A peacemaking response to the war in Ukraine

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 19/03/2022 (1645 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine is hard on everyone here in Canada. Many feel so sad and powerless to do anything to end the suffering.

This can be especially true for people who are committed to peace and non-violence. At a time when diplomacy failed, and the Ukrainians fighting back against Russia’s aggression seems more than justified, what is a peacemaking response to the conflict?

I contacted two Winnipeggers who teach peace and conflict studies to find out.

Wendy Kroeker, who teaches peace and conflict transformation studies at Canadian Mennonite University, started off by acknowledging being a peacemaker today isn’t easy.

“It is challenging to be a Christian peacemaker and peacebuilder, someone who holds to a theology of non-violence, these days,” she said.

What is especially challenging, she notes, is what to do when faced by a violent despot like Putin who seems bent on destroying Ukraine.

“In my circle of thoughtful nonviolence, the discussion centres around how to respond when faced by a force that does not share the same moral compass in terms of saving lives and humanity,” she added.

But that doesn’t mean giving up in the face of the invasion just because the situation is challenging and difficult.

“Christian nonviolence, or any commitment to nonviolence, is hard work,” she said. “It is not simply something one decides and then that is the final articulation of your faith. It is something to which one re-commits each day because the stakes are so high.”

And it needs to happen again and again for each new generation, she added.

“We can think that we have seen society’s greatest injustices, and then worse things happen. We need to talk about revolutionary nonviolence, a nonviolence that really examines the structural injustices and realizes that we need an overhaul of our ways of thinking and being,” she said.

Sometimes the answers are hard to find, and it just means “holding on to each other” as we grapple with things like Russia’s invasion and looking for ways to help “all people flourish.”

One source of inspiration for Canadian peacemakers, she said, are the many Ukrainians who are using nonviolent resistance in their country. That includes civilians who are holding demonstrations and protests in cities and towns occupied by Russian soldiers.

Another source of inspiration are the thousands of Russians who have bravely and non-violently protested the invasion at risk of being arrested and imprisoned. This includes over 500 Russian Christian leaders who have signed an open letter against the war, and an Orthodox priest in a small town outside of Moscow who preached against the invasion in a sermon.

In the sermon, the priest, Ioann Burdin, said: “We Christians cannot stand idly by when a brother kills brother, a Christian kills a Christian.” He was arrested and fined for his remarks.

Another Winnipegger following events in Ukraine from a peacemaking perspective is Karen Ridd, who teaches conflict resolution studies at Menno Simons College.

When diplomacy failed it was tempting for people to say “see, peacemaking doesn’t work,” she said. “The critique always turns on peacemaking, not war making. That is sad and telling.”

When non-violence fails, people “blame non-violence for being ineffective,” she added, noting the same isn’t true when violence fails.

“Then people blame tactics, the strength of the opponent or bad strategy,” she said.

While in favour of peace over war, Ridd said she is “not going to be critical of choices Ukrainians make. Who am I to tell someone they shouldn’t take up arms?”

Yet that doesn’t mean non-violent resistance can’t also be effective, she said. And a response to violence doesn’t have to be an either-or: either peace or war. It can be a mix of the two, as is being seen in Ukraine today.

Like Kroeker, Ridd finds the reports about non-violent demonstrations in Ukraine to be “remarkable,” considering the country is under attack. “They are incredibly powerful and moving.”

As for what Canadians can do, she points to a list of 198 non-violent actions created by peace activist and academic Gene Sharp — things like signing petitions, participating in protests or peaceful assemblies, supporting sanctions and donating to provide humanitarian aid.

“There is so much human creativity” for peaceful responses, she said, adding “not everyone can take up arms, but everyone can be involved in non-violent action. That field is open to an enormous number of people. We are so much better at non-violent resistance than we think.”

The bottom line for people feeling powerless about the invasion is to do something, she said. “That is one of the best antidotes to despair.”

faith@freepress.mb.ca

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