British People are Like all People: We Want Peace

 (Editor's Note) My homeschooled godson Ben, age 16, is studying history, and from that experience he took a great dislike to the British as they behaved in history especially toward the Irish. Ben is mostly Irish. I answered his questions regarding the pope and who killed Jesus Christ in this blog post “Questions from a Godson: Who Crucified Jesus Anyway? Is the Pope Really as Pure as He said?” 

But I really couldn’t address the British-Irish question for him, so I called in my faithful British friend Christopher Woodford, Twitter Handle @Crimbo51, who describes himself as a “former atheist who has abandoned the arrogance of certainty.” He is so recently “former atheist” that we were just arguing about the existence of God two weeks ago! He lives in Southampton, England. Ben lives in Washington State, U.S.A. On Saturday they began their dialogue with History Recalls Its Tragedies, Our Job is to Forgive  They stalled on the Irish Question. Ben wants a whole Ireland, North and South. Chris thinks it would cause new violence to break out. Susan Fox remembers the bombings in Dublin in 1974.

British Family Man
Christopher Woodford
 with granddaughter Jess 

CHRISTOPHER WOODFORD: 
Thanks for your reply Ben. In considering your position on Ireland you have caused me to research and fill in some gaps. I'm 63. This hammers home to me that we only cease to learn when our last breath leaves us. Maybe you and Susan would disagree with me here and say we continue to learn after our last breath. We'll see.... or maybe not. I'm open-minded and rule nothing out.

So here goes: I quote your reply.

''I did not hear explicitly 'the British want to re-enslave the Irish', I'm basing such a suspicion on the fact they still haven't just let go of Ireland.”

British people are like American people, German people, Russian people, and any people. We want peace, we want to have homes, go to work, come home, enjoy our families. So let's put “people” aside and talk governments.

Why should the Westminster government wish to “re-enslave” Ireland (referring here to Eire,) when all it's actions over the last seven decades have been to try to ensure the transition of former colonies to independent sovereign states? Ireland was, I think, the first to achieve this status before World War II.

OK. We can be cynical about this and say the dismantling of the British Empire was necessary on the grounds of Britain running out of cash after two world wars. But surely you notice around you, both in the US and when you watch world news, the attitudes of people everywhere toward freedom. It's a small world now. I'm talking to you across 6000 miles. It would take me longer to drive to my city's airport and park my car than the flight I could get from there to Dublin would take. The desperate attempts of governments like China and North Korea to stifle the World Wide Web can never succeed. Ordinary people communicate and this reduces the chance of them being fed propaganda.

Northern Ireland: After the government of Margaret Thatcher (she was an odd one!), I'm sure that nothing would have pleased any Westminster Prime Minister more than to be able to “wash their hands” of Ireland and say, “Give the Six Counties back and that will be the end of it.”

But it wouldn't be an end of it. The population of Northern Ireland was, last census, 1.8 million. That's about 40% the size of Eire's population of 4.5 million. Of the 1.8 million, around 48% describe themselves as Protestants. The vast majority of these would be incensed for their nationality to be arbitrarily changed to Irish. I bet a few of the Catholics would like to stay British too. I believe you live in Washington State. Would you happily accept the folks in Washington, D.C., telling you that starting June 1, 2015, you, Ben, will be a citizen of Canada, like it or not?

A conversation at the Whitehouse:

”Mr. President. Many people in Washington State don't want to be Canadians.”

(The President replies) “If they don't like being part of Canada, they can and should move to Oregon.”

“But Mr. President, many of them have business interests, family commitments, or just can't afford to move!”

“Well, it's not too bad being Canadian. They'll have to get used to it.”

“This will never happen,” you'll say, but in reading up I found that Mexico has a claim on Texas!

Back to Ireland: It wouldn't be an end to it. It would be the beginning of much more trouble. I'm sure you know about the militant Irish Republican Army and the Irish National Liberation Army movements. What about the list of Loyalist Protestant paramilitaries? All these groups are made up of people every bit as dangerous as the IRA. Some of these groups have been disbanded or ended their campaigns after the recent peace agreement. This is true progress.

But they would all come out of retirement if your plan was to be implemented, and no doubt would take their violent response to, not only the mainland British who “sold them out,” but also into the streets of the now peaceful Republic of Ireland.

“Out of the frying pan, into the fire,” the saying goes.

I quote you again:

“I'm basing such a suspicion on the fact they still haven't just let go of Ireland.”

