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Presbyterian Moderator Dr. John Dixon has told representatives of Sinn Fein that 'Decommissioning must be honoured as a moral issue and is a political necessity. It is totally and utterly immoral to talk in terms of democracy on the one hand and terrorism and the threat of violence on the other.'
Meeting in Belfast last Thursday, 25 February, the General Board heard reports of recent Church and Government Committee meetings with Sinn Fein, the Chief Constable, First and Deputy First Ministers and General de Chastelain.
Authority of God's Word
In their meeting with Sinn Fein the Presbyterian delegation emphasised that their authority comes from the Word of God. Politics must come under the authority of God remembering that Christians are to be the masters of political strategy and not the servants of ideologies.
Victims of Violence
However it was victims of violence that were top of the agenda. 'We spoke at length about victims and how they must not be forgotten in the midst of moving towards a political accommodation,' said the Moderator. 'It is impossible to quantify the suffering which violence has visited on so many innocent people. We cannot forget the thousands who lost their loved ones; the many who will carry their injuries to their graves and all the others who have seen the destruction of their homes, farms and businesses through acts of terrorism, none of which was justified. A political accommodation can never recover the loss which they have experienced and may even make them feel their grief and trauma more deeply. Careful and generous attention must be paid in word and action to the needs of victims and their families, many of whom have truly received a life sentence.'
Lack of Trust
Trust or the lack of it was another issue put to the Sinn Fein Delegation. 'We recognise that there is a phenomenal gulf of trust between everybody, in every side of this whole situation. Decommissioning is a trust building exercise for the unionist community just as we have seen many other things like the release of prisoners as a trust building exercise for those in the republican community.'
'We believe that decommissioning is part and parcel of a whole raft of ideas, many of which we have said are unpalatable like the release of prisoners, but that all are to be implemented. It is totally unacceptable that illegal arms and arsenals should be stored, held and kept.
Confidence
Ultimately the Moderator expressed confidence that decommissioning will be resolved. 'My confidence is not based on men and their promises because they are flawed, fallible and finite. My confidence is rather in the fact that I believe God is moving our situation forward out of the conflict of the past into a new future of political accommodation and peaceful coexistence.'
The General Board Resolutions were:
That the Board requests the Government of the Republic of Ireland to introduce an appropriate Charitable Covenant Tax Rebate scheme similar to that which obtains in the United Kingdom. That the Board records its deep concern about the crisis which is being faced by the members of the farming community. That congregational committees acquaint themselves about the needs of disabled people, of the assistance available under Disability Action's Access scheme and of the obligations of congregations to take reasonable measures to meet the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act. That the General Board encourages elected members of the Northern Ireland Assembly to fulfil the legal and moral obligations inherent in the Good Friday Agreement and thereby to increase trust in the community and look forward especially to responsibility being devolved to the elected representatives of the people of Northern Ireland and, in anticipation of that happening, prays for God's blessing upon them. In view of the fact that the Presbyterian Church in Ireland has been serving the people of Gujarat for over 150 years, the General Board of the Presbyterian Church deplores the actions of extreme Hindu groups which has resulted in the loss of life, the burning of Christian churches and the disruption of worship and the use of violence against those who are most vulnerable - the poor and social and religious workers - and calls on the Prime Minister and the Government of India to continue to take decisive action to maintain peace and end communal violence. That the General Board of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland calls these serious situations in India and in Indonesia to the attention of the British and Irish Governments.
Issued by Stephen Lynas, Presbyterian Information Services. Info@PresbyterianIreland.org
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