A 20th Anniversary with Nothing to Celebrate

In the last 20 years, more than 2,700 have died and some 20,000 have been injured in Northern Ireland as a result of what people there call “the troubles.” The combatants are usually labeled Protestants and Catholics. But while the violence is real, the labels for the opponents are misleading, according to many believing Christians on both sides of the conflict. As one evangelical pastor in Belfast put it, “The devout Catholic is not murdering the devout Protestant.”

Born Into Conflict

The groundwork for the violence was laid almost seven decades ago when 26 Irish counties established an independent republic while six northern counties chose to remain a part of Great Britain, thus becoming Northern Ireland. Two-thirds of Northern Ireland’s approximately two million people are classified as Protestant and one-third as Catholic.

The factors that determine whether one is Catholic or Protestant typically have little to do with a living faith. “You inherit an ideology,” explains a student in Belfast. “You don’t think it out. You’re born in a loyalist area, you’re British. If you’re born in a republican area, you’re Irish and you want to see the British out.”

Neither “Catholics” nor “Protestants” enjoy a monopoly on terrorism. Both sides engage in gangsterism and thievery to bolster financial resources. Both sides have ties to illegal drugs and weapons; both seek to exploit the young and idealistic.

Nevertheless, the image of a nation in unabating strife is misleading. Almost twice as many in Northern Ireland have died in auto accidents over the past two decades as have died as a result of political/religious violence. West Belfast, where terrorism is common, by no means represents the rest of the country. Over 85 percent of the local police work in Northern Ireland is routine: burglaries and traffic offenses unrelated to the larger conflict.

In Belfast’s middle-class suburbs, as well as in the country’s smaller towns, Protestants and Catholics typically live as neighbors, despite political differences. One Belfast Protestant man says he prefers the north to remain a part of Britain, but he has Catholic friends who want a united, independent Ireland. “I’m happy about that … as long as they want to advocate it by peaceful means,” he says, “the same way as [in the United States] folk vote Republican or Democrat.”

A Late Response

While by most accounts it is inaccurate to define Northern Ireland’s complex economic, political, cultural, and religious issues purely in religious terms, it is also misleading to ignore religious elements in the conflict.

The Roman Catholic Church is the country’s largest church group. It is followed by the Church of Ireland (Anglican), with more than 300,000 members; the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, with over 143,000 members; and the Methodist Church in Ireland, with almost 30,000 members.

Among the smaller church groups are the 10,000-member Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster, founded by the vocal British loyalist Ian Paisley, and the Baptist Union of Ireland, with over 8,500 members.

Responses among Northern Ireland’s churches to their country’s perennial violence and hatred have varied. Most have maintained ministries among their traditional constituencies. Some, such as Paisley’s Free Presbyterian Church, have identities that are more political than spiritual in nature. Ecumenical expressions intended to bring peace have originated from Protestants and Catholics alike.

Many are pleased with what churches are doing to address the conflict, but believe it is 20 years too late. One former member of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), who was won to Christ through the evangelical parachurch group Agape Fellowship, lamented that many churches have failed to take the gospel much beyond their own doors. He noted that while violence has awakened some churches, it has also put up barriers. And these barriers, he continued, “won’t be broken down politically; they won’t be broken down religiously. The only way they’re going to be broken down is through the person of Jesus Christ.”

Christians of all traditions participate in ministries such as Bible studies, preschool day care, street preaching, prison visitation, counseling, and other benevolent works. But some have made a crusade against violence a priority.

Tom Toner, curate of Saint Agnes Catholic Church in West Belfast, has taken a direct stand against terrorism. On occasion he takes whitewash to the murals painted by the paramilitary organizations glorifying violence.

Toner supports the goal of a united Ireland, stating, “My passport says British; my mind says Irish.” But he recently told his parish it is possible to be “very Irish” and still to oppose both the British and the IRA. One parishioner responded: “It’s hard for us to practice what you preach.”

Hard To Forgive

For Christians whose lives have been shattered by the violence, forgiveness is sometimes hard to find. It was for one Belfast evangelical layman, whose father was killed and mother injured when IRA gunmen raided their home several years ago. “Did I seek vengeance on the murderers?” he asks. “I don’t because the Lord has said, ‘Vengeance is mine; I will repay.’ ”

But he adds, “When folk ask me, ‘Do I forgive those murderers?’ I find that personally a very difficult question to answer. Even God cannot forgive a nonrepentant sinner, and until these people repent of their sin, there is not forgiveness for them.”

Similarly, a Catholic mother has struggled with bitterness toward Protestants ever since her husband was killed last year by a Protestant paramilitary group, leaving her alone with two young daughters. She remembers a better time, when people took little notice of whether one was Catholic or Protestant.

Labeling people has become part of the problem in Northern Ireland, according to one former member of the IRA. “I don’t have any tags,” he said. “I don’t call myself a Catholic or a Protestant; I am just a follower of Christ. You have no hassle with any person then. And it’s a good opportunity to let people know that Christ makes a difference.”

By Martha Skelton in Northern Ireland.

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