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Resolving Conflicts Between Religion and Politics Essay

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Resolving Conflicts Between Religion and Politics

The use of conflict to try and resolve political, religious or cultural differences has existed for centuries, Violence and the State are still two prevailing issues in our world today. It is often assumed that violence and fighting occurs between peoples of very different nationalities or cultures; that there differences are too great for there to ever be peace or compromise. This, however, is not the case; it is people with the most similar backgrounds that have the hardest time agreeing. This is the situation in Northern Ireland. The Anglo-Irish conflict in Northern Ireland is a complex web that involves a struggle between classes, government …show more content…

In order to examine how religion plays a role in the violence that occurs in the state of Northern Ireland, we must first look at one aspect: The separation of church and state. When we look at an issue that involves two groups with different religions, we must ask ourselves one question. “If religion were absent, would the fighting still exist?” In the case of Northern Ireland it most certainly would. This is why we can say that religion does not play a direct role in the conflict. We can’t say, however, that it has no effect on the politics that surround the issue. The mix of church and state in the conflict is inevitable due to the strong religious values that each side of the conflict abides by. This point can be illustrated by republican hunger strike that occurred in Northern Ireland in 1981when men who served in the Irish Republican Army (IRA), were taken prisoners under the British rule as terrorists and were sentenced under criminal charges. The men refused to recognise the British Court System and insisted that they be held as prisoners of war, since they considered themselves to be soldiers fighting to preserve their country from foreign rule. The situation created disorder amongst lower class Irish Catholics who resided in Northern Ireland; wall murals in the

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