At times the problems of the world seem so intractable that
we despair of finding a way through to peace and serenity. But I declare that
this despair is misplaced, that Man has deep reserves of intelligent goodwill
and generosity, that no problem is so great that a solution cannot be found and
that one great human talent is the talent for Reconciliation.
How is it possible to take such a sunny line? Well, there
are plenty of examples in quite recent history. A central example in Europe is
the warm and mutually respectful alliance of France and Germany, for a century
the bitterest of foes. After the horrors of WW2 statesman on both sides – I
cite Charles de Gaulle, Konrad Adenauer, Jean Monnet and Walter Hallstein,
patriots all, determined to do everything possible to prevent another ruinous
European convulsion. They applied their great talents and diplomatic skills
towards creating a system of integration making France and Germany
inter-dependent. After years of weary negotiation, of setbacks and alarms, the
European Union is their legacy, not without faults to be sure, but in every
respect superior to the ancient suspicions and enmity.
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| Adenauer and de Gaulle embrace |
Britain has a happy example in its own backyard. The
sectarian divisions of Ireland date from at least the time of 17th
century Cromwell. After years of conflict, wise and generous statesmen on both
sides (Lloyd George, Birkenhead, Churchill, Michael Collins) saw the creation
of the Irish Free State in 1922, with Ulster remaining in the United Kingdom.
Extremists sought to incorporate Ulster within the by-then Irish Republic and
from the late 1960s to the 1990s some in Catholic Ireland waged a ferocious
terrorist campaign against the staunchly Protestant majority of Ulster.
Ulster grimly fought back and a sickening catalogue of
retaliatory bombings and butchery defaced Northern Ireland and spilled over
into Britain. But there were men of goodwill on both sides: with help from
President Bill Clinton and Senator George Mitchell, Irish Premier Bertie Ahern
and British Prime Minister Tony Blair signed the Good Friday Agreement on 19
April 1998, keeping Ulster within the United Kingdom but allowing the Republic
a role in certain Ulster affairs and guaranteeing civil rights. Protestant
leader David Trimble and Catholic David Hume (both to share the Nobel Peace
Prize) agreed to a power-sharing executive. There were many hiccups down the
road and the erstwhile deadly enemies DUP’s Ian Paisley (and later Peter
Robinson) and Sinn Fein’s Martin McGuinness became reconciled and worked
happily together as Ulster’s First Minister and his Deputy. The transformation
was extraordinary and only a few weeks ago McGuinness gave a tearful eulogy at
Paisley’s funeral.
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| Paisley and McGuinness enjoy a joke together |
Outside Europe, one of the most remarkable changes and
reconciliation movements have come about in South Africa. White supremacy
proclaimed since its creation, apartheid
enshrined in law since 1948, coupled with oppression and resistance, South
Africa was expected to end in a bloodbath when at last the system cracked in
1994. But wiser counsels prevailed: Nelson Mandela led the black majority down
the non-violent and democratic road while F W de Klerk urged acceptance and
co-operation on his Afrikaner and English-speaking followers. Amazingly this
prescription has worked and all races in well-blessed South Africa take pride
in The Rainbow Nation. The wrongs of
the past have been given a forum for catharsis
via the Truth and Reconciliation Commission
originally headed by admirable Desmond Tutu.
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| Mandela presents the Rugby World Cup to Springbok Pienaar |
After France, Germany, Ireland and South Africa, reconciling
Greek and Turk, Arab and Israeli, or resolving the manifold rivalries of Asia
should be a relative dawdle – even Sunni and Shia could in time respond to the
appeal of reason, respect for peace and prosperity and put senseless fanaticism
aside.
To achieve reconciliation, I guess it is necessary often to
bury the past. History is fascinating but it is a burden too. All faces must be
turned resolutely towards the future. We can all be changed, radically – how
often have we regretted the harsh attitudes of our past, the unkind remarks
made, the wrong turnings taken! We shall
be changed, maybe more slowly than in
the twinkling of an eye but we do not have to wait for the Last Trumpet. Start on the road of
love and forgiveness now!
SMD
5.12.14
Text Copyright © Sidney Donald 2014
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