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Introduction:
Political Compassion?
Derek Poole
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Faith
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Megan Halteman
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of This World?
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FAITH
AND PRACTICE - ESMOND BIRNIE (MLA SOUTH BELFAST)
Esmond Birnie, a UUP Assembly Member for South
Belfast, is the subject of our latest interview in the series that explores
the connection between faith and practice in the workplace.
Though he has been interested in politics since he can remember, Esmond didn’t become involved in politics in Northern Ireland until his return from England following university. Finding the link between economic ideas and politics fascinating, he began to see both as potentially relevant ways to help people - a priority derived from his Christian commitment. From my late teens onward, I was impressed how ideas about the economy have dominated politics in most of the world. I began to perceive economics as influential, whether back in the time of the 1930s Great Depression or more recently. The same sorts of themes are relevant. I began to think, "Economics is exciting, relevant and potentially a way of helping people - perhaps with respect to poverty in the third world.” That sort of political interest partly explains studying economics. My developing Christian commitment went in parallel with my interest in economics and politics because it gave underlying bedrock. Looking at history and politics, even at an early age, I became aware of the fact that good intentions by themselves were not enough; there was the problem of human nature, of original sin. So Christianity contributed to [my belief that] politics is important, economics is important and they should be used to try to make the world a better place. Political Philosophy and Vision
Being influenced both by the Calvinist Reformed tradition and his experience of growing up during the Troubles, Esmond describes his political philosophy as a mix of liberalism and conservatism: though the individual is valued in the eyes of God, flawed humans have a natural propensity for evil which needs to be restrained. What Christianity most of all does is establish objectives, ends. I would take the view that there is some flexibility about the means to those ends, at least in an imperfect and fallen world, [where we have] limited information and understanding. My vision, working out from Christianity to the political domain, I suppose you’d call a mixture of liberalism and conservatism. On the liberal side [I would emphasize] the fundamental value of the individual, valued and fundamentally equal in the sight of God. But liberalism by itself can be a disaster because it underestimates the imperfections in human nature. On the conservative side: given original sin, good intentions by themselves are not enough. The tendency of humans to disorder, chaos, anarchy, violent civil war is greatly to be feared. My beliefs in that area have been somewhat influenced by the experience of growing up in Northern Ireland since 1969. I am part of that generation that cannot remember before the Troubles and didn’t have the experience of any degree of stability in a broad sense. Defining Moments
Esmond considers becoming a Christian, returning to Northern Ireland after university, the Anglo-Irish Agreement and joining/representing the Ulster Unionist Party all to be defining experiences, leading to re-evaluation of priorities or strengthening commitments. Becoming a Christian was a defining moment and that happened just before I was 17. As far back as I can remember I was encouraged by my family to attend church and be involved in church related organizations. At the age of 21, having finished university, I didn’t really think I would end up coming back to Northern Ireland, but I did. That has been very significant. In the Christian sense I would now say this was reflecting what God wanted to happen in my life, but it took me by surprise at the time. In terms of politics in particular, the Anglo-Irish Agreement from the 15 November 1985 was a defining moment. Until then I had been interested in broader politics, but I would not have envisaged myself being active in the domain of Northern Ireland politics or local politics. But the Anglo-Irish Agreement was politically defining for me because like many unionists and protestants in Northern Ireland I felt personally hurt by what I perceived as a betrayal by ‘my own government’ and the institutions in the British state with which I’d identified. It sparked off a re-evaluation of what I could expect from national identity and helped produce the situation that when I came back to Northern Ireland, I was predisposed to getting involved in politics here. But I didn’t join the Ulster Unionist Party until 1996. I had been involved in broadly described integrationist politics but the defining moment was in the summer of 1996 when I felt that [the integrationist ideology] wasn’t going to work. Politically I underwent a major change when I decided I would stay in politics but work within a local party. In some ways this may be imperfect but you achieve a lot more by settling for something which is achievable. Then I was finally elected in 1998—that was defining. Faith and Politics
