Take it to the BridgeUsing Music as a Bridge for Interfaith Peacebuilding

Sharenda Roam

2013

Presentation• Music as an interfaith Peacebuilding Tool

• Framework – Nicolaus of Cusa: De pace fidei, and ―sense experience‖ as a mode of knowing or gaining understanding

• Field Experience - Israel, Summer, 2013

• Challenges and Future Studies

Music as an Interfaith Peacebuilding Tool

• Problem: Long history of religious strife between believers in the Abrahamic traditions, Judaism, Christianity and Islamdue to exclusivist claims and power struggles

• Dialogue may be aided by using the arts and music. Because art and music move beyond boundaries of the intellect they engage an individual’s senses and can elevate the dialogue or take it in a new direction. With interfaith arts the conversation can move from encountering a religion to embracing an individual.

• Research in the field of music and interfaith peacebuildingis virtually untapped and needs extensive study.

Framework

• Nicolaus of Cusa ―Cusanus‖ (1401-1464) - One of the most important German thinkers of the fifteenth century, was born in Kues, Germany. He became a canon lawyer and a cardinal.

• ―De pace fidei‖ written by Cusanus in response to religious clashes between Christians and Muslims after the fall of Constantinople in 1453 to the Ottomans

Premise of De pace fidei - Cultivation of harmony through philosophical and theological ―relationism‖ (not relativism)

There are three modes of knowing/understanding: sense experience,

reason, and higher intellect. Cusanus, De Beryllo

In his study devoted to Cusanus, Harvard professor Karl Jaspers

makes this tripartite sequence a cornerstone of his discussion. Sense

experience aims with all sensory organs at ―real‖ phenomena; reason,

in turn, supplies ―categories (forms, types)‖ for the comprehension of

phenomena, while intellect draws ―through the shipwreck of reason‖

closer to the divine.

―An important aspect of Cusanus’s teaching, according to Jaspers, is

that each of the stages of knowing has its own integrity and significance

in the ascent toward truth. By the same token,

none of the stages is by itself complete or exhaustive; rather, truth can

only be found in the interrelation and interpenetration of stages—a

relation which is not so much a linear sequence as rather a circular

movement (akin to the hermeneutical circle).‖

Field Experience

Israel, 2013

Field Experience: Israel

Summer two week visit to Israel where I traveled with Israeli musician Yuval Ron and his ensemble who gave concerts in different cities and introduced us to like-minded individuals doing important peacebuilding work in Jewish and Palestinian areas. These individuals included musicians, teachers and activists dedicated to peacebuilding resolutions. They were from Neve Shalom-Oasis of Peace, an intentional community jointly established by Jewish and Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel, singers and musicians from the Hand in Hand School, a school which integrates and educates Jewish and Arabic children, and the Jerusalem Interfaith Youth Chorus.

Yuval Ron

Yuval Ron Ensemble (1:36:39-2:58)

Yuval Ron Stories from Concerts

• In one story he tells of a Syrian-American woman that came up to him after a concert and explained how the concert had transformed her. Seven months earlier she had been working in the Palestinian West Bank helping families survive. She had become filled with hate but described that his concert had helped her take the first step out of depression and hate towards peace activism.

• Another story he relates is of two young men who had been working in Israel with the organization Peace Now. They had become very discouraged with the Middle East peace process and had quit all involvement and fund raising with the group. However, during the concert they felt a guilt that spurred them to renew their purpose and return to the Middle East to continue working toward peace. The space that this music creates moves beyond dialogue and deeper into the will and hearts of individuals to heal, inspire and motivate.

Hand in Hand Schools

Hand in Hand: Center for Jewish-Arab Education in Israel furthers peaceful coexistence between Jews and Arabs through the development of integrated, bilingual and multicultural schools. At our four schools, the number of students at each grade level is balanced equally between Arab and Jewish children. Students at all grade levels are taught in both Hebrew and Arabic.

Hand in Hand School video Hand in Hand School website

Challenges & Future StudiesChallenges:

• How does one measure the effects of music on peacebuilding efforts?

• Limited Research on the topic of music and interfaith peacebuilding

Future Studies:

• Analyze the lyrics of Jewish and Arabic Peacebuilding musical artists

• Explore the variety of ancient instruments chosen by these musical artists e.g. oud, ney

• Discuss the effects and results of these musical peacebuilding endeavors

• Research Christian scriptures and ancient texts on the topic of interfaith peacebuilding

• Women and Peacebuilding

Thank you!

Sources• http://jasper-hopkins.info/DeBeryllo12-2000.pdf

• http://jasper-hopkins.info/DePace12-2000.pdf

• http://jasper-hopkins.info/

• http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/cusanus/

• http://www.sacpweb.org/SACP-Forum.pdf