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Irish journalist Fidelma Meehan is a regular
contributor to Terry Wogan’s Radio 2 programme, presenting
“Pause for Thought”. Here she reflects on the suspension of
the Stormont Assembly:
Northern Ireland is hitting the headlines again—and for
all the usual reasons. But even the Ulster situation can have
its lighter moments—like a funny story I heard recently about
a well-known politician from Northern Ireland.
As he was voicing his strong views in a political meeting,
the chairman interrupted, saying: “If you're to continue shouting
like this I’ll have to switch off your microphone!”
To which came the booming reply: “Mr chairman, my microphone’s
already switched off!”
Whether this is humorous hearsay or a genuine event, it’s
certainly a reminder of how difficult it is to find agreement
between the two divided communities. A scientist friend of
mine suggested a simpler approach.
He said when nature is presented with a problem it takes
the obvious route, like water flowing downhill and not up.
Nature likes simplicity, he said, and when scientists explore
theories about how nature works they look for a solution that
is the most elegant and obvious.
I wonder if we can apply this scientific approach to Ulster’s
problems. The starting point might be to examine the way people
view followers of other religions. The belief that one's own
faith is the only true one or superior to others, implies
that there are many Gods, and not just one. This is hardly
elegant or obvious.
Bahá'u'lláh, Founder of the Bahá'í Faith, said that all
religions are part of one eternal Truth, and come from the
same source. He wrote: “There can be no doubt whatever, that
the peoples of the world, of whatever race or religion, derive
their inspiration from one heavenly source and are the subjects
of one God.”
When I first read these words, they seemed an obvious starting
point for finding a solution to the problems in Northern Ireland
and around the world. But if it is so obvious, why do so few
people see it?
Perhaps worn-out traditions blind us from seeing the obvious,
no matter how elegant or useful it might be. FL
Reproduced with kind permission of the BBC
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