The Charleston Congress of

Religions
and the
COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON
RELIGIOUS STUDIES

January 12, 2008

 Conflict Resolution
Dr. Frank Kaufmann

 Inter Religious Federation for World

Peace
 New World Encyclopedia
 Conflict resolution
A broad topic

This topic is vast and can be discussed

and taught for the length of an entire
course, or even be studied as a multi-
disciplinary "major."
 Conflict resolution
A sub-topic

 An isolated sub-aspect of the larger

concept or program to build and
sustain enduring PEACE, opportunity,
and prosperity.
 Conflict resolution is a subtopic of
peace
 Peace
 Programs for peace are necessary
even where there is not conflict
 Peace has 3 interrelated bases that
must be recognized, understood, and in
order
 The elements (players)
 The conditions
 The relations (dynamics)
 Peace
 Investing in peace involves us in three
distinct and different activities
 Building
 Establishing
 Sustaining
The relationship between peace
and conflict resolution
 Peace work does not require the
existence of conflict to be necessary
 If conflict is present peace work
cannot effectively proceed
 Conflict cannot be resolved absent the
context of a sound program for peace
 This is one major reason that despite
massive, costly efforts to resolve conflict,
conflict persists
 Conflict resolution
(Today’s topic)

Three universals are found in ALL

occasions of conflict
 The core dynamic of evil

 An identifiable relational structure and

dynamic from a total of 6 possible

choices
 The presence of both material and

non-material (spiritual) aspects.

 The core dynamic of evil
 Conflict is the opposite of love
 Love
 The welfare of the other overwhelms any
concern I have for myself
 Conflict
 The welfare (or even worse, greed) of myself or
the group with which I identify overwhelms any
concern I have for the other
 Conflict arises out of the willingness to
sacrifice the other for my self or my group
 “Boundary dissolution”
 The 6 universal relations
The Family is the microcosm of all human
relations, no matter how large or how small
the groups (political, cultural, social) in
question
 Bi-directional parental relations (gender)
 Bi-directional sibling relations (elder,
younger)
 Bi-directional parent-child relations

All would be peacemakers have lifelong on the

job training
 Conflict is material and non-
material (spiritual)
 Resolution MUST incorporate elements
that are both material and spiritual.
 That is the nature of what you are dealing with
(conflict)
 The spiritual uniquely contains the single most
indispensable seeds for resolution
 Spirit is self-giving, matter is self
maintaining. Material does not have an
inherent rationale for the resolution of
conflict
 Repentance, forgiveness. (Non-rational
outside religious or spiritual understanding)
 Religious conflict
 All religions should take the lead to repent
for the abundance and increase of conflict in
our world
 As the institutions responsible to safeguard
and provide the core and requisite dynamic
for conflict resolution, religions must take
the lead in resolving our own conflicts.
 This will restore the status and proper role
of religion and spiritual life in the modern
world.