Rev. Ian Paisley

Have you ever seen the recently deceased Reverend Ian Paisley speak? I checked YouTube for videos of him. Have a look. He's the sort of person we are dealing with here.

I recommend you at least watch the one where Paisley says he was told by both the Dublin and Westminster of what was called “Plan B.” If he refused to sit down with the Irish political party Sinn Féin “Britain would pull the plug” on Northern Ireland and return it to Dublin’s rule. He would then have no chance of any compromise.

Does this sound like a government, which is determined to enslave Ireland? It sounds to me like an exasperated government trying to get the best result for the most people out of an impossible situation.

I urge you again to read up on Scotland. I repeat what I said about their 2014 independence referendum. They could have freely gone their own way last year, with all the upheaval that would have caused. They had the freedom.

A simple referendum would not work for Northern Ireland. The vast majority of citizens wish to stay in the UK. Peter Robinson, First Minister at the Stormont (Northern Ireland) government, described such a referendum as “asking turkeys to vote for Christmas.” This is fact. All would be lost in a single day. The way forward is to let time take its healing course.

I quote you again:

“they could just start by backing out.”

The peace process IS “backing out.”

Let's go back 70 years and look at what happened when Britain did to India exactly what you propose it should do with Ireland.

The partition of India in 1947 was an example of a plan cobbled together and implemented without care or consideration over a few months.

 

A letter to a newspaper about 20 years ago by an officer in the Punjab Railway Police:

Massacres at the partition of India

1947 Partition of British Empire in India, creating Pakistan and Bangladesh caused
the largest mass migration in human history. 17 million fled across newly
created borders. Only 14.5 million arrived. At the lowest estimate half a
million people perished and 12 million became homeless

“Sir: There have been several estimates mentioned recently of the number of deaths caused by the partition of India 50 years ago -- figures of 250,000 to half a million have been put forward.

As a former officer of the Indian Police who was in the very thick of the disturbances in Lahore and Amritsar before the partition, and as Assistant Inspector General in charge of the Indian Punjab railway police, I was interested to hear on the Channel 4 program "Stones of the Raj" the higher estimate of one million cited.

The pendulum of death and destruction swung, over a period of many months both before and after 15 August 1947, across the whole of northern India from Calcutta to Kabul, and back again. During those months death was everywhere: in the towns and cities, in the thousands of villages, on the trains, on the roads. One of my duties in the railway police was to meet refugee trains, usually at Amritsar, coming in from newly created Pakistan.

The carnage on these trains was beyond belief -- men, women and down to the smallest infants. The trains were packed with thousands upon thousands of dead bodies, and many more were strewn along the track. The same thing was happening in the opposite direction, where trains taking refugees out of India were, with the connivance of the railway staff, being deliberately derailed so that the passengers could easily be massacred. There was madness in the air that was almost tangible.

In addition, nature took a hand that dreadful summer. During the monsoon there were flash floods in some places, which swept away untold thousands of refugees along with their bullock carts and all their possessions.

An old Indian Civil Service friend (who stayed on in Pakistan) and I were recently discussing the question of the number of deaths, and he agreed with me that it must have been anything between one and two million, probably closer to two than to one.

It will be many years yet, on both sides of the border, before the bitterness of partition is forgotten.

F B MANLEY

Richmond, Surrey.”

Ireland is not India. But fast track solutions cause chaos.

I think the peace process as we have it at the moment is the best way forward, and as the older generation passes and people of your age take over with the pain of the past healed, then anything can happen.

I'm not sure how much you know about Ireland and world history by your own research and how much is hearsay.  I urge you to read and research for yourself. Form your own opinions. It's all there at the click of a mouse.

Other peoples opinions are just that.... other peoples opinions (including mine.) Form your own. They are the only ones you can trust.

Best wishes, Chris.

Susan Fox  visited Dublin in 1974, when Ireland was going through The Troubles.

Dear Ben, I thought his answer was interesting because he said they have come to some accommodation in Northern Ireland. The violence has stopped.  In 1974, when I was in Dublin, a girlfriend took me to a dance hall in Dublin. I was 20 years old and had no idea where we were going. But when the dance started the guy running the show announced that we were such a “brave” crowd as we were the first ones back into downtown Dublin after the bombing which killed a certain number of people. Now I was not in Northern Ireland, but somebody from Northern Ireland bombed Dublin because they were mad at the Irish. I remember not feeling brave at all, but terrified that we were in Dublin where they bombed innocent civilians! If Chris is saying that activity would start again if they disturbed the situation up there, I can see how nobody would want that.

