Spectrum - working with conflict

2. Going deeper

Working with conflict

Disagreement and conflict will naturally arise when the very different world views of different faiths come into contact. Conflict carries within it the seeds of deeper understanding and growth, but only
if polarisation and personalisation of the issues can be avoided. Disagreeing agreeably is the goal.
Listening is the key skill needed, particularly being curious enough to understand what people who
think differently are really saying. It is easy to fall into the trap of attributing to others what we think they are saying or reducing their position to stereotyped generalisations. When conflict, animosity, or tension occur it may become necessary to focus directly on what is difficult. This takes commitment, honesty, skilful planning and, sometimes, expert facilitation.

A heated discussion between Revd John Foley & Davinder Singh Bahra

Strengths

• Honest, respectful disagreement can help people deepen their understanding of difficult issues.
• Relationships that have survived conflict and transformed it may be stronger and more durable as a result.
• Demonstrates to the communities involved that the core issues will be listened to and taken seriously.

Potential Issues

• Needs skilful and well-planned facilitation.
• Requires time, commitment and patience.

Points to consider

• Are there tensions or conflicts in your locality that stand in the way of interfaith collaboration and might need to be addressed directly?
• It can be important to map the key issues and concerns carefully in one to one consultations before
bringing conflicted groups together. What process might you use to do this effectively?
• There needs to be a safe container for dialogue and the building of trust within a group before tackling the difficult issues. What skills and processes can you use to create safe space? Can you locate skilled experts who can support you in this?
• What can we learn from stories of conflict within our own and other faith traditions?

Resources

The Public Conversations Project

The Corrymeela Community

The London Mennonite Centre

United States Institute for Peace Online training course in interfaith conflict resolution

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Case Study: Faith Matters,
Cohesive Communities Programme

This programme was created to explore growing tensions between Sikh and Muslim communities. The pilot event brought fifteen Muslim and nine Sikh participants from Slough, London, Coventry, Derby and Yorkshire together for three days at the Corrymeela Community, a centre for reconciliation in Northern Ireland. Corrymeela’s experienced facilitators endeavoured to create safe space and to explore commonalities before moving on to areas of contention. Sessions began by looking at perceptions and concerns within each faith community. Participants spent some time in single gender and single faith groups, and café conversations invited frank discussion on themes such as the effects of 9/11, interfaith marriage, and whether one faith is superior to the other. There was time for the sharing of personal stories and experiences, which proved to be an important element in the process; and each group was given the opportunity to craft five core questions to put to the other faith group. Despite unresolved issues, the programme took a courageous first step in creating space for difficulties to be expressed honestly and generated useful recommendations for future work. It is expected that the pilot study will be refined and repeated in different areas.