easy or fast, and you're sure to encounter resistance along the way. But peacemaking in the way of Jesus—transforming conflict toward the horizon of shalom and reconciliation that Scripture offers us—is a beautiful and powerful work well worth the challenge.