However, I think about Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, which technically freed 3 million slaves in the South without compensation to their owners. The results were bloody, the most deadly war in U.S. History. Southern resentment manifested itself against the North and the Negro population for decades afterwards. Maybe we could have ended slavery as the British did by reform of their laws, but it seems like that was the only way we were going to get rid of slavery. I pray we don’t have to go through something similar to end abortion, but it seems for right now the mainstream pro-life movement keeps chugging away with pro-life solutions (peacefully closing abortion “clinics.”)

Bones lined up in the crypt at Nyamata Genocide
Memorial in Rwanda 

But then I think about the Rwandan Genocide in 1994 where an estimated 1 million Rwandans were killed in three short months. Two tribes lived together for generations until members of the Hutu Tribe achieved a majority leadership. What  amazed me about that conflict is that members of the Hutu and Tutsi Tribes looked the same, and many of them worshiped together in the same Catholic parish before the genocide! Their distinction developed because one group farmed the land and the other herded cattle. Thank God Northern Ireland didn’t devolve into a similar genocide. 

Ben your godfather, Lawrence Fox, has a solution to the whole matter in Northern Ireland. He said the Catholic Church in Northern Ireland must faithfully practice their faith. If they do that, they can peacefully convert the Protestants. As Chris said, the Anglican Church is fading in Britain, but the Catholic Church is growing.  Ironically, this is the same solution Our Lady offered the Rwandans in 1981 when she appeared to several children in Kibeho, Rwanda, warning that a "River of Blood" would flow unless people put aside their hatred and loved one another. 

BEN INSISTS: LET IRELAND GO!

BEN: Wasn't Reverend Ian Paisley Protestant? He despised Catholicism, and called Pope John II, "the Antichrist"? Let's not forget the Protestants wouldn't be in Northern Ireland if not for King Henry VIII. So why should Protestants (like the deceased Ian Paisley) get a say in what happens in Northern Ireland? While I like your peace speech I think we're going to have to agree to disagree. It sounds like you are saying making a hasty decision and letting go could lead to disaster, giving an example of what happened to India.

Sure, the Protestant resistance groups in Northern Ireland may start up again, but there are a lot of other groups, who support a united Ireland. They outnumber the Protestants. And the Garda (national police of the Republic of Ireland) would keep the peace (or try). The Protestants are so toxic -- they shouldn't be there anyway. They are not going to get along with the rest of the Catholic population -- that much is obvious. The British should let go of Northern Ireland, uproot and move the Protestants out in the process. Maybe they don't want to move, but they should.

Your comparison of Washington becoming Canadian doesn't enthuse me. Unlike the Protestants, I didn't go somewhere I was unwelcome to be. I would definitely move if Washington became Canadian because that would just mean England is probably going for a land-grab through Canada (I do realize England doesn't own Canada anymore, but they still recognize the British Queen, no?)

Such a move – turning Washington over to Canada -- would confirm all suspicion that the U.S. government is composed of selfish dimwits.

But it would never happen because everyone in Washington would vote against it, everyone would be in an uproar, and the government would lose the revenue of an entire state.

Mexican Invasion of Texas?

Mexico is tiny, there's no way the U.S. is going to let them walk in and take Texas. The government likes to own everything. That's like saying “the Native Americans have a legitimate claim to the entire U.S., let's hand it on over.” That wouldn't happen in a million years. But I digress. It sounds like you think if everyone buries his or her head in the sand that everyone will simply forget. Ireland will be whole or people will not care any more. And the problem goes away. We're obviously both biased, and both have a different stance. I don't think everyone burying his or her head in the sand is the right thing to do. I think they should pull the plug on Northern Ireland.

It’s pointless to let Northern Ireland vote to leave because that’s where the Protestants are, so they’d be voting for themselves. The whole of Ireland should get a vote on the matter. If the whole of Ireland voted on whether Northern Ireland should stay apart or not, Northern Ireland would be voted to merge back. Sure, it might make a select few mad but that's not their problem. Stay or go.

Chris Woodford’s Final Thoughts

Hello again Ben

All of history is full of “ifs.”  If Henry VIII hadn’t wanted a divorce... If Hitler had declared war on Japan and not the United States after Pearl Harbor...

It’s endless.

