Conflict, Religion and Peacemaking

I was very struck by an account I read of bloodshed in Northern Ireland and how it harkens back to the ongoing battles in the Middle East.  I confess to only knowing the basic details of Ireland – Catholics vs. Protestants, IRA Provisionals and Sinn Fein vs. Orange Men, – as well as the involvement of the British government.  In reading the details laid out by Scott Appleby in his book Ambivalence of the Sacred, I couldn’t help but note the differences in the two conflicts.     

            The battle between the Palestinians and Israelis has, on the surface, always been about one main thing – land. Holy land.  Israelis fight to protect their state as well as maintain control of the holy city of Jerusalem.  Palestinians want their own separate state – under Palestinian rule – on land now occupied by Israel.  They also want control of Jerusalem, and many are still fighting for the right of return. In Northern Ireland, it was Catholic citizens fighting against control by the Protestant led government.  Political claims intertwined with religious claims.

In looking at these two struggles, one can see the power of religious differences on the face of each conflict. In the Middle East it’s the Qu’ran vs. the Torah, and the holy site of the Mosque vs. the holy site of the ancient temple.    In Northern Ireland it’s the Catholics vs. the Protestants.  And although both are Christian, they are very different in both faith practices and church doctrine.

As I continued to read Appleby’s analysis though, I finally began to see one strong similarity in the two conflicts. Both are fought in the name of religion, when in reality, they are social and economic struggles wrapped in religious rhetoric. They are wars rooted in oppression.  The Palestinians have been living in squalor for years with no hope for the future.  The Catholics in Northern Ireland were socially and economically oppressed by the political control of the Protestant government.  Oppression fuels the hatred, and religion is the flag under which the violence occurs.  The oppression and religious fervor combined make for an inevitable explosion of violence.

Thankfully there has been some progress.  The cease-fire in Ireland and the attempts to curtail oppression have greatly improved the situation.  Generations of hatred still remain, but the oppression has eased, and so hopefully will the anger.  As far as the Middle East conflict, the pullout of the Israelis from Gaza is a start in the peace process, but the oppression remains.  Without improvement in the quality of life for Palestinians, the hatred will continue to boil.  Iran has now tapped into that hatred and is calling for the destruction of Israel.   The focus must be on improving the situation for the Palestinians – not just giving back some land, or the bloodshed will continue (egged on by other countries who want to see Israel destroyed.)

As I was reflecting on the sadness in these “far away” lands, a frightening thought occurred to me.  Isn’t our country just one or two “wrong turns” from entering the same type of struggle?  There is so much oppression here – racial, economic and social.  Underlying resentments and hatred are “ripe for the picking” by extremist groups.   We’ve already seen the continuation of “Christian” white supremacy groups, who tap into the uneducated and often poor white communities to give their young men something to rally around.  There are the Nation of Islam leaders such as Louis Farrakhan who tap into the enormous oppression of poor African Americans by spreading lies and rhetoric of the evil of whites (for instance saying that whites blew up the levees in New Orleans in order to drown blacks).  And of course there are already the internal Christian struggles.  There are the charismatic leaders who go into small town churches (and even some larger churches) and preach hatred of gays.  The hate increases, and so does the persecution of gays.  Look what’s happened in the Episcopal Church. There are those who fervently support openly gay Bishop Gene Robinson, and others who are furious that a gay man could be ordained a bishop.  There have been angry anti-gay demonstrations, and individual Episcopal churches have begun to pull out from the main body in protest. 

With all of these hate fueled groups continuing to be urged on (particularly by those in positions of religious leadership), is it that far out of the realm of possibility for someone to plant a pipe bomb or take a shot?  One would hope that in the modern day United States, such a violent conflict is unlikely.  Then again – as we’ve seen throughout history across the globe – when any type of hatred is wrapped in the blanket of religious doctrine, violence isn’t too far behind.