To understand the concept of peace and justice within the Irish framework, it is important to uncover the roots of sectarianism.
Sectarianism is a complex of attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, and structures in which religion is a significant component. Directly or indirectly, sectarianism causes situations of disruptive conflict.
The historical roots of sectarianism can be found in the Reformation of the 1500s and 1600s. There, we find a combination of three doctrines: one true church, outside of which there is no salvation; error has no right; and providence.
The doctrine of one true church can be expressed as follows: "Our church is the only true church. If you're outside it, your chances of salvation are much diminished, at best."
The doctrine that error has no right is less well known. This doctrine was developed by St. Augustine to justify the use of state coercion to suppress his heretical opponents. Because they were radically in error, he said, they had no right to express or hold their beliefs. Ever since, the doctrine has been put to use as the principle behind every kind of coercion--especially state coercion--for religious purposes. error has no right is the doctrine behind inquisitions, forced conversions, and similarly ugly strains on Christian history.
By providence we mean the basic teaching that God is at work in the world. Beyond that, we mean the belief that a faithful Christian observer of the world can discern God's will and purpose by reading the signs of the times in human events and the natural world.
The origin of sectarianism lies in two combinations of these three doctrines. The first combination joins one true church with error has no right. The one true church doctrine is a truth claim. Like every truth claim, it automatically carries with it the danger of arrogance and imposition. But these are only dangers, not necessarily outcomes, since everything depends on how the truth claim is made. If it is made consciously and humbly, it doesn't have to impose on others. But for those who believe that error has no right, the chances are that their truth claim will be made disastrously. If they believe that their church is the one true church and that error has no right, then it is their duty to see that error is suppressed by whatever means necessary. Therefore, tolerance is no virtue--tolerance is a deadly vice.
The other doctrinal combination behind sectarianism joins one true church with providence. Again, providence simply teaches that God is at work in the world. However, if providence is interpreted in light of the one true church, it is very easily reduced to: "God is on our side." Then, if we again bring in the idea that error has no right, "God is on our side" is likely to mean "God wants us to suppress others." The disastrous consequences of such a belief are obvious.
Reconciliation, peace, and justice need a prophetic voice. Let me quote a Dutch Reformed Church professor from South Africa: "Reconciliation is no cheap matter. It does not come about by simply papering over deep-seated differences. Instead, reconciliation presupposes an operation--a cutting to the very bone, without anesthetic."
Some people have misused the Christian faith as nothing more than a way out. It's as if they have taken up residence on the roof, far away from the noise and dirt of the streets below. Such escapism is a real danger to Christians today. Video games, television, popular music, preoccupation with sports, and abuse of alcohol and drugs all attest to the pervasiveness of escapism in our culture. But God always thrusts us into reality and responsibility by faith. God wants to stretch us, to bring us to maturity.
Salvation is not just forgiveness. It is a new order of life, restoring women and men to their intended place in the world. Is it possible that we've been robbed of the true and coherent concepts behind the words salvation and redemption? Why is it that we look upon our salvation as a moment that began our religious life instead of as the daily life we receive from God?
We're encouraged somehow today to remove the essence of faith from the particulars of daily human life and to relocate it in special times, places, and states of mind. The world is often ugly and messy, filled with war, pain, disease, terrorism, and hunger. But that's the world Jesus came to--full of the unemployed, prostitutes, criminals, lepers, terrorists. Christ went right out into it.
That is also the call for the church: to follow the Savior, Jesus Christ. Instead, many are tempted to create their own little world within the larger world. But the security we count on so much in our own little worlds has less to do with Jesus Christ than with locks, fences, money, and the "right" neighborhoods.
Christians who've been born and bred in a sheltered world-within-a-world find themselves limited and out of touch with the people Christ came to save.
The Rev. Gary Mason is a pastor of the Methodist Church of Ireland, which is one church across both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
On the peace line in west Belfast, Northern Ireland, stands a community center called ForthSpring. To form ForthSpring, the congregation of the Springfield Road Methodist Church divided its building into two parts: the church and the community center. The center, which opened in October 1997, is an association of four groups working together: the church, the Cornerstone Community, the Mid-Springfield Community Association, and the Currach Community.
ForthSpring was the brainchild of the Rev. Dr. Gary Mason, former pastor of the Springfield Road Methodist Church, who worked for five years on the project. Along with regular Sunday services, SpringForth offers Bible-study classes, after- school programs for children and youth, and a drop-in cafe called the Open Door. It is home to a women's group and provides a meeting place for senior citizens.
Most significant is the fact that ForthSpring serves both Protestants and Catholics. "No church [in Northern Ireland] has done anything like this before," Mason observes. "It involves a major step in faith."
Jayant Magar, from the Methodist Church of India, is a GBGM Mission Intern serving with ForthSpring Community Center and the Methodist Church of Ireland.
Text and photographs copyright 1999 by New World Outlook: The Mission Magazine of The United Methodist Church. Used by Permission. Visit New World Outlook Online at http://gbgm-umc.org/nwo/.
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The Streets of My Dreams: Overcoming Divisions in Belfast
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