But we are the ones left to deal with the fallout of these “ifs” long after the perpetrators of them are in their graves.  We are in the holes they made and we either stay in them or get out of them as best we can.

The European Union will swallow Ireland (Eire already happily immersed) and it will swallow Britain too in the end.  I bet in 50 years even Russia will be in the Super State of Europe.

Indian Rulers North and South America?

Native Americans DO have the right to be returned to full control of the whole of the continents of both North and South America. I’m using your standard here.  They have as many “ifs” as anyone else.

As a Postscript: I misunderstood Ben's suggestion about a referendum.  Yes, a “whole Ireland” referendum would be a good idea.  A “whole British Isles” referendum would, I feel, return Northern Ireland to the Republic of Ireland as most English, Scots and Welsh are tired of the trouble caused over the years.

But let's not forget the people of Northern Ireland, who were not simply “put there by Henry VIII,” but have been born to families who have lived there, in some cases, longer than Ben's family have lived in he USA.

Henry VIII was 500 years ago. That's twice the age of the USA.

Chris.

Susan Fox: Unbelievable. We have reached almost an agreement – a whole Ireland referendum. Now we simply must tell Westminster. 

HISTORY RECALLS ITS TRAGEDIES: Our Job is to Forgive

Editor's Note: My homeschooled godson Ben, age 16, is studying history, and from that experience he took a great dislike to the British as they behaved in history especially toward the Irish. Ben is mostly Irish. I answered his questions regarding the pope and who killed Jesus Christ in this blog post Questions from a Godson: Who Crucified JesusAnyway? Is the Pope Really as Pure as He said? But I really couldn’t address the British-Irish question for him, so I called in my faithful British friend Christopher Woodford, Twitter Handle @Crimbo51, who describes himself as a “former atheist who has abandoned the arrogance of certainty.” He is so recently “former" atheist that we were just arguing about the existence of God two weeks ago! He lives in Southampton, England.

Ben's Original Question

Ben and I found a real Roman soldier to
answer his questions. Young Christopher
Woodford growing up in the British Isles.

The Romans originated from Italy, they took Britain from the Briton Celtic people around 60-78 AD. While the Romans took over and the Britons ended up accepting their new overlords, the other Celtic tribes kept struggling, refusing to give up so easily. The Romans/Brits were the ones to kill Jesus. In the end the Briton and Roman people mingled, so the modern day British people are mutts of the two, perhaps thrown in with a splash of other ethnic groups (Been a long time, after all.)

The Roman/Brit people continued to then fight the Insular Celts, enslaving them and selling them in the era of slaves for the U.S. to build their railroad.

The “Brit’s” Response

 Christopher Woodford: Hello Ben, In early 1946, my father and mother went to our rail station to meet her youngest brother at the train station. He was coming home from the Far East where he had spent 1942-45 in a Japanese prisoner of war camp in Singapore.  He saw them first and came up to speak. They did not recognize him. He was not much more than an emaciated skeleton, and this was his condition after spending months in rehabilitation.

Changi Prisoner of War, British or Australian

In the Changi Prisoner of War (POW) camp, he was beaten and subjected to the terror of possible instant or slow death on the whim of the Japanese guards. The prisoners were worked in 100-degree temperatures, eating only a handful of rice daily and some dirty water, supplementing their diets at night with snakes, insects and rodents unfortunate enough to pass through the camp.

I was born in 1951. From as early as I can remember I was taught to hate the Japanese, Japan and all things, which came out of it. I would never buy products from Japan, though they made good quality electronics, music systems, cars and motorcycles at reasonable prices. Hating them cost me money. This hatred lasted for decades into my adult life.

 

Japanese guard at Changi
POW camp

In 1993, I travelled to Dresden, Germany, which used to be part of Communist East Germany up to a few years before. As we approached the city, cranes dominated the skyline – more than I had ever seen in one place before.

The whole city was still under reconstruction nearly 50 years after it had been completely destroyed.  Walking around the city center, we saw it as a colossal jigsaw puzzle. We stood outside a fenced off area where a cathedral towered over us. Around its base were chunks of masonry, some no bigger than a football, all with numbers on them.

Only three months before the end of World War II, the British Royal Air Force (RAF) sent 800 Lancaster bombers at night over Dresden. This was followed the next day by two waves of US Air Force B-17s, each numbering 311 and 450 planes respectively.  Dresden was almost untouched until this date, its industry being the manufacture of fine china. On the night and day of the raids it was full of refugees fleeing the Soviet army. The purpose of the raid? “The intentions of the attack are to hit the enemy where he will feel it most, and incidentally to show the Russians when they arrive what Bomber Command can do,” according to an internal RAF memo. 

