wfn.org | Irish Methodists speak out about victims of sectarian violence

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

June 20, 2000 News media contact: Linda Bloom·(212)870-3803·New York
10-21-71B{284}

NOTE:  This report is accompanied by three sidebars, UMNS stories #285, #286
and #287.

By Kathleen LaCamera*

BELFAST, Northern Ireland (UMNS) - Thirty years of sectarian violence
between Northern Ireland's Catholics and Protestants have left 3,700 dead
and as many as 40,000 injured.

In response to the struggle to find peace amid deep suspicion and hurt,
Irish Methodists have made public their report on the victims of "the
Troubles."

The report was presented during the June 9-13 Irish Methodist Annual
(regional) Conference, and is one of the first such statements ever made by
a church in the north or south of Ireland. The report names individuals,
groups, whole neighborhoods and towns, and in a controversial move,
perpetrators of violence, as victims of three decades of sectarian terror
and intimidation.

No figures can accurately reflect the breadth and depth of human suffering
that has taken place during the Troubles. In a society where the kind of
school you attend, the sports you play, the place you live and even the
names you give your children immediately define you as either
Catholic and Protestant, there can be no doubt that all fall under the
influence of sectarianism.

Even when it comes to counting the casualties, sectarian politics all too
easily turns a disturbing tally into a "tit for tat" score sheet with each
"side" claiming its victims are the most innocent and their people's
suffering the greatest.

The frank report from Irish Methodists acknowledges accusations from victims
that "church people may have prayed for peace, healing and reconciliation
but have actually done little to bring these about."

Reflecting on the legacy of the Troubles, the church's new president, the
Rev. Kenneth Todd, talked openly about how Ireland has been "cursed" with
"bad religion."

"Bad religion tends to nationalize not evangelize," he said. " ... You can't
drape God in a flag, otherwise you get a twisted cross. ...We make God in
our own image and make God useful to us. We put boundaries around God and
tell him what he can or cannot do. We put God in a box that we have built
and that we can carry around with us, and label it a Protestant box or a
Catholic box or a
Methodist box. ... What arrogance!"

The report also notes that the church has been "too insular" in the past and
did not face problems, such as job discrimination against Catholics, that
led to the Troubles.

"[People] tell me that their churches have let them down," said the Rev.
David Clements. "I hope this report is a stimulus to other churches to focus
more adequately on the issue."

William Clements, David's father and a Methodist lay preacher, was on duty
when he was murdered in an Irish Republican Army terrorist attack on a
police station in 1985. More than 300 Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC)
officers have been killed during the Troubles.

Six years after his father's death, David Clements was a pastor serving in
the heavily Protestant Unionist Shankill Road area of Belfast, where he
found himself ministering to the families of both Catholics and Protestants
murdered by terrorists.

Clements now volunteers his time with the WAVE victims support organization,
which works across the community with both Catholics and Protestants. In
1998, he and other WAVE representatives met with President Clinton and White
House advisers to discuss victim issues.

With this official statement, Irish Methodists are making a public
commitment to support the Good Friday Peace Agreement's recognition of the
rights of the victims.

All of Northern Ireland's major political parties signed on to this
agreement, which was brokered by former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell during
Holy Week in April 1998. It also paved the way for a representative
government assembly in Northern Ireland. Until recently, decisions on issues
such as health care, education and economic development were made by a
handful of high-ranking British government officials.

The Methodist report urges church members to create networks for victims'
support and encourage the development of opportunities for "truth-telling"
where people can "hear and be heard."

Clements told United Methodist News Service that, in the midst of the threat
of violence, a natural defense mechanism is to "keep your head down and get
on with it." This reaction, he added, could be part of the reason why the
church has taken so long to speak out on behalf of victims. In an earlier
career as a health care professional, Clements said he was trained to deal
with the physical trauma caused by guns, bombs and beatings. As a trainee
pastor, however, he received no preparation for dealing with the
psychological and spiritual wounds resulting from the Troubles.

The Methodist document drew mixed responses from delegates. Dublin laywoman
Joan Pippingale called it "the best report we've ever done. As a church,
we're not good at all with anger. ... I loved the risks it took."

The Rev. Roy Cooper of Ballymena Methodist Church admits some people in his
congregation will have a hard time with the part of the report that names
those who have killed and maimed as victims. "They won't understand how
someone can be both victim and perpetrator," he said.

It is a discomfort many around the world will understand after years of
seeing television and newspaper reports from Northern Ireland. Pictures of a
bloody baby stroller or the rubble of what used to be a family business in
places with names like Omagh and Enniskillen push the possibility of
forgiveness to its limit.

The report makes clear that the Irish Methodist Church does not relieve the
perpetrators of guilt or the need for remorse for crimes they have
committed. Still all too common here are stories of young people who, after
losing a parent, a friend, a sibling while growing up, become easy recruits
for paramilitary or terrorist groups.

Once in such an organization, they end up perpetrating violence and death on
another family. Some point to all those young people who do not make such
decisions in similar circumstances, but with this report, Irish Methodists
have taken a hard step toward more inclusive public compassion, which they
say is a necessary step for reconciliation in Northern Ireland.

The Rev. Johnston McMaster, a Methodist minister and faculty member of the
Irish School of Ecumenics, says that while Christians hope for healing and
reconciliation, they cannot condemn those who cannot forgive.
"Reconciliation, in the main, is God's act of reconciliation," he noted.

In other areas of discussion at the conference, delegates heard about a
growing crisis in the farming industry (see UMNS story #286) and how the
need for better interfaith relationships is being pushed forward by a
growing number of immigrants. Traditionally, Ireland has been a "net
exporter" of people. With the recent rise in the numbers of asylum seekers,
refugees and job seekers, Irish Methodists face increasing racial
intolerance in their communities and an even greater need for understanding
of other religious faiths and cultures.

# # #

*LaCamera is a UMNS correspondent based in England.

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United Methodist News Service
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