Lord Rowan Williams, Master of Magdalene College, University of Cambridge, and former Archbishop of Canterbury, delivered this year's Gandhi Foundation's Annual Lecture on 1st October.
Entitled 'Empathy, ethics and peacemaking; reflections on preserving our humanity', Lord Williams' lecture reflected on what peace makers in today's world can learn from Mahatma Gandhi's approach to conflict resolution.
The Gandhi Foundation was established as a charity after Richard Attenborough's 1983 film 'Gandhi'. It exists to raise awareness of the Mahatma's life and message of non violence and its relevance in today's world, and the Gandhi Annual Lecture is one of its most important events.
In introducing this year's lecturer to the audience at St Martin-in-the-Field church in London, the Gandhi Foundation's President, Lord Bhikhu Parekh, said Lord Williams was one of the finest thinkers and human beings he knows.
Lord Williams firstly set out an approach to empathy which seeks to understand difference as well as sameness in other people and communities. He said that it was necessary to take plenty of time to understand different perspectives in people and communities when trying to resolve conflicts.
Lord Williams said our peace and security could only be secured by ensuring peace and security for our neighbours. When going on to discuss ethics, Lord Williams said it had to be based on the fundamental question of what kind of humanity we want to create (this was a subject that Lord Williams addressed in another lecture also given at St Martins in September entitled 'Who is thy neighbour? The ethics of global relationships'. It is available to listen to at: https://s63.podbean.com/pb/9cbbc4be405c6ea1520db21d8e4119e0/57f11df2/data1/fs156/601733/uploads/16-09-22_Who_is_my_neighbour.mp3).
Lord Williams drew on Gandhi's approach to non violence by saying that his strategy was designed to make violence by the British Raj very difficult to use. Lord Williams observed that conflicts today in places such as Syria and South Sudan are centred on fights for power, which are very difficult to resolve. Gandhi sought to counter such power struggles by generating a sense of responsibility for the well-being of their communities from the political leaders.
Lord Williams also touched on how peace could be served better through international political institutions. He said that the world was experiencing a 'collective political nervous breakdown' and suggested that the United Nations needs to be more empowered to control local conflicts in the world. He suggested that the UN Security Council might be replaced by a Mediation Council, although he conceded that this was a very unlikely prospect. Lord Williams answered a large number of questions from an appreciative audience on issues such as Britain's referendum vote to leave the European Union and the conflict between Israel and Palestine.
An audio recording of Lord Williams' Gandhi Lecture will be available to listen to at www.stmartin-in-the-fields.org/podcasts/
