Head, Heart, and Hands: Religion as an Instrument for Peace

Bishop Victor Brown is senior pastor of Mt. Sinai United Christian Church and a suffragan bishop and founding board member of the Worldwide Fellowship of Independent Christian Churches. The following post is based on his remarks during the panel “Religion: A Catalyst for Peace?” at the ICLRS 31st Annual International Law and Religion Symposium, 7 October 2024.

We gather at this Symposium under a heavy cloud of national and international unrest and warfare. Today marks the one-year anniversary of the attack on Israel by Hamas, which resulted in the highest number of Israeli lives lost since the Holocaust. In addition to conflicts in Haiti and Sudan—and the ongoing wars in Syria, Myanmar, Somalia, Yemen, Russia, and Ukraine—on the American national front, the United States presently stands as a nation divided.

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Efforts to Promote Religious Freedom and Peaceful Coexistence in Bahrain

Alsadig Khalafalla is a member of the Board of Trustees of the King Hamad Global Center for Peaceful Coexistence and currently serves as an advisor for strategic affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The following post is based on his remarks during the panel “Religious Perspectives on Religious Freedom and Peace” at the ICLRS 31st Annual International Law and Religion Symposium, 7 October 2024.

Bahrain, a small island nation in the Arabian Gulf, has been a focal point for discussions surrounding religious freedom and peace, stemming from its diverse religious landscape. Bahrain is a Sunni Muslim country with a significant Shia population, but it is also home to various religious minorities, including Christians, Jews, Hindus, and members of other faiths. This diversity in Bahrain has shaped the discourse on religious freedom, often reflecting the broader political and social dynamics at play in the region. Historically, Bahrain has been characterized by its tolerance toward different religions. The Bahraini Constitution guarantees freedom of worship, allowing various religious communities to practice their faith openly. Houses of worship belonging to numerous faiths can be found across the country, symbolizing the degree of open society.

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Conscientious Objection to the Military Service: A Right in Progress

The right to conscientiously object to the military service is well established in international law and “can be derived from the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion or belief.” However, in many countries across the globe, believers of different religions and belief systems continue to face challenges in gaining access to alternative service and, more broadly, practicing their belief not to bear arms and participate in military service.

Photo by Amnesty International

This blog series provides case studies that illustrate such challenges in various contexts. Mine Yildirim discusses the heavy long-term legal and social consequences that non-recognition of objectors’ rights produces in Turkey. Ihntaek Hwang explains why the South Korean approach to alternative service remains punitive and aims to sanction those refusing to be conscripted. Nikolay Honhannisyan demonstrates on the selectiveness of the Armenian government in providing the right to object to believers of different religions. Moshe Jaffe shows how the Israel/Gaza war has changedthe debates over and the legal framework of the exemption for yeshiva students from ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities. Finally, Paola Goulart de Souza Spikes elaborates on why the Brazilian constitution does not allow exemptions from military service during war time.

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