WEAVING TOGETHER ICP’S MISSION & ACTION
In Columbus, as in many areas of the world, interfaith difference are not merely matters of faith – they involve cultural, ethnic, racial, linguistic, and economic differences that are often closely tied to issues of conflict and violence. Being intentional about how we engage with the “others” in our lives helps us to create peace, and makes available more creativity and energy for innovative peacebuilding that includes all parties involved.
ICP has a comprehensive approach to interfaith peace work that engages individuals in our community at several levels: head, heart, and hands. Together, these elements of our humanity represent our intellectual and emotional experiences and the skills we have for transforming our world.
HEAD
The “head” refers to our levels of awareness, our thoughts, and intellectual responses that we experience when we encounter religious (or other) differences, conflicts, and violence. We can approach our differences and conflicts through logical and analytical means in order to better relate with each other and resolve our conflicts.
HEART
The “heart” refers to our feelings, emotional responses to conflict situations, to people different than oneself, and to the prevalence of societal violence. Our emotions often guide us toward or away from empathy, compassion, and recognition of shared humanity across lines of difference and situations of conflict both large and small.
HANDS
The “hands” refer to the skills that help people connect across divisions and build peace among individuals and groups. Intercultural communication skills, conflict resolution models and analysis, mediation, dialogue, peacebuilding, and other skills can help us approach our differences and our conflicts in new ways that lead to safer, more harmonious and vibrant communities in which all members are recognized as being important to the whole.
