Religion can motivate people to violence. But religion also represents a powerful force for reconciliation. However, effective peacemaking demands risky engagement with the issues and genuine dialogue with those who differ. Guatemala, as Martin Marty points out, is an ideal case study of how these complex and controversial issues can play out when religion and politics interact.

Precarious Peace, a documentary, explores the Guatemalan peace process, past and present, and the complicated role religion plays in that drama. Story-driven, the video focuses first on the brutal violence of the recent war, seen through the lives of a Mayan family in the rural highlands, then on today’s more insidious levels of violence--economic, racial, and religious marginalization. Woven through these stories is frank commentary from a wide variety of perspectives, including a former military officer, a Roman Catholic bishop who faces constant death threats, a Mennonite educator, an internationally known poet/activist, and a Lutheran clergyman who was instrumental in getting the warring parties into dialogue. Over a dozen denominations and faith groups are represented in this ecumenical production. Featured at the heart of the documentary is an authentic Mayan fire ritual.