 |
| |
"Whatever may be the setbacks and the problems, it is important to sustain the vision of creating a stable and equitable society in Northern Ireland within which diverse peoples can feel at peace and at home," says Presbyterian Moderator Dr Russell Birney.
"The accomplishment of this will require persistence and optimism and I would encourage members of the Presbyterian Church to continue generously to pursue peace with their neighbours" continued the Moderator. "I would particularly commend those who are seeking to mediate the current tensions within loyalism."
Speaking in Belfast today, Thursday October 10, following the October meeting of the Presbyterian Church's General Board, Dr Birney added that, "The immediate cause of the current political crisis has highlighted that the issues of mistrust and division in our society remain a significant challenge and many people in both parts of Ireland have reason to feel betrayed, especially those who took a leap of faith in supporting the Agreement.
"Particularly deeply affected by recent revelations are several thousand prison officers and others whose personal safety and that of their families is threatened and I would call on everyone on all sides of the community to totally reject this appalling activity against ordinary people.
"It is regrettable that continuing loyalist and republican paramilitary activity and the manner of the decommissioning of some illegal weapons eroded trust rather than sustaining and increasing it. If some people find themselves treated with suspicion, it is for them to demonstrate why the suspicion ought to be lifted.
"Many people have shown constructive leadership despite the various constraints which may make what is desirable difficult to achieve. The reality of the stubborn and persistent existence of diverse people living in contested space in a divided society is a fact of life which has to be taken into account in any suggested political solutions to our problems.
"Our politicians need to pursue strategies that would be mutually helpful, rather than strategies which would weaken one's opponent who is also one's partner and to be attentive to the dreams of people for a better future rather than pursuing policies rooted in fear."
The following resolutions were agreed by the General Board:
1. That the General Board calls people to pursue the realisable dream of creating a society within which diverse people can feel at home and at peace and to that end dialogue is important.
2. The General Board recognises that the reality of the stubborn and persistent existence of diverse people living in contested space in a divided society is a fact of life which has to be taken into account in any suggested political solutions to our problems.
3. The General Board recognising that sin lies crouching at the door of resentful people and is liable to be the cause of their downfall, encourages the members of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland optimistically and generously to pursue peace with their neighbours.
4. The General Board commend all those under threat from republican or loyalist paramilitaries especially members of the prison service to the prayers of the church and calls on people on all sides of the community to totally reject this kind of activity.
5. The General Board commends those who are seeking to mediate the current tensions within loyalism
Note to Editors: The General Board of the Presbyterian Church has a membership of 200 ministers and lay representatives from around Ireland and meets quarterly to transact the business of the General Assembly which meets once a year in June
The full text of the Church and Government Committee report to the General Board follows:
Jesus And Adam
The Cross And Resurrection Are More Important Than The Fall1. The inability of the diverse parts of the Northern Ireland community to sustain a political process and implement the political accommodation represented by the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement represents a significant and sad failure for our society, especially since so many people have invested so much of their time, energy and resources in attempting to assist us.
2. The immediate cause of the current crisis is the allegations about republican paramilitaries being involved in gathering intelligence at the heart of the government. This has deeply affected the lives of several thousands of prison officers and others whose personal safety and that of their families, is threatened. The resulting insecurity adds to the already significant challenge of mistrust and division in our society. Many people feel bewildered, hurt and disappointed.
3. However, the underlying issues of mistrust and division in the society remain a very significant challenge. The present crisis may, with some justification, cause us to be a byword on the face of the earth as being incredibly privileged and impossibly unreasonable people. Since there are so many Christians in this country it will undermine the credibility of the gospel in the eyes of many.
4. Jesus calls us to the practice of forgiveness, of love for our enemies, of avoiding anger and revenge, of making peace with people who have something against us, it having an even higher priority than worship. (Matthew 5.23)
5. We are not just asked to be moral, or religious, we are asked to be Christian. Christian living involves seeking peace in the personal and social relationships of our culture and our shared life. We cannot build peace unless we deal with our hates and hatreds. We can't build a peace process without building relationships with our neighbours.
6. If we are failing in these things we are neither salt nor light.
7. We can be thankful that God has not written off his creation but has come in Christ addressing sin and its consequences at all levels by becoming one of us and bearing sin in his own body on the cross. (2 Cor 5.21). The result was triumph. Since God has not become disengaged from his world, nor can we.
8. The problems we face are significant but the redemptive work of Christ is of greater significance than the sinful work of Adam. Redemption is cosmic in its scope, its effects encompassing the whole creation.
9. "For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross." (Colossians 1.20 NIV).
10. Sin is serious as it permeates and destroys relationships at all levels and manifested itself as an organised communal attack by political and religious leaders on God himself who is both Creator and Redeemer. (Acts 1.23).
11. Redemption is about more than a relationship with God and relationships among individuals. It also includes relationships with the rest of creation, among nations and among groups of people in specific situations.
The Present Crisis
12. We applaud the Preamble to the Belfast Agreement which looked forward to "the achievement of reconciliation, tolerance, and mutual trust, and to the protection and vindication of human rights for all". The Committee is aware that the Agreement is a political accommodation which was arrived at after many years of complex negotiations fraught with difficulties, involving, at the highest levels, the governments of the United Kingdom and Ireland and the United States of America, the leadership of most political parties in Northern Ireland and was subsequently endorsed by referenda in both parts of Ireland. We are grateful that so many people, with heavy responsibilities, gave so much time to trying to find some way out of our problems. Painfully and slowly a way forward was found.
13. While the present economic and political situation is less than perfect, it is a vast improvement on what obtained but a few years ago.
14. The Committee warns of the serious consequences of actions, or the absence of actions, which would contribute to the ending of devolution and the collapse of the current political arrangements. We need to beware of creating a situation where the result of such a collapse would be less desirable than what obtains at present.
15. The Committee recognises that many people from Nationalist, Republican, Unionist and Loyalist backgrounds have demonstrated constructive leadership and is also aware that all political leaders operate under various constraints which may make what is desirable difficult to achieve. Nevertheless the responsibilities of leadership require an ability to understand the difficulties faced by other leaders, a willingness to go forward ahead of the people and to use powers of persuasion to gain support for the policies being pursued.
16. Senator George Mitchell said "The Agreement was formulated to take account of the absence of trust". For it to succeed, that important commodity of trust had to be multiplied, which meant each putting self in the shoes of others, and pursuing strategies that would be mutually helpful, rather than strategies which would weaken one's opponent who was also one's partner. If some people find themselves treated with suspicion, it is for them to demonstrate why the suspicion ought to be lifted.
17. While the majority of people in both parts of Ireland supported the Belfast Agreement, a minority, mainly within the Unionist part of the community, were opposed to it and wished to modify or replace it.
18. It is regrettable that loyalist and republican paramilitary activity which people hoped would end, and the decommissioning of illegal weapons which was expected to take place soon after the formation of the Executive, took place in such a reluctant and minimalist way that trust was eroded rather than sustained and increased.
19. The people in both parts of Ireland as a whole have reason to feel betrayed, especially those who took a leap of faith in supporting the Agreement.
Where To Now?
20. Whatever may be the set backs and the problems, it is important to sustain the vision of creating a stable and equitable society in Northern Ireland within which diverse peoples can feel at peace and at home. The accomplishment of that will require persistence and optimism. For Christian people that will be rooted in faith in Christ. Political leaders need to be attentive to the dreams of people for a better future rather than pursuing policies rooted in fear.
Issued by Stephen Lynas, Presbyterian Information Services. Info@PresbyterianIreland.org
PCI Home . . . Press Office . . . News Archive