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The
DUP is now the largest political party in the north
of Ireland. It is a party made up of many people who
adhere to a particular mode of Protestantism or Protestant
fundamentalism. Its leader, the Rev. Ian Paisley,
perpetual moderator of the Free Presbyterian Church,
is a Protestant fundamentalist preacher whose anti-Catholicism
best defines this unique mode of Protestant fundamentalism
that permeates all aspects of life in Northern Irish
society. The Unionism of his party is inseparable
also in its articulation of the sixteenth century
Reformation and is totally unlike anything approaching
contemporary understandings of British identity. If
society here is to move forward this anti-Catholicism
must be confronted because it dangerously continues
to be the defining feature of the Northern Irish state
and is a distortion of the genuine Reformed or Protestant
tradition.
Ian
Paisley’s church for example believes that the
Roman Catholic Church is the ‘whore of Babylon’
or ‘mother of Harlots’ outlined in Chapters
17 and 18 of the Book of Revelation in the Bible.
The Pope is believed to be the ‘anti-Christ’
mentioned in Revelation and Catholics are therefore
by logical extension seen to be the followers of the
anti- Christ or deceived by the ‘system of the
Anti-Christ’. Ian Paisley has always believed
that the Roman Catholic Church and the Vatican are
involved in machinations to bring about the destruction
of Protestantism. He in the past has alleged that
‘Rome’ or the Vatican was colluding with
the Dublin Government to overthrow the Protestant
people of Ulster. He at least on one occasion has
said that the IRA was the ‘armed wing of the
Roman Catholic Church in Ireland’. Essentially
Ian Paisley believes that because the followers of
the Catholic Church are enslaved to a false church
that this can therefore only lead to malignity.
Most
of the leading figures in the DUP subscribe to a similar
view of Roman Catholicism. They see it as an unchristian
church and believe that it is prophesised in the bible
-especially in the Books of Daniel and Revelation-
as a false religion and system. For example Peter
and Iris Robinson of the DUP are worshippers at the
Whitewell Metropolitan Tabernacle church on the Shore
Road in Belfast. Pastor James Mc Connell who ministers
to this congregation is equally vehement in his belief
that the Roman Catholic Church is symbolically represented
in the book of Revelation and that Catholics cannot
be considered to be real Christians. His belief is
that they should leave that church and denounce it.
Gregory Campbell, Willie Mc Crea, Nigel Dodd’s
and others all similarly subscribe to the view that
Catholicism is incompatible with biblical Christianity.
Ian Paisley and preachers like him believe that Catholicism
is little more than a ‘baptised form of paganism’
or ‘idolatry’ and that Catholics worship
in ‘Romanist sun temples’ or ‘Romish
mass houses’. If anyone doubts this they should
check out the literature and audio recordings produced
by the Free Presbyterian Church or Mc Connell’s
sermon: ‘The Scarlet woman and the Beast upon
which it sits’ (text used in Revelation which
this church believes are references to the Roman Catholic
Church). Never mind that these biblical texts were
written for the early Christian church, and refer
to the persecution carried out against it by apostate
Jerusalem and the pagan Roman Empire, these preachers
transport these scriptures to the third millennium
and the Catholic Church.
A
good source for gaining an insight into these fundamentalist
views can be found in ‘Persecuting Zeal: A
Portrait of Ian Paisley’ by Denis Cooke.
Cooke himself is a Protestant clergyman who exposes
the hypocrisy and redundancy of Ian Paisley’s
theology and politics. Anti-Catholicism in N.Ireland:
The Mote and the Beam by John Brewer, a Presbyterian,
is a brilliant expose of just how untenable is Paisley’s
claim and others like him to be true representatives
of the Protestant faith. The derogatory and demeaning
way in which Catholic religious practices are described
is rightly shown to be deeply unchristian.
Even
those members or supporters of the DUP of a more secular
orientation are not unaffected by the culture of anti-Catholicism
that exists. Anti- Catholic attitudes are prevalent
and deep-seated throughout society. This is reflected
in the use of terms such as ‘Taigs Out,’
‘Fenians,’ ‘Fuck the Pope,’ ‘No
Popery,’ ‘Jesuitical propaganda’, which
are all part of the cultural iconography of life in
N.Ireland. This mode of anti-Catholicism and anti-catholic
attitudes is a means by which people are kept apart.
