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Interfaith Cooperation: From Local to Global

Making the Connection in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Interfaith Cooperation: From Local to Global

by Samira Barucija

War is injustice made to humans and injustice made to God.

It has been 24 years since the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina ended. Some might expect that the war would be a thing of the past and that society has been able to work through the mistrust, trauma, and grief and move in the direction of peaceful prosperity. Sadly, this is not the case for communities in my country. How to ensure justice and security in a society where injustice has disturbed all the pores of human life?

One way is interfaith cooperation. Bosnia and Herzegovina are in a state of peace. But due to insufficient support for those dealing with the past, roaring narratives and insecure identities, it is a hostile and negative peace which at times can seem dangerously unstable.

Some people do not want peace as the ultimate state for my local community, but this was never acceptable for me. Therefore I decided to turn to people who wish to be on the right side of history. This is the place where interfaith came to the stage for me. Being raised in a diverse community where I was able to have encounters with different faiths and ethnic and national identities. Embracing diversity was a natural part of growing up. Dealing with people in my local community wasn't a challenge. The challenges and difficulties arose when I was moving across the country and trying to talk to people (young and old) about our violent past, reconciliation, and peacebuilding, especially to those who have stayed in homogeneous communities.

For me, it was just a matter of meeting the right people who would be willing to explore differences and similarities of the population in Bosnia, promote the similarities and use them for the grounds of our work. People willing to get to know and learn to appreciate our differences. This is where interfaith made its way into my social engagement.

Some might see interfaith engagement as a separate way of engaging people. But for me, interfaith has been the basis of any work that has the goal of creating a common link between people who all wish to achieve the common good. There is no such thing as too many people working on achieving the common good, and this offers a space for everyone to give their contribution. Some might find their spot in working on environmental issues, gender issues, or the numerous forms of violence that plague the country. But no matter what the focus, we still have a common link.

Faith is a personal, emotional segment of our beings, one of the most sensitive and vulnerable parts of our identities. This is why it is so prone to different attacks and misuses. Using faith to promote peace, security, and ensuring that we leave no one behind is a noble use of it, faithfulness that goes directly against the misuse and abuse of the personal, intimate part of our beings.

My new role in the United Religions Initiative as the Regional Coordinator for URI Multiregion offers a unique opportunity to work with individuals and groups who are active in different regions of the world on topics with global relevance. Getting to know this global work and having the opportunity to take part in it is not a simple job. It is an honor. Helping Cooperation Circles enhance the impact of their efforts, connecting them to the wider network of URI, and building communities grounded in the pursuit of peace, justice, and healing is my task. My position in URI is helping me make a bridge from local t0 regional to global.

For me, the term “global” doesn't mean uniformity but, rather, being equally relevant for everyone. Raising concerns from the local, regional level to the global level is an admirable attempt to help in the treatment of different problems. Often we might think that a local issue is simply local. But my experience proves this to be false. No matter how specific a problem, it has strings connecting it to a problem occurring elsewhere. This is why global initiatives cannot have a strict form but instead must have an organic form that can adapt to local conditions, allowing them to remain relevant for people in a variety of global contexts and to simultaneously address local and global issues.

I see the future of interfaith as continuing the great work being done all over the world and including an even greater number of people through activism. Making interfaith appealing to people who don't particularly affiliate themselves with any faith, religion, spiritual, or indigenous tradition is crucial in creating an inclusive global society that provides equal opportunities for everyone.

Activists who have taken upon themselves to work in interfaith have a great, hard task before them. They are not concerned with the toughness of the world around them but with the progress they are making. As we each do our individual work, we must not forget about those hardworking individuals and groups doing grassroots work in places we cannot readily see and provide support when we can. Such global solidarity gives us all strength in the face of obstacles or those who may object to the cause of peace along the way.