wfn.org | Commentary: Listening to the 'bad guys'

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

April 18, 2002  News media contact: Tim Tanton7(615)742-54707Nashville,
Tenn.  10-71BP{170}

NOTE: This commentary may be used with UMNS story #170. A photograph of
Kathleen LaCamera is available at http://umns.umc.org/photos/headshots.html
online.

A UMNS Commentary
By Kathleen LaCamera*

"Why are Americans giving money to terrorists to kill our children?" 

That's a question I've been asked over and over by people during the nine
years I've been coming to Northern Ireland as an American journalist based
in Britain. Today the question comes out of the mouths of Loyalist
paramilitary members, people who are themselves labeled "terrorists." 

This question is about the perception that across the United States -
especially in cities like New York, Boston and Chicago with strong Irish
immigrant roots - Americans are stuffing cash into boxes that fund the Irish
Republican Army's fight for a united Ireland. 

Today, my gut response is to wonder: What gives these guys the right to ask
such a question when guns and bombs also have been part and parcel of their
Loyalist paramilitary trade? But then I remember I'm sitting with people who
- no less than their Catholic counterparts - are also fathers, brothers,
sons, uncles, nephews and friends to those murdered and injured in the 30
years of Northern Ireland's Troubles. 

The answer I give to this question reflects much of what compels me to write
about this and other troubled spots around the world year after year.  

It responds to the kernel of truth that is real and the mountain of
misunderstanding and vacuum of information that distorts it. It relates to
the need inside so many of us to label some of the worst atrocities in
Ireland, the Balkans, the Middle East, in Rwanda and even at Ground Zero as
"pure evil" or "senseless destruction."  For someone out there, those
actions made sense. Understanding how that is possible does not condone it,
but gives us a power to prevent such horrors from being repeated.

With regard to Americans raising money for the IRA, guess what? It's true.
American money has helped fuel the conflict in Northern Ireland for years.
We've bought into the image of the Brad Pitt-beautiful freedom fighter who
is, sure, misguided, but in his heart of hearts he's a decent soul who
wouldn't hurt a fly if he weren't forced to. 

However, it is worth listening to Loyalist paramilitaries talk about the
loss and pain their community has suffered at the hands of the IRA. Hearing
those accounts helps us understand why such a seemingly senseless conflict
continues. That does not in any way justify the Loyalists' equally
destructive activities against Catholics and Protestants, including
children, over the years.  

Despite the fact that we Americans are notoriously uninterested in much
beyond our borders, Loyalists talk as if all 280 million Americans actively
see them as the bad guys. This perception only contributes to the feeling
that Loyalists have been backed into a tight, lonely corner. The truth is
that most Americans don't know or care much about Northern Ireland. And here
is the tragic irony: Loyalists' misperception of the extent of U.S. support
for "the other side" actually contributes to the real, increasing alienation
and desperation of the Loyalist Protestant community. That's amazing - and
awful! 

So where does that leave us in a world full of conflict and terror? It
leaves us with a mandate to listen, particularly when we don't want to.
Especially when the actions of those asking for our ear (and sometimes they
do that with violence) repel or baffle or terrify us. We have to talk to
those we think of as "the bad guys" as well as those who are their
"victims." We need to know more about who they are and what they are
thinking. To use the old clichi, we need to walk a mile (or two) in their
shoes. And we need to do it as directly and as personally as possible. 

We also must turn to more than just our local newspapers and regular
television news and radio reports for information. Through the Internet, the
world's media are at our fingertips. Why not log on and see what both Irish
and South African newspapers are saying about peace talks in Northern
Ireland? While you're at it, have a look at what newspapers in England are
saying about the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan. Then check out the Hong Kong
papers for stories about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Don't forget you
can log on to radio worldwide through the Internet as well. 

I've lived for 10 years in Europe, and believe me, there is a whole world of
stories and opinions reported that Americans rarely see or hear. No doubt
the reverse is true as well. There are many stories reported within the
United States that the rest of the world never sees. Information gaps - they
are dangerous.

As United Methodists, we say we are a worldwide church that preaches a
gospel that knows no borders. To do that effectively and respectfully, we
need a worldwide perspective, even if that means making a bit more of an
effort. Even if it means listening to those who deeply offend us by their
actions, and their political and even religious perspectives.
 
Daniel Holloway works with a group in Northern Ireland called Community
Dialogue. It specializes in bringing together people on all sides of
Northern Ireland's conflict to hear one another's stories. With a laugh,
Holloway told me that through dialogue, at the very least, "people come to
know better why they want to kill each other." But more often, he reported,
telling their stories means that people who were once just "the other side"
begin to have a human face, and the common ground that links one to the
other becomes more obvious.  

"There's nothing mysterious going on here in Northern Ireland," Holloway
said. While specifics change, the basics of conflict and reconciliation are
remarkably similar, whether you're in the Northern Ireland or the Middle
East, Kosovo or Afghanistan, South Africa or New York City. The way to peace
almost always involves sitting down, talking and then listening to those we
see as the bad guys.  

We Christians say we believe in transformation and hope. Conflicts like
those we find in Northern Ireland can easily seem far too complex, deeply
rooted and downright confusing for us to engage. They are not. We don't have
to wait for Colin Powell, Yasser Arafat or Gerry Adams to enter into the
process of making peace. We can begin today, listening deeply to people on
all sides, even the ones we suspect are the bad guys.

# # #

*LaCamera is a United Methodist News Service correspondent based in England.

Commentaries provided by United Methodist News Service do not necessarily
represent the opinions or policies of UMNS or the United Methodist Church.

*************************************
United Methodist News Service
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