Susan Hayward, associate director of the religious literacy and the professions initiative at HDS, weighs in on what peacebuilding efforts look like and how religion comes into play in Sojourners article by Mitchell Atencio.
"After 20 years of war and violence under four different presidents — and the deaths of more than 172,000 people — the United States withdrew its last troops from Afghanistan on Monday.
For many, ending the war in Afghanistan seems like a step toward a more peaceful future. But even in the process of ending a war, the United States has relied on violence to enforce its will: Two days before Biden’s address, on Aug. 29, the U.S. carried out a “defensive strike,” using drones to attack what it said was the vehicle of an ISIS-K suicide bomber in Kabul, Afghanistan; following the attack, news reports said several civilians, including seven children, had been killed in the strike.
The United States carried out these drone attacks after a suicide bomber killed at least 92 people, including 13 U.S. military members, in an attack on the Kabul airport earlier in the week. In response, Biden said, “To those who carried out this attack, as well as anyone who wishes America harm, know this: We will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay.”
But according to nonviolent activists, academics, and policy experts, violent intervention and retribution has never been the only option. Though these experts are aware that nonviolence is often viewed as impractical or ineffective — especially in geopolitical crises — they insist that the moral and practical arguments are on their side."
Read the full article on Sojourners.