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Northern Ireland should have a South African style Truth and Reconciliation Commission because the Bible is actually just like one big Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Hasn’t she got that slightly backwards, given that the Bible is the very reason why they need to reconcile in the first place?
Don’t take it from me. It’s barely a month since County Londonderry resident Evelyn McDaid was brutally beaten when she tried to prevent members of the Ulster Defence Association from assaulting her husband, Kevin, who died from his injuries. In her words: “It was all to do with religion”. When it comes to Northern Ireland, reconciliation should be inspired by common humanity, not any religion in the name of which murders and barbarity have been carried out.
Lain-Priestly says that the “way to reconciliation is never through amnesia or denial”, and she’s right, in a sense. But people are still burying loved ones and some elements are still quite prepared to undertake acts of lethal violence. When the Truth and Reconciliation Commision came about in South Africa, people wanted it. After a long period of getting on with life and learning to live side by side they were finally ready to sit down and talk about what had happened before. If they held a Truth and Reconcilation Commission in Northern Ireland today there’s a strong likelihood that acts of violence would be carried out by those who don’t want reconciliation. Paramilitary groups are still only tentatively putting down their arms, it’ll be a while before they’ve collected enough dust for tea and biscuits to be a viable option.