Thinking Anew:COMMUNITY GROWS when a people examine their past in a critical manner and learn from its mistakes and misdeeds. On the pastoral field the question of the day is: how could they possibly not see how unchristian their actions were? Surely they must have known? The lame excuse that people didn't know better or worked under terrible pressure simply doesn't wash with any of us.
There is no defence in using the one-liner: “sure he probably deserved it anyway” as a mask of ignorance.
We still have that attitude.
Before we cast stones at our ancestors we should see which of us could throw the first one. There is a growing spate of murders in this country of people who are “known to the Garda Síochána”.’ This has become the euphemism for “probably deserved it anyway” as we happily justify the death sentence for a person who bought illegal drugs. Just like in the 1960s, we are all aware of what is happening but it is easier to turn away and plead that there is nothing we can do about it. Like every other generation we claim a moral superiority over our ancestors. Isn’t it strange that those who wielded whips and canes had probably believed that they were morally superior to their ancestors? After all; they were the generation that reacted and campaigned against their parents’ tolerant acceptance of capital punishment. Murder for these people was a great scandal.
Sometimes it appears that things might have gone full-circle. In contemporary Ireland a rugby injury is bigger news than a human death (that’s not a problem they were known to the Garda Síochána!). Is a school system that labels a child special needs and parades him among his peers the best we have to offer? Are we still so blinded by our anger at the former power of teachers that we have determined to keep their successors to heel? Is there anybody campaigning for a climate of mutual respect in the education system today? Why not? Because words and names cannot hurt!
The quieter claim that the religious order profited out of the labour of their charges should also sit uneasily with us. After all, we have seen the factories of Europe closing down as production is farmed out to sweatshops in the developing world. Wearing our hearts on our slave-woven sleeves we speak fine words about human dignity and rights. Right now most of us are probably wearing clothes or carrying a phone that was made in a sweatshop.
Fair-trade products and local merchandise are more expensive – of course products are dearer when workers are paid. Still, at least they’re getting something. Beyond the sweatshops we have the trafficked people who are brought to the land of Céad Míle Fáilte as sex workers or to fill jobs in the retail and hospitality industries.
Some are paid below the minimum wage and denied the constitutional right to seek representation. It is easy to ignore the tales of exploitation – it’s an urban myth isn’t it? “They make plenty on tips anyway and don’t declare them for tax.” There are always stories about migrants being exploited, but they are impossible to verify.
Think of the Irish in London; they had a tough life, but it was better than what they had at home.
Judge not and you will not be judged; condemn not and you will not be condemned – forgive and you will be forgiven. Let the one among you who is without sin cast the first stone. Why say to your brother, “Here, let me take the splinter from your eye,” and yet not see the plank in your own. Our failure to provide a safe society that teaches respect and consideration and supports ethical investment and human rights everywhere gives poor witness to Christianity today. It’s easier to use our planks to build gallows!
F MacE