AFTERMATH DRESDEN BOMBING: An estimated 25,000 people
killed Feb. 13-15, 1945, by American and British bombers.
The German city was full of refugees on that date.

We went into a restaurant in the city after our walkabout. A young man about 10 years younger than I ran it. His hate toward us British was obvious from the start. 

This got me to thinking.  I was born six years after the bombing of Dresden.  I didn't bomb his city.  He was born 16 years after the bombing. He wasn't there when it was bombed. Maybe, in some odd way, the event led to his parents coming together and his life beginning. Who knows?

After that, I changed my attitude toward Japan. Why should I hate them? Most of the people involved in the conflict were dead or in their senile years. And who, if anyone, should apologize? After all, they were the victims of two atomic bombs.

On Ireland:  Yes. The British have wronged the Irish. But who is a nation? Who is a Briton, or an Italian? Go back 2000 years to Rome. They weren't Italians. Go back to 1776. The Americans you would meet would be nothing like the people you see today.

 

Christopher Woodford with daughter Emma at Versailles Palace
He's a look alike for American singer and politician Sonny Bono,
who came to fame in the 1960s

I grew up in the ‘50s and ‘60s. The adults were oppressive and controlling. We broke out of that. We had a kind of revolution in music, fashion and behavior. Not all changes were for the better. But I guarantee I am a different man from my father and grandfather.

Ireland's oppression started 900 years ago. The Norman king, Henry II, was first to invade. But note the word “Norman.” These kings were foreign invaders in England. Their arrival in England in 1066 sparked an oppression of the Saxon English, which only eased slowly over two centuries. The English were suffering the same fate as the Irish.  It was only in the mid-1300s that the English aristocracy began speaking “English.” And the “English” they spoke is unrecognizable today.

All through the following centuries Ireland was a strategic problem for the rest of the British Isles (right up to the 1940s). The French were always angling to land forces there for a foothold to invade England and Wales. This problem

King Henry VIII messed
everything up.
"If" only he didn't want a divorce!

increased after Henry VIII abandoned the Catholic Church causing Spain, then the most powerful world power, to become our enemy.

Eire and “the six counties” which comprise Northern Ireland are to this day in the dying throes of an old enmity between Catholicism and Protestantism. Almost no one anywhere else in the world thinks too much about this difference any more, outside of Northern Ireland.

The British mishandling of the potato disease in the mid-1800s in Ireland, which resulted in Irish starvation and the consequent diaspora were typical of a thoughtless government run by the rich and aristocrats. If, at the same time, you could see the conditions the poor were living under in England, Scotland and Wales, it would be plain that their lives were given no value either. The average Englishman wouldn't have known the famine was happening. He might possibly be able to read, but would have no money to spend on the few news leaflets available, even if they mentioned the famine. And he couldn't turn on the radio, TV, or the Internet.

The Easter Rising of 1916 was dealt with in a heavy-handed manner typical of the time by a British military then in the middle of World War I. The mentality of the aristocrat generals of the time was such that British soldiers in France were executed for cowardice for suffering what is now recognized as Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. And British soldiers suffered through the stupid tactics of mass infantry attacks, which poured away men's lives in the 1000s every day. That means the British generals would not see any alternative except violent repression to an Irish protest.

The Easter Rising was a missed opportunity. Properly handled it could have turned out well. But hindsight is useless and the judging of yesterday's actions by today's standards happens in all walks of life.

Forward to The (British-Irish) Troubles, a thirty year period of bombings and violence from 1968, starting with repressed civil rights marches for Catholic equality, aggravated by the intervention of the British Army, the formation of paramilitary groups, and ended by international pressure to form a consensus government.

A priest gives the last rites to a demonstrator shot on
Bloody Sunday. Thirteen people were killed when
British paratroopers opened fire on an Irish civil rights
march in Derry on Jan. 30, 1972. 

There was still that imperial mentality in government. Lessons were hard learned. A pivotal moment in thinking occurred with the aftermath of Bloody Sunday in 1972, when the Parachute Regiment shot dead 26 protesters. I remember it well. The shock of this day went through society and rebounded into politicians' thinking. “You can't just shoot civilians in the street!”

