Everyone
enjoys freedom: Confronting Violence
We must
continue to dedicate ourselves to building communities of peace
in which the fear of violence can become but a memory of our
troubled past. We hold the expectation that a peaceful Christian
alternative exists to a life crippled by sectarianism and intimidation.
While our lives are on the whole much more secure than during
our recent past, unacceptable levels of threat and violence
still blight and menace many in our communities.
No Christian,
indeed no citizen, should stand silently by in the face of such
hostility, which fosters division, erodes hope, weakens our
commercial life and cripples political progress. Protesting
against criminality, naming and overcoming this stifling evil
and addressing the social forces that encourage violence are
crucial parts of creating hope for our future. We still hear
the exhortation of the Psalmist, 'Depart from evil and do good;
Seek peace, and pursue it.' (Psalm 34:14)
Local
politicians and people take responsibility: Local Political
Accountability
The time
has come for the citizens of Northern Ireland and their political
leaders to assume greater responsibility for finding workable
solutions to our local problems. While the help of those outside
Northern Ireland in facilitating a measure of political stability
is appreciated, many of us have fallen into a dangerous habit
of relying too much on others to solve our problems. This leads
to paralysing dependency and avoids many of the hard decisions
involved in making peace with our alienated neighbours.
Making
this peace includes full acceptance of the principle of consent,
which binds all sides to obey the laws of Northern Ireland and
to abide by the majority opinion in determining Northern Ireland's
political status. Because of their positions of influence, local
Christian leaders have an especially important role to play
in encouraging this local accountability. As Jesus asked the
paralysed man, do we want to be healed? If so, it is time for
us to confront our past, get up and walk. (John 5)
Healthy
and robust relationship flourish: Good Relations and Diversity
To build
good relations in a diverse society, we must continue to confront
sectarianism and racism where they manifest themselves, and
stand alongside those who feel threatened by bigotry. This includes
a realistic recognition of difference, tolerance in place of
hostility, inclusive celebration of our varied cultural heritages
where possible, and an honest engagement regarding aspects of
other cultures and ideologies that we find threatening or disturbing.
Within this land there is increasing ethnic diversity to add
to the long-standing cultural, political and religious division.
This raises new kinds of fear, resentment and intolerance.
Such diversity,
however, can contribute to our economic and cultural vitality,
and should be a measure of our openness to new ideas, perspectives
and people. It offers us a foretaste of the heavenly Kingdom,
which will include people from every earthly nationality. (Revelation
7:9) Minority ethnic communities are vulnerable fellow citizens,
often literally strangers in a foreign land, and as such God's
people are commanded in scripture to protect and support them.
(Leviticus 19:34)
Truthfulness
and honesty create relationships of trust: Trust, Honesty
and Truthfulness.
Confronting
issues in a spirit of truthfulness and openness to the stories
of others is a difficult but necessary process. Deformed ways
of remembering the past include denial, social amnesia, a spirit
of unforgiveness, using some of the past as propaganda, and
uncritical affirmation of one group and its history. As Paul
encourages, 'Putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the
truth to our neighbours, for we are members of one another…Let
no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful
for building up.' (Ephesians 4:25 & 29)
Contemporary
negotiations cannot succeed on the basis of duplicitous deception.
In Northern Ireland, the dramatic lack of trust in public and
private life is a major obstacle to building a peaceful future.
The truths, untruths and half-truths of the past and the present
continue to erode the foundation of trust, which should be the
basis for honest engagement. Christian communities need to have
the courage to lead this process of honesty and truthfulness.
Hope
and imagination, justice and love transform our public life:
Imagining a Better Future
Public
life in Northern Ireland desperately needs to be transformed
by the hope and imagination of its citizens. Christians must
reject demotivation, disillusionment and apathy, and affirm
that we can create better lives for ourselves. A wish to seek
justice for all and a new spirit of generosity and respect would
transform our politics and the sharing of this place together.
Churches
have a crucial role to play, creating spaces that foster hope
and imagination. In the negotiating of difference and living
together we must acknowledge both our rights and our responsibilities,
and that we can claim no rights or privileges for ourselves
which we are not prepared to share with our fellow citizens
of other traditions. In doing so we live out Paul's advice to
the Philippians, 'Let each of you look not to your own interests,
but to the interests of others.' (Philippians 2:4)
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