If you want Peace, Practice Justice

The day could not have been more perfect, blue sunny skies that are rare with big billowy clouds.

North Ireland

The scenic sights were great.

What was just as memorable though was the bus driver.  He had spent 7 years in British jails without a trial as a suspected IRA sympathizer.

Bus Driver

Bus Driver

There was no love of the British.  Through his eyes I saw another side of the conflict that does not show up in the news at home.  A 400 year old oppression by the British that led to the problems.  Land ownership and education were denied to anyone Catholic.  I saw newspaper employment ads by Waterford from the 1970s that specified no Catholics could apply.  I found out about how the IRA robbed banks and used the money to found a taxi service for the Catholics since they were not allowed to ride on the bus.  I saw the police stations in Belfast that were in reality forts.  I heard about how the police led the riots against the Catholics.  There really are two sides to every dispute.

The Giant’s Causeway was spectacular, same formation as Devil’s Post Pile.

Giants Causeway, North Ireland

Giants Causeway, North Ireland

What was equally moving though were the murals in Belfast. The murals depicted a people tired of being down trodden.

One of the biggest learnings for me, was the re affirmation of a simple truth found on a bumper sticker; “If you want peace, practice justice”

*** After the original posting, a friend asked, what do you mean by “justice” ?   Did I mean the sense of  legalized revenge, an eye for an eye, or something else?  By “Justice” I meant an even handedness the blind lady.   Another wonderful bumper sticker comes to mind “If you practice ‘an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth’ pretty soon the everyone in the world is blind and toothless.”

<This is cross posted with iwitnessings >