by Eugene Voloshchenko

"On the 12^th of July 2000 the dead man's body was found near a bonfire in a Protestant stronghold at Larne (Northern Ireland), about 15 miles (24 kilometers) north of the provincial capital. Crowds at the bonfire reportedly confronted police when they arrived to investigate. It was believed to be the first death reported in nearly two weeks of violence stemming from Protestant anger over orders from authorities banning them from marching through Catholic neighborhoods in Portadown and other towns." � CNN News.

"COLERAINE, Northern Ireland � An 11-year-old girl is recovering in a hospital after her family's home was sprayed with gunfire in the latest attack in the ongoing Protestant paramilitary feud in Northern Ireland." � CNN News, August 29.

"BELFAST (CNN) -- Two men have been shot and seriously injured in another night of violence between rival Protestant paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland. Over the last 10 days, three people have been killed in a bloody feud between pro-British, Protestant factions." � CNN News, August 30.

Since 1969 more than 3000 people were killed in the collisions between the Catholic and Protestant Movements in Northern Ireland. It has become an ordinary thing now to hear about a bomb explosion in the middle of Belfast. And sometimes civilians cannot find a better solution than to flee their homes trying to avoid being another victim of religious cleansing.

Why are these people fighting? Apparently, since their religious affiliation is mentioned all the time, there must be some serious differences in their Religions. May be there is something so dissimilar between these two groups that they simply cannot stand the mere presence of each other? Let us look at what these two groups of people believe in. This is what the Fourth Council, which met in at Chalcedon in 451 A.D., drafted what came to be known as the Chalcedonian Creed, the basis of the orthodox Catholic tradition.

"Therefore, following the holy Fathers we all with one accord teach men to acknowledge one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, at once complete in Godhead and complete in manhood, truly God and truly man, consisting also of a reasonable soul and body; of one substance with the Father as regards his Godhead, and at the same time of one substance with us as regards his manhood; like us in al respects, apart from sin; as regards his Godhead, begotten of the Father before the ages, but yet as regards his manhood begotten, for us men and for our salvation, of Mary the Virgin, the God-bearer; one and the same Christ, Son Lord, Only-begotten, recognized IN TWO NATURES, WITHOUT CONFUSION, WITHOUT CHANGE, WITHOUT DIVISION, WITHOUT SEPARATION; the distinction of natures being in no way annulled by the union, but rather the characteristics of each nature being preserved and coming together to form one person and subsistence, not as parted or separated into two persons, but one and the same Son and Only-begotten God the Word, Lord Jesus Christ; even as the prophets from earliest times spoke of him, and our Lord Jesus Christ himself taught us, and the creed of the Fathers has handed down to us." (Melton Gordon J. 1978. "The Encyclopedia of American Religions")

Speaking about the beliefs that people of the Protestant Creed share we can notice that among several moderate differences regarding Saints, interpretation of the Bible, and the role of a pastor in one�s communication with the Holy One, we come to the only major difference � the definition of God. This is what Protestant doctrine says on this matter. "We believe that there is one, and only one living and rue God, [an infinite, intelligent Spirit,] whose name is JEHOVAH, the Maker and Supreme Ruler of Heaven and earth; inexpressibly glorious in holiness; [and] worthy of all possible honor, confidence, and love; revealed under the personal and relative distinctions of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; equal in every divine perfection, and executing distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption." (Melton Gordon J. 1978. "The Encyclopedia of American Religions")

So, reading the following statements, we learn that these two groups of people are not totally different. They both consider themselves to be just two different parts/factions of one whole. They all acknowledge that they belong to one religion, Christianity, but disagree on several issues. To Catholics God is dual. They see the Creator as the Father and the Son, one of whom created us all, and the other saved us from the sins. On the other hand, Protestants view God only as a combination of three people/creatures/substances. The idea of trinity is the key issue in the Protestant creed.

I understand that religion is a sensitive matter; different people may have different views and beliefs on different subjects, especially such controversial ones like religion. There is no univocal answer to any of the questions concerning religion that some other people would not be able to challenge. It is hard to prove something when there is no physical evidence except for a number of ambiguous manuscripts, which people can interpret any way they want.

I also understand the significance of these doctrines to some people. Some people may indeed think that the eternal life much more important than the life on the Earth. I understand all that. But I don�t understand, and I don�t believe the fact that true believers, the religious people, who comprehend and indorse the Biblical values and teaching of Jesus Christ, whose name they mention so often, can easily go out in the street and shoot a person for the simple reason that his/her views of the God do not coincide with his/her own. I cannot conceive that someone would decide to burn their neighbor�s house or blow up a truck in the middle of the town just because these other people do not appreciate the concept of Trinity. A true Christian, regardless of the denomination, will never do it.

So, what is behind the people who burn and kill in the name of God? The answer to this question is quite simple: money, power, and big time politics.

Throughout the history of mankind, beginning form the Stone Age until present times, people use religion as a handy tool to achieve their own purposes. During the early years of humanity Shamans of the tribes had supreme power because they could talk to Gods and asked for their favor during the hunting seasons.

