When Christians Fight : Ecumenical Theologies And The Troubles In Northern Ireland.

In this thesis I first of all outline the nature of the conflict in Northern Ireland.
Against the prevalent academic consensus that the conflict is an ethnic one, I argue
that it is a religious conflict with features of ethnicity and colonialism. I then assess
the behaviour of the state, both under the Unionist government at Stormont and then
under Direct Rule from Westminster. Pre-1972 I look at the question of
discrimination against the Roman Catholic minority community. I argue that this was
'institutionalised partiality'. In the era of the 'Troubles' I provide continuity by seeing
through the issue of 'fair employment' and also focus on the British Government's
response to the violence in terms of abuses of human rights. My view is that political
theology in Northern Ireland has never engaged critically with all the material
presented in these chapters.
After establishing that religion is the central motif of the 'Troubles', whose political
manifestation is the parameters and behaviour of a particular state, I examine the
broad sweep of the role the Churches played as they responded to the outbreak of
inter-communal violence in 1968. I concentrate on the missed opportunity of the
Violence Report of 1974 and what I term the 'ecumenical paradox' of the Churches
reaction to the 'Troubles'. I then examine three representative theological reflections
on the situation. One advocates a theological response to the 'Troubles' of
reconciliation, one of citizenship and one of justice. After examining the evidence I
offer a theology of justice, or liberation, which needed to be added to the dominant
theological paradigm of reconciliation to provide a cogent response to the 'Troubles'.
I give the example of the role of prisoners as a model from which the Churches could
learn from.