But at about roughly this same time, the Ku Klux Klan and other racially motivated groups were shooting civil rights protesters in the USA. Also at this time, protesters and strikers in England were being beaten by police, and by soldiers masquerading as police.

The separation of Eire and the six counties is an insoluble problem in the near future. It is a problem 900 years in the making, and it can’t be reversed overnight. But British and Irish governments have made great progress since the ‘90s. Prime Ministers  Bertie Ahern (Fianna Fáil of Eire), John Major (Conservative of Britain), and then Tony Blair (Labour of Britain) pushed through stubborn local opposition and forced the creation of a local government in Northern Ireland representing fairly both sides.

Sinn Féin  Catholic party members Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness sat together with Protestant party members Ian Paisley (Leader of the Democratic Unionist Party) and David Trimble (Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party). It would have been unthinkable 20 years earlier. Their arms were twisted -- not only by Westminster and Dublin, but also by U.S. Senator George Mitchell sent to represent the U.S. by President Bill Clinton.

Since then, a whole generation has grown up in peace. I don't think anyone of your age would want to return to the troubles of the recent past. Neither would any Briton.

I would like to know where your idea comes from that we wish to re-enslave Ireland, especially in the light of the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. With an 84 percent voter turnout, the Scots chose to remain part of the United Kingdom 55-44.  They could have walked out of the United Kingdom last October, and they've suffered over the centuries too (Culloden/Highland Clearances).

The Protestant Orange Order, with its marches and Apprentice Boy Parades, seems to be fading out. It’s old men's stuff. It was and still is, the Protestant majority in the North, who insist on remaining in the United Kingdom.  And complete reunion with Eire is made more difficult still with Eire's whole-hearted plunge into the European Union and its use of the  Euro currency. That is something, which is a “NO, NO” to England, Wales and Northern Ireland in particular.

Pushing the Celts west: Consider the treatment Native Americans have received in the United States.

The Britons did resist the Romans. In 54 and 55 BC Julius Caesar was involved in two failed invasions of Britain (as usual, our lovely weather helped.) Claudius Caesar succeeded in 43 AD, but check out the actions of Boudicca, who conquered Roman-controlled Colchester, Verulamium (now St Albans) and London in 60-61 AD.

But remember, Rome was the USA of its day. Who could stand against its well-organized, state of the art, fighting equipment, legions and supply lines? And why resist, when acceptance of their superior system led to improved living standards. Being a Roman citizen had advantages, some of which the Apostle Paul exploited to his advantage when on trial in his homeland.

If Rome had survived, I have no doubt the moon landing would have happened 1000 years ago, and today we would be among the stars.

Christopher Woodford and
one of his favorite activities
drinking beer in the local pub 

Am I a heathen? Ask Susan Fox. She knows my religious background and the reason for my current thoughts. (editor’s note: Chris has an open, beautiful inquiring mind, but a heart bruised by being raised in the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Therefore with respect to God, he has trust issues. But apparently, God values a person’s willingness to love, and in this department, Chris excels.)

Britain has many beautiful churches and cathedrals. Henry VIII's Church of England has slipped out of the minds of the average Briton. But the Catholic churches seem to be doing well.

This loss of religious enthusiasm has something to do with the age of the nation. Countries are like people; they age and change over time and we have been around longer than most. There's a certain tiredness in the minds of the indigenous people for religion. We've seen a lot of trouble, some of which we exported to America in the Mayflower flotilla. There is a lot of support for religion amongst immigrant communities, and not just Islam.

  

Do I hate Islam? That's a hard one. As it's an ideology and not a living person or persons, I suppose I do, in the same way, as I hate communism. Both stifle individuality.

Do I hate Muslims? No. They are people. I have worked with them over the years. Some have been good friends and colleagues. Our favorite local restaurant is Bangladeshi. The lads in there are great guys. Maybe I pity those Muslims who let the religion tear up their lives and rob them of their freedom.

One day a while back, Mike (my son) and I were in a city center Asian food shop. It is almost next door to the mosque and Friday prayers were just finished. The shop was busy and we arrived at the checkout at the same time as a Muslim man. I gestured to him to go first, but he put his clenched fist to his heart and looked into my eyes. He wanted us to go first. His eyes were wet with tears of joy and love for his fellow man. Islam must be doing him some good.

Am I, and other Britons, “cocky”? Some must be, as happens in all ethnic groups comprised of a multitude of individuals. Like all other nations, we have the full spectrum of good guys and bad guys. But if you don't take some pride in your country, then it's doomed. I bet you are proud to be a U.S. citizen, and proud of your Irish roots.