Differences are therefore not approached in a spirit
of openness, respect and sensitivity for other people’s
cherished beliefs. This consequently has the effect
of playing into a culture and climate of fear and
hate.
For
instance, and these examples are covered in the above
mentioned books,Ian Paisley and others within his
party have never been able to explain over the years
how comments referring to Catholics as ‘pope
heads’ and ‘papists’ or ‘incubators
for the Church of Rome’ were compatible with
biblical Christianity and the fundamental biblical
commandant to ‘love thy neighbour’ and ‘
love thy enemies’. Biblical Christianity teaches
that everyone is made in the image of God. However,
during the visit of Charlie Haughey to Belfast at
the time of the Anglo-Irish agreement, Paisley speaking
about Gerry Adams said ‘we know Gerry Adams for
the scum that he is’. Perhaps I’m missing
something but I would like to know how Ian Paisley
believes this to be in line with bible- believing
Christianity.
There
is also the issue of Ulster Resistance, a supposedly
‘defensive’ organisation founded by Ian
Paisley and Peter Robinson among others to resist
‘by force if necessary a British sell-out of
N.Ireland’. The DUP say that it severed its links
with Ulster Resistance before it became known that
some of its members were involved in importing a huge
arsenal of illegal weapons into the north. These weapons
were subsequently divided among Ulster Resistance,
the UDA and the UVF. However much Ian Paisley and
others may claim to be opposed to such actions the
results of the formation of such an organisation in
a deeply divided society were inevitable. Dangerous
and threatening language referring to ‘force’
and the paramilitary paraphernalia that accompanied
the formation of Ulster Resistance in the Ulster Hall
with Paisley himself centre stage had the effect of
leading certain members of that organisation to become
involved in the procurement of weapons for the use
of force. Over two hundred sectarian killings by loyalists
were carried out in the aftermath of that importation
of loyalist weapons in the mid-eighties. Yet the emphasis
on decommissioning hardly ever focuses on loyalist
weaponry and the culpability of Paisley and others
in contributing to the very culture which causes loyalist
violence.
There
are very strong grounds for believing that the DUP
are at present trying to trick others into believing
that they are sincere about sharing power with those
who draw their support from within the Catholic community.
But the suspicion is that once they have their hands
on the levers of power they will re-assert the agenda
of Unionist domination. It is hard to see how a party
traditionally used to seeing Catholics as the enemy
and as a threat to their Protestantism and way of
life- Rome being relentless in its aim to crush Protestantism-
can realistically be expected to be embrace power
sharing and equality with the Catholic community.
The
pervasive fear and hostility that they have spread
within their community about Catholics and the Catholic
Church may even prove to be irreparable. They must
therefore renounce their sectarian and bigoted poison.
Unless this happens then all the signs are that a
large section of that community will remain deeply
entrenched in its anti-Catholic outlook. Politics
and religion are seamlessly intertwined for the DUP
and especially its leadership. They have never been
able to truly accept the concept of Catholics as equals.
Their dark and aggressive theological/political thinking
does not seek to reach out to their Catholic neighbours
or be reconciled to them. It is a reflection of a
society that cannot come to terms with Catholics as
being entitled to the same rights. In Paisley’s
view opposition to Catholicism must continue and the
Reformation is therefore still ongoing for him and
those who share his worldview. If there is to be a
genuine peaceful future the DUP will have to break
with the way it has demonised the Catholic Church
and Catholic people.
Theological
and political differences with Catholics will have
to be approached in the future in a new spirit of
respect and tolerance. The battle lines drawn at he
time of the Reformation have disappeared in other
societies. We need to move on. Revelation Chapters
17 and 18 remains a marker of the Ulster Protestant
fundamentalist identity, a hangover from the Reformation,
and some of the cherished myths of Ulster Protestant
fundamentalism will have be recognised for what they
are – outlandish myths that have been used to
serve the purpose of keeping people apart and in opposition
to each other. Unfortunately, all the signs are that
it is not going to go away.
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