During the Mediaeval times holy wars were among popular religious practices. It is paradoxical that Council of Clermont ("an assembly for church reform called by Pope Urban II in 1095, which, as a result of a request by envoys from the Byzantine emperor Alexius I Comnenus to aid the Greeks against the Muslim Turks, became the occasion for initiating the First Crusade. Urban II exhorted the French knights at Clermont to rescue the Holy Land from the Turks, closing his speech with the words "God wills it," which became a battle cry of the crusaders; the event inaugurated the medieval religious wars against the Muslims." - Encyclop�dia Britannica, Inc.) both proclaimed peace and officially sanctioned war.

Everything comes into place though when we understand that with peace movement designed to protect and give aid to fellow Christians in the East, the Council had a good cause to reconquer Spain from the Muslims and spread its influence further down the East.

During the Middle Ages Pope Gregory IX in 1231 instituted the papal Inquisition for the apprehension and trial of heretics. Another invention of Catholic Church came quite handy in the process of combat of heresy and such things as alchemy, witchcraft, and sorcery. In addition to that it helped clear France and Spain from Jews and Muslims wielding considerable power to Catholic Church and Inquisition itself. Here are some of the methods of "persuasion" used by the inquisitors:

"One method would involve having the accused hands tied behind his back and then being hoisted up by the wrists onto a large wooden frame called a Strappardo. To inflict the maximum amount of pain large weights were attached to the victim�s feet or testicles and in some extreme cases he was then jerked violently downwards only to be stopped inches from the floor. This method called 'Squassation' frequently dislocated the arms of the victim.

Another particularly cruel method of torture was mock crucifixion. The victim was made to stand on a footstool in front of a large wooden door. One of his arms would be raised vertically above his head and nailed, through the wrist between the radius and ulna bones, to the door. His other arm was then stretched out horizontally and nailed to the door in the same way. The inquisitors then kicked away the footstool, letting the victim�s full weight bear down on the nails now supporting his body. His feet were placed together and a third nail was driven through the first and second metatarsal bones of his feet. The inquisitors were now free to apply a varied amount of pain on the hapless victim. The door could be gently swung to and fro or violently slammed shut sending shockwaves of pain through the victim. This method of mock crucifixion was believed to have been used to extract the confession from Jacques de Molay, Grand Master of the Order." � (Cecil Roth, 1996. Spanish Inquisition. W.W. Norton & Company.)

As we see, nothing stopped those God-obeying people from getting whatever information they needed from their prisoners. I wonder when did Jesus share the secrets of such process of truth getting with the Apostles?

Now allow me to return to the events described in the beginning of my paper. If we look closer at the row of tragic incidents, cases of terrorism and acts of violence that take place in Northern Ireland, we will promptly understand that Religious doctrines have very little to do with the actual reasons of force used in the region. It all dates back to 1920�s when, after the withdrawal of the Irish Free State from the British Commonwealth and its reconstitution as a republic, the IRA turned its attention to agitating for the unification of the Irish republic with predominantly Protestant Northern Ireland, which remained a part of the United Kingdom. In their turn in the late 1960s Catholics of Northern Ireland (Ulster) began a civil-rights campaign against discrimination in voting, housing, and employment by the dominant Protestant majority. All that, sequentially, led to an outbreak of violence, which kept going on up to the present date killing more and more people on its pestilent way.

From the very beginning all that violence had nothing to do with either religion or any sorts of theological doctrines. Politics alone ruled the show using these religious groups as pawns to reach its sordid goals.

And even though I see the reasons and motives of the events in Northern Ireland, there is still one matter that remains a mystery to me. How any true Protestant or Catholic can put up with this course of actions? Why do they let their corrupted leaders get them involved in all this purely unholy business? Have they never experienced a feeling that something is wrong about planting a bomb in the middle of a crowded city while it is written "Do not murder�" in the Bible, the Book, Holy for both Protestants and Catholics?

I personally see two possible answers for these questions:

1. All these people that take part in the acts of violence are not true believers. And that means they do not have the right to call themselves Christians. Therefore, these conflicts should be classified as conflicts between rivalries and not religious groups.

2. These people are dumb to the extent that they do not see the contradiction between the things that they believe in and their actions. If that is true, the organized religion should be banned, because it does not fulfill its purpose of educating people and encouraging their spiritual purification.

I think it is high time to stop all these swindlers who manipulate millions of people, pump out their money, and deprive them of the chance to experience the true meaning of Faith regardless of one�s denomination.

List of References:

1. The Bible. New International Version.

2. J. Gordon Melton, The Encyclopedia of American Religions, Volume 1. 1978.

3. R. Laurence Moore, "Selling God", Oxford University Press 1994.

4. Moojan Momen, An Introduction to Shi�i Islam. The History and Doctrines of Twelver Shi�ism., Yale University Press, New Haven and London 1985.

5. Donald S. Lopez, Jr., Religions of Tibet in Practice. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey.

6. C.S. Lewis. Mere Christianity. Touchstone. 1952.

7. Cecil Roth, 1996. Spanish Inquisition. W.W.

8. Encyclop�dia Britannica, Inc. 1998.

9. www.cnn.europe.com

 

Back