I'm proud of my country's achievements. We are still the 5^th power in the world. And I'm proud to be a friend of America, as are Australians, New Zealanders and Canadians, all nations with the same values. Britain is a virtually guaranteed extra vote for the USA on the United Nations Security Council. We were involved in the birth of America, and we actually need a strong America. It worries me to see the US spending vast sums in military engagements around the globe whilst at the same time undermining its own industrial and commercial base. History repeats itself. Look at Britain's position 100 years ago.

A few words more, before you suspect this Brit of trying to bore an Irishman to death. Perhaps you would like to try this experiment at night because that’s our daytime.

When you are alone in your room, shut your eyes tight, clench your teeth, and with all the power you can muster, send hate to all the British and Italians.

Somewhere in Italy, there will be a man on the Fiat truck assembly line, and somewhere in Liverpool, there will be a woman working on a supermarket checkout stand, and they will feel nothing. They, and everyone else in the two countries, won't even know you exist.

Hate is acid in your soul. It exists only in your mind. You are the only person it can erode and burn away. Love is cool neutralizing spring water. Forgiveness brings a joy to your heart, which is worth more than anything else you could achieve. Why do you think forgiveness is at the core of the teachings of Jesus Christ?

 

Mural painted in Changi POW camp by a prisoner.
It says, "Father, forgive them for they know not
what they do."

A thought came to me whilst pondering all this. My Uncle Charlie spent three years in that Japanese prison camp. I spent nearly forty in it (hating the Japanese). The man in the Dresden restaurant turned a key in the door of my cell and released me.

I hope he's not still in his prison.

Best wishes for your life,

Chris.

BEN’S RESPONSE: LET IRELAND GO! AND THEN I WILL BELIEVE YOU.

He (Chris) sounds like a nice man, however I stand by my point. I did not hear explicitly “the British want to re-enslave the Irish.” I'm basing such a suspicion on the fact they still haven't just let go of Ireland. If they truly had no wish to impose, seize control of the island, why persist? If they wanted to make amends, let bygones be bygones, they could just start by backing out. Regardless of what the polls in “Northern Ireland” say, back off.

But with Chris' information, it really was the British officials at fault, not the common British man, and it’s probably still like that today. It'd still be an amazing gesture for them to let it go, and then I truly would have to reconsider my stance.

So Chris, Why Not Let the Irish Nation, North and South, Together Decide Their Fate For Themselves?

Chris and Ben decide the fate of IRELAND in the next post British People are Like All People: We Want Peace

Who is Father John Paul Shea? From Mormon to Catholic Priest

"The Blessed Virgin Mary Called Me"

By Fr. John Paul Shea

Saints Peter & Paul Parish, Tucson, AZ

(editor's note: Rev. John Paul Shea regularly contributes his sermon to this blog. This Sunday the deacons are preaching so there is no sermon. This piece was written when he was still in seminary. Reprinted with his permission from The New Vision, official newspaper for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson.)

I was born and grew up in Mesa, Arizona. As a child, I lived with my mother, sister, grandma, and four uncles. I did not know my biological father. We were a close family and did many family activities. Unlike many men who enter the seminary to become a priest, I was not raised in the Catholic faith. I grew up as a Mormon and received what is a Mormon baptism at age eight.

I can remember really enjoying church and learning about Jesus as a child. However, during my teenage years I began to doubt the Mormon teachings and lost my desire to learn about religion. I stopped going to church and practiced no religion for several years. Like many teenagers today, I had adopted an attitude that fun and entertainment was more important than learning about God. I converted to the Catholic Church through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Fr. John Paul Shea dressing for ordination 

In 1994 a good friend of mine was told that he was dying. He was Catholic but had not been to church in several years. He was a father figure to me. I considered him as my dad and he considered me as his adopted son. I had been close to his family since I was a teenager. With the fear of his death, I had begun to question the purpose of my life and begun the search for God. In my search for God, I began to listen to different radio programs and watch television shows that focused on miracles and the supernatural. One night I had heard a show on the radio that spoke about an apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

I had an instant attraction to her and soon bought a Rosary. After praying the Rosary for

a couple of years, I knew that God was calling me to become Catholic. I came into the church in 1998 after receiving Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Communion and my dad, whom I adopted,  came back to the Catholic Church and went to confession. He died about a year later.

When did you first think about becoming a

priest?

