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FROM
THE DIRECTOR
The journey towards peace in our community has again taken a turn in the
direction of the proverbial abyss. Confidence in the Unionist community
in the Belfast Agreement is eroding and the evidence is there for all
to see. But to conceive of this crisis only in terms of recent events
at the polls, on the Shankill or in relation to the Policing Bill is to
fail to grasp a more fundamental challenge.
The peace process of
the 1990's has in a profound way confronted Unionism and the wider Protestant
community with a series of worst possible dilemmas. Quandaries have left
many feeling alienated and 'on their bellies' instead of confidently embracing
change in a context where consent is the basis for any change to the constitutional
future. The irony is that it is these internal factors, which are shaping
the mood and response of many to the current situation, that threaten to
undermine what has been gained through positive engagement and constructive
leadership.
The peace process is
perceived as the creation of a pan-nationalist front, which continues to
set the pace, extracting concessions at every turn. Unionists perceive that
it offers them little except the realisation of their fears. Many find it
difficult to come to terms with the emotional abandonment of the British
government and the setting up of institutions and structures that in effect
are seen to prepare the way for a united Ireland. They are prepared to share
responsibility and work together for the common good of Northern Ireland
within the UK and in relationship to its closest neighbouring state. But
they are suspicious of a harmonisation of functions throughout the island
and are not prepared to accept the neutralisation of Britishness in public
life.
There is a sincere moral
dilemma for many as violence and terror are seen to be allowed to subvert
the democratic mandate of the greater number of people. The historic compromise
with Irish Nationalism of 1921/22 was extracted through the threat of force,
justified as being in the defence of civil and religious liberties and secured
the British national identity in Ireland. It was these and the accompanying
financial power which were perceived to be under threat in a Catholic, Gaelic
Ireland. Coming to terms with the enforced and necessary changes of the
early seventies, with all this implied for their past and future, needed
time. Instead there followed 25 years of rebellion and terror, supposedly
aimed at the British State, but in the experience of the unionist community
measured in repeated atrocities in which their friends and relatives were
the victims.
Faced with the possibility
of engaging with republicans in political relationships rather than through
military engagement, many remain confused. Such political relationships
are a greater threat because of the ambiguity that it creates around previous
certainties. This involves acknowledging the right of republicans to hold
their analysis, while not accepting the political coherence of their argument.
It further involves embracing into the democratic fold those who have resorted
to political violence and who may regret its necessity, and even question
its continued expediency, but will not deny its legitimacy in the circumstances
that prevailed. Consequently many Protestants are confronted with opening
themselves to the possibility of being persuaded towards an outcome opposed
to their political convictions and through a process that contravenes their
moral framework.
Ultimately the relationship
between faith and politics is being tested and found wanting. Unionism is
caught between the civic vision of inclusiveness regardless of religion
and culture and the religious exclusion of a militant Protestantism. The
role of religion, and Evangelical Protestantism in particular, as a unifying
factor in the emergence of unionism is often under valued. The Evangelical
revival of 1859 served to bring a spiritual coherence between Protestant
and Dissenter, a development reinforced by the growth of the Orange Order
with its increasing emphasis on defending 'evangelical faith'.
The inheritors of this
religious tradition today are characterised by three traits that predispose
them against the politics of accommodation that is on offer and towards
the politics of fear; fundamentalist in belief and mindset; separatist,
with an emphasis on maintaining distinctives and distance from those who
differ; apocalyptic, with a worldview based on an expectation of the world
becoming a more hostile place in which to live, at the heart of which is
the threat of Catholic domination.
All these issues need
to be taken seriously while not being used as an excuse to justify a deliberate
undermining of a genuine attempt to create a new beginning for us all. For
the Christian disciple the clear biblical model is one of self-reflection
and critique. In this what most needs to be addressed amongst many Evangelicals
is the perception of righteous Ulstermen as without blame for the conflict
and the congruence of the people and God and the people of Ulster, again
so evident in the political discourse following the South Antrim by-election.
Such attitudes lead to a virulent religious nationalism, with an accompanying
self-righteous disdain for the moral ambiguities of making peace in a divided
community that is part of a fallen world.
David
Porter - ECONI's Director
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