n) Dr Helen Nkabala Nambalirwa (Makerere University CAPREx Fellow) collaborating with Cambridge researchers Dr Emma Wild-Wood (Cambridge Centre for Christianity Worldwide) and Professor David Maxwell (Faculty of History; Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge) on

Duration: 18 mins 53 secs

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Description:	Contesting scripture: re-reading violoent biblical texts with returning Lord's Resistance Army combatants in Acholi-Land

Created:

2014-11-13 16:12

Collection:

Cambridge-Africa Day 2014

Publisher:

University of Cambridge

Cambridge-Africa Programme

Language:

eng (English)

Keywords:

Africa; Lords Resistance Army; Uganda; Bible; Old Testament; Acholi;

Credits:

Person:	Dr Helen Nkabala Nambalirwa
Person:	Dr Emma Wild-Wood
Person:	Professor David Maxwell
Editor:	Dr Bjoern Hassler
Author:	Cambridge-Africa


Abstract:	In examining situations of violence, the ideologies which support them need to be addressed. My field research on the Lord’s Resistance Army an armed group under the leadership of Joseph Kony who claims that he was sent by God to liberate the people of northern Uganda from suffering shows that they have justified all their violent actions which have caused a complete overturn of the social and generational structures of the Acholi people, by making reference to biblical texts. In the recent years, the LRA has ceased its activities in northern Uganda and many of the former LRA soldiers have returned to the community where the same texts are valued as sacred scripture. This poses a dilemma to biblical interpretation to the religious community in northern Uganda. As northern Uganda goes through a reintegration process, I argue that providing hermeneutical tools to communities committed to peace can play a role in social healing and cohesion. Thus, in supporting and strengthening interpretations which focus upon the need for peace and reconciliation, I construct an interpretive model through which former LRA members can constructively engage with biblical texts, especially those that seem to promote violence, in order to promote peace in the region.

Abstract:

In examining situations of violence, the ideologies which support them need to be addressed. My field research on the Lord’s Resistance Army an armed group under the leadership of Joseph Kony who claims that he was sent by God to liberate the people of northern Uganda from suffering shows that they have justified all their violent actions which have caused a complete overturn of the social and generational structures of the Acholi people, by making reference to biblical texts. In the recent years, the LRA has ceased its activities in northern Uganda and many of the former LRA soldiers have returned to the community where the same texts are valued as sacred scripture. This poses a dilemma to biblical interpretation to the religious community in northern Uganda. As northern Uganda goes through a reintegration process, I argue that providing hermeneutical tools to communities committed to peace can play a role in social healing and cohesion. Thus, in supporting and strengthening interpretations which focus upon the need for peace and reconciliation, I construct an interpretive model through which former LRA members can constructively engage with biblical texts, especially those that seem to promote violence, in order to promote peace in the region.

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