JOURNAL 2 – FOREWORD (Vol. 1 No. 2 January 2002)

In the Institute of Cultural Studies for Western Mindanao (ICSWM) and the Ateneo Peace Institute (API), we can fairly easily distinguish between “peace studies” and “cultural studies.” We have no problem saying that the first issue of Culture and Peace Studies was a culture issue in that its contents were all on Sama Dilaut (Bajau) culture, while this second issue is a peace issue in that its contents concern the challenge of promoting peace.

One of our personnel noted that this second issue could be called a culture of peace issue. The notion of “culture” in this phrase goes beyond the “dance, dress, diet, and domicile” popular conception of “culture” into the broader, more anthropological understanding. But the idea is that of a shared way of living that promotes peace.

This culture of peace issue begins with Dr. Toh Swee-Hin’s reflections entitled “Transcending the Spiral of Violence.” These reflections were shared at the teach-in “Education for a Culture of Peace: Lessons from September 11th and Beyond.” This was held on September 26, 2001 at the University of Alberta. It was among other things, meant to respond creatively to the intense, complex emotions and feelings people experienced in the wake the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Later events showed that these feelings and emotions were often easily turned into calls and support for the military campaign against Osama bin Laden and the Taliban in Afghanistan. The reflections point out that this need not be the case. But education for a culture of peace and nonviolence would be badly needed. Given recent events here in Basilan and Jolo, and the patterns of reactions people including especially media personnel and academicians, Dr. Toh’s points are ones we would do well to ponder.

Dr. Toh, a professor at the University of Alberta, talks of a foremost task of creating respectful spaces where dialogue can occur. Fr. Sebastiano D’Ambra’s “Mary in the Bible: An Inspiration of Dialogue and Peace” and Prof. Wadja K. Esmula’s “Virgin Mary: the Venerable Mother of Jesus as Presented in the Qur’an” are one such instance of dialogue. The space for this dialogue was created and realized at the Symposium on Mary in the Bible and Maryam in the Qur’an held on November 12, 2001 at the Ateneo de Zamboanga University. About a hundred Muslims and Christians based here in Zamboanga City attended this symposium.

Talk of Muslim-Christian dialogue here in Western Mindanao and we would soon have to cite Fr. Sebastiano D’Ambra. On July 16, 2001, this P.I.M.E. priest read a paper at the Faith Encounter in Social Action (FEISA IV) Conference in Kuala Lumpur. That paper was entitled “The Philippine Muslim-Christian Experience of the Silsilah Dialogue Movement.” Fr. D’Ambra graciously gave Culture and Peace Studies permission to publish the paper.

In addition to this, Fr. D’Ambra also gave us three other papers. These three are actually modules in a seminar-workshop on the Culture of Dialogue, which the Silsilah has been running for many years now. They give an idea of the kind of work being done in Western Mindanao to promote peace and dialogue.

Culture and Peace Studies is so grateful to Fr. D’Ambra, Prof. Esmula and Prof. Toh not only for their contributions to this issue, and, more important, for the light they shed by their lives and work.

TITLES

Transcending the Spiral of Violence Reflection on September 11th and Beyond
DR. TOH SWEE-HIN

The Philippine Muslim-Christian Experience of the Sisilah Dialogue Movement
FR. SEBASTIANO D’AMBRA, P.I.M.E

Culture of Dialogue: Why? and How? Part II – Personal Transformation: Spirituality of Life-In-Dialogue
SAÑO

Culture of Dialogue: Why? and How? Part I – Basic Education
MS. EVELYN C. LUCEÑO

Culture of Dialogue: Why? and How? Part III – Social Transformation: Culture of Dialogue
FR. SEBASTIANO D’AMBRA, P.I.M.E.

Virgin Mary: The Venerable Mother of Jesus as Presented in the Qur’an
PROF. WADJA K. ESMULA

Mary in the Bible – An Inspiration of Dialogue and Peace part I: Life and Mission of Mary
FR. SEBASTIANO D’AMBRA, P.I.M.E.