John Paul Shea Ordained by Tucson
 Bishop Gerald Kicanas in 2013

My first thoughts about becoming a priest began while I was in RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults). During that time, several people asked me if I was going to be a priest. It happened so much that I knew there was no possibility that it could be a coincidence. I had discovered that it takes eight years of school to become a priest. I had dropped out of school in the tenth grade, so eight years of school seemed like a tremendous challenge. Yet, I was falling in love with the Catholic faith, and I did have a desire to devote my life in service of God. I earned my GED in 1999 and received my General Associate degree from Mesa Community College a couple of years later. In 2001 I joined the Discalced Carmelite religious order. After being in the order for a little over two years, I left because I felt that God was calling me to be a diocesan priest. I worked for a few years as a caretaker for people who are developmentally disabled, and then I became a seminarian for the Diocese of Tucson.

Did you have a priest you looked up to in your youth?

On the left: John Paul Shea before ordination
led by Fr. Domenico Pinti his pastor
St. George of Apache Junction  

Since I did not become Catholic until my 20s, no. However, since becoming a Catholic, many priests have inspired me for their faith and devotion to God. While I was in the Carmelites, I saw how some of the priests devoted their life to prayer and service. My novice master was a great influence in my vocation. I also admire my current pastor at St. George of Apache Junction, Father Domenico Pinti. Among other things, he has shown me an example of how important it is to be personable with people. He is a very welcoming and generous priest. He always acknowledges and encourages people. At my seminary, I see the dedication of love and sacrifice that the priests give to us seminarians.

Fr. John Paul Shea right
after his ordination
We often use this photo
with his sermons

What do you envision your priesthood to be? I envision my priesthood as making a difference in people's lives. Life is sacred and blessed. Yet, we live in a world and culture where many are unaware of the love and joy that is available to each of us. I desire to serve people and be a witness that Christ lives within the heart of every individual. God has made himself present to me in my life, and I desire to make him present to others. The church offers healing and joy to the world through its sacraments, and I envision myself to be an instrument of these sacraments.  I want to share Christ with those who are facing death or difficulties. I have a desire to allow God to use my hands to consecrate the bread and wine. As a priest, I hope to bring healing and comfort to the sick and elderly through Christ working in me.

What is your greatest joy as you contemplate the priesthood? I think my greatest joy is that, as a priest, I will serve the church in the person of Christ. I can be a special part of the lives of many individuals, and I can allow God to use me to my fullest potential. As a priest I will be free to serve everyone. I find joy knowing that as a priest I can become the person who God has called me to be. I can fully give myself to God in the service of our church.

What do you tell someone who is considering the priesthood? I suggest for anyone who is considering the priesthood to seriously consider entering the seminary. The seminary is a wonderful place for one to learn about himself and get closer to God. The seminary is a time of discernment. One would have nothing to lose by entering the seminary but would have much to gain. I have spoken with many men who have entered the seminary and later decided that God was calling them to a vocation of marriage. The time they spent in the seminary helped them to become a better husband in their marriage. Men who enter the seminary and become priests find much joy because they are fulfilling God's call.

Do you have a favorite devotion? My favorite devotion is the Rosary. I prayed the Rosary before I became Catholic, and it will always be part of my daily prayers. I also pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy each day. I believe that prayer is very important for my

Brown Scapular
The Arms of God

vocation. I have had a devotion to the brown scapular since before I became Catholic also.

How do you relax? I like to go driving to my favorite stores on a Saturday afternoon. I also have my favorite restaurants that I enjoy. When the weather is nice, I enjoy riding a bike. I love to exercise and run. When I get the chance, I like to ride the train to downtown Chicago. Every once in a while I like to go see a movie at the theater or relax with a movie in my room. Every Wednesday night I get together with the seminarians on my hallway to talk, watch a movie, or go out to eat. I also get together with the other guys from my diocese once a week to pray and eat together. Right next to our seminary there is a shrine called Marytown. I enjoy going there!

Describe a good day at the seminary. I think that every day is a good day at the seminary. I have better days than others, but each day is filled with many graces. God is present everywhere at the seminary. We have Mass every day, I get to hear wonderful lectures from great teachers, and I have a chapel near my room that I can pray in.

Finish this sentence: "It would surprise people to know… I fought some amateur boxing matches in my earlier days.

This is Fr. John Paul Shea's most recent sermon: MARK'S GOSPEL: The Power and Authority of Our Lord Jesus Christ!