THE PLANTATION: A CHRISTIAN ANALYSIS
The plantation of Ulster in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries has given rise to profound divisions in the North of Ireland.
I believe that there are two main value systems in the North of Ireland. There is the Catholic/Nationalist/Social Democratic value system, which is supported by and large by most Irish people, in both parts of Ireland, who want to see a united Ireland.
There is also the Protestant/Unionist/Conservative value system, which is supported by those who want to remain part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Whereas the Catholic value system exists and has support outside the North of Ireland, the Unionist value system has little or no tangible support outside their ‘province’.
British support for the unionist position has developed from a sense that they have a duty to the unionists forever since they encouraged their forefathers to seek to come and live in the rebellious North of the sixteenth century. It is an imperialist sentiment, born of a desire to return to the days of dominance of the British Empire, and thus it can have no validity these days.
I would contend that capitalism, the child of imperialism, has no conscience and thus it can have no interest in the affairs of the unionists. Capitalism cannot take responsibility for its own actions. It is designed for the benefit of the moment and not the eternal. It has no eternal quality, and the unionists have no friends in reality in the sections of the British establishment that still support them.
The Nationalist value system is made up of many influences, but they are mainly natural influences, and they have evolved according to natural trends over the course of their history.
However, there has been some shepherding of their value system by those in power in Northern Ireland since 1920, and in Ireland as a whole over the centuries prior to 1920. Their values have been formed in opposition to oppression of various sorts.
Oppression played a prime role in the preparation of Israel for the arrival of Jesus. From the Greeks to the Romans, Israel was an oppressed nation in the centuries leading up to the coming of Christ.
Oppressed peoples are different to mainstream nations in that their values are more focussed. The values of community are much better defined among the oppressed.
Oppression is the ultimate denial of freedom of human beings. It is the ultimate denial of the dignity of each and every human being. The Romans oppressed the Jews. In Northern Ireland, the unionists oppressed the Catholics.
The unionists have been part of the oppressive machinery used against nationalists, particularly since the formation of the Northern Ireland state in 1920.
The existence of the unionists complicates the analysis of the North’s problems from a Christian perspective, but it does not change the conclusions. Christians cannot be neutral in this conflict. Their sympathies will lie with nationalists, but only insofar as nationalists adhere to the teachings of Christ. Therefore, I conclude that the moral high ground lies with the pacifist SDLP.
However, it is worth commenting on the need for nationalists to embrace unionists and open their hearts to those who feel that they have abandoned Christ on becoming planters. The unionists are a people that have few friends and who have been badly advised over the course of their history. It is for nationalists to be true friends to them, and to tell them straight what is now in their interests.
For a more detailed discussion of the historical background of the conflict from a Christian perspective, see my book, Love is the Answer: The SDLP, Christianity, and the Northern Ireland Conflict