We asked Esmond for his comments on the way faith and politics overlap in this country, whether he finds them at times overlapping in an unhealthy way. I think it’s inevitable that there is some overlap. It’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s how it’s done. As a Christian from a reformed tradition, I’d say it’s crucial that Jesus is Lord of your whole life and biblical principles underpin your political involvement just as much as they should do in business or recreation or cultural life or science. I suppose I did have reservations about the way in which particular political parties within Northern Ireland have tended to be closely aligned with particular churches or groups of churches. My approach to this is built on the assumption that there isn’t a direct link from scripture to political questions such as: “Should Northern Ireland be united with the Republic or stay with the UK?” We can derive principles from the Bible but we’ve got to use our mind, hopefully employing ‘sanctified’ common sense, to work out what we feel is best in particular circumstances. I would be loath to argue that there is a direct transmission from divine revelation to unionism in general, or indeed to my unionism. But I believe that supporting the union can follow from Christian principles. I accept that there will be other Christians who will come to different conclusions. We then asked whether he believes that religion has had a positive or negative effect in Northern Ireland. I have no doubt that religion has often been abused in Northern Ireland and abused by both unionists and nationalists. Sometimes religion has been used to justify violence. But just because something has been abused doesn’t mean it can’t be used, and I still feel very strongly that Christians have a duty to try and transform or reform society closer to fundamental Christian principles. Sometimes I think people who have a secularist axe to grind would use their interpretations of the role of the churches in the Troubles as a battering ram to try to chip away at Christian influence within Northern Ireland. The Troubles were awful, we need to avoid them happening again and maybe they were a scandal on Christian faith to the extent that Christians may not always have done enough to stop them. But we don’t want to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Community Relations
Esmond aims for an open society where people can hold differing views in an environment without violence. Whilst not wishing for a community of like-minded citizens, Esmond hopes for a political situation in which opposing groups can hold strong views without fear. Division and hatred are usually bad things: bad socially, bad economically, bad politically and from a Christian point of view, not part of God’s ultimate will. I want a situation of tolerance where people will still hold strong views, but will tolerate people with different views. A tolerant Northern Ireland would be a place where somebody could be a conservative Catholic; equally somebody else could be a member of the Orange Order. I would like a situation of tolerance where there would still be division on some points of principle but get rid of the violence, get rid of the venom and allow people to express themselves. Let's have the debate of ideas because I believe the truth will always come out in a free market of ideas. The Role of the Local Church
We asked Esmond whether the church’s role is just to be prayerfully supportive or whether it should more radically engage with the political agenda. He believes that churches should do both, provided they are aware that, in order to radically engage in politics, churches must not only be properly informed but also willing to take criticism. It can and should do both. I think the church can engage. That will involve entering into the realm of ideas, ideologies, putting forward statements, getting involved in the media and so on. I very much welcome the church putting out statements and views on a variety of issues, and not just narrowly defined social/moral agenda issues. But if they do, they have to be prepared to take some knocks and criticisms from time to time. They shouldn’t assume they have monopolies on truth on those particular issues. Obviously they must also do their homework because it’s important for the Christian witness that churches are seen to be engaged in a credible manner. When asked if the traditional alignment between protestant churches and political unionism is changing, Esmond responded that it is, at least in the official statements coming from church leaders. I think you could argue that what has happened is that increasingly the Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Church and the Church of Ireland have adopted some sort of declared position of neutrality to both unionism and nationalism. Sometimes I perceive an anti-unionist bias that I think might be a feeling on the part of church leaders that there’s something wrong with their previous stance, even if it was informally held. Finally, we asked how he feels about the current, general health and state of the church in light of secularism and pluralism. Though he recognizes some of the problems in the current state of the church, he remains hopeful that with courage and conviction, the church’s witness to the world can have a positive effect. There are problems. We’ve all heard the evidence about declining numbers. I think there’s a growing tendency to by-pass the churches or say they are one of many lobby groups and a decreasingly significant one. But I’m not without hope, I suppose because I do have faith that ultimately God does have his purposes. If the churches have self-confidence, have the courage of their conviction, there is hope. I think that in the political domain, decision makers, even when they are not Christians, are recognizing that constantly there are moral, philosophical dilemmas. If the church comes forth with coherent views on those cases it will be listened to, even by non-Christians.
Megan Halteman Volunteer Research Assistant
ECONI thanks Esmond Birnie for his willing co-operation in this interview and wishes him continued success as he represents South Belfast in the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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