Following the publication of the Saville Report, Presbyterian Moderator Dr Norman Hamilton says that people should be "liberated and valued by having their stories heard."
In a Platform column published in today's (Friday 18 June) News Letter he argues "we should welcome truth because the fact is that truth sets us free". Dr Hamilton also states his belief that "everyone should be able to hear the truth about the events that affected them through all the years of our Troubles."
Recognising the impossibility of replicating Saville "nor should we try to" he writes, "it does raise the question of how the stories of the unheard victims and survivors can be told.
"We have not applied ourselves, either in the churches or in the wider community, as to how people should be given the opportunity to be liberated and valued by having their stories heard."
The full text of his column follows...
The Saville Report is surprisingly clear, unambiguous and devastatingly straightforward.
Wrong was done, and in response wrong has been specifically acknowledged and apologised for and I believe that is a very good thing.
As a society we should welcome truth because the fact is that truth sets us free. That is obvious from the sense of relief experienced by the Bloody Sunday Families, the new confidence in their community and city.
Doing what is right, saying what is right and acknowledging what is right and what is wrong are fully Biblical and extremely liberating. I would hope that we would all see the value in that.
The publication of the Saville Report marks progress in the sense that the truth that was sought was given, put into the public arena and ultimately acknowledged by those who were responsible for doing what was wrong.
For me a major lesson to learn is the failure to take issues of injustice as seriously as the Bible does.
I decided to meet the Bloody Sunday Families to show that the entire community should be as concerned for truth and justice as they were, to acknowledge the integrity of their 38-year campaign and to thank them for their tenacity in bringing the truth to light.
I believe that everyone should be able to hear the truth about the events that affected them through all the years of our Troubles.
Unfortunately it would be impossible to replicate Saville nor should we even try to do so.
But it does raise the question of how the stories of the unheard victims and survivors can be told.
We have not applied ourselves, either in the churches or in the wider community, as to how people should be given the opportunity to be liberated and valued by having their stories heard. I would welcome suggestions from right across society as to how that might best be done, though personally I do not believe that an extensive judicial or forensic framework would be the best way forward.
Again, on a personal note, I have grave reservations about the desirability of pursuing any convictions arising from the Saville Report, though I fully accept that is a call for others to make.
If we are to build a healthy society for the future, one crucial element must be a rigorous and effective judicial system, but alongside that we must place the building of relationships at its very centre, and that means grace, mercy and forgiveness all have to come into the equation.
We must realise we have a shared history and the future can only satisfactorily be built by resolving to build a shared future as well."
Dr Norman Hamilton
Presbyterian Moderator
NewsLetter, 18 June 2010
Issued by Stephen Lynas, Presbyterian Information Services. Info@PresbyterianIreland.org
PCI Home . . . Press Office . . . News Archive