Urban Intersections: Religion and Violence in Belfast

Abstract

Addressing the intersections of religion and violence in ‘post conflict’ Belfast, this paper focuses on the nexus between religion, violence and memory. It distinguishes between the churches (institutionalised religion) embedded in the physical and social environment of the city, and popular religion that recurs in the contexts of parades, protests and sectarian conflict. Wider debates on the relationships between religion, violence and politics are integrated with recent empirical data. We argue that while asymmetries between Protestantism and Catholicism continue to inform politics and vice versa, there are also signs of change in the religious politics of Belfast and in how they accommodate violence.

Funding

This paper is based on research conducted as part of the research project, Conflict in Cities and the Contested State: Everyday Life and the Possibilities of Transformation in Belfast, Jerusalem and Other Divided Cities (2007–2012), funded by the ESRC (Grant number: RES-060-25-0015). We would also like to acknowledge the helpful comments of two anonymous referees.

Notes

1. Much of this paper is based on previous research conducted as part of the research project, Conflict in Cities and the Contested State: Everyday Life and the Possibilities of Transformation in Belfast, Jerusalem and Other Divided Cities (2007–2012).

2. The close links between Irish nationalism and religion are well rehearsed most notably in the way in which religious ideology fused with nationalist revolution in the Easter Rising of 1916 and more recently the religious motifs and commemorations associated with the Northern Ireland Hunger Strikes of 1980–81. Similarly, the complex religious dimensions of the Protestant plantation of Ulster in the 17th century, and the emergence of new forms of political Protestantism in the 19th century have been thoroughly studied.

3. Of course, subsequently, conflicts in the Balkans and the Middle East and the rise of violent fundamentalist politics elsewhere makes Northern Ireland seem less exceptional; more recently, the ‘settlement’ in Northern Ireland seemed to suggest that the conflict was resolvable in secular political terms.

4. Ian Paisley's conversion from confrontational politics to advocate of the ‘peace process’ is the most spectacular example of this trend. The contemporary debate on the role of religion is less about its capacity to generate violence than about its capacity and willingness to promote peace while building inter-denominational and cross-communal links and understanding (Brewer et al., 2010, 2011; Ganiel, 2010; Power, 2007).

5. If religion is mentioned, it is the context of ‘secularisation’, the relatively high levels of religiosity in Northern Ireland in a UK context alongside evidence of a more recent decline in religious observance.

6. Asad (1999, p. 193) notes that modern secular constitutions separate the

‘proper domain’ of religion from the state. But religion is more than this…it is about objects, sites, practices, words, representations—even the minds and bodies of worshippers…vernacular religion may subvert constitutional and theological distinctions.

7. Ian Paisley's famous sermons assimilating the ‘fighting’ of the Lord's battle to the battle of Ulster Protestants for survival is a good example of the uses of the ‘combat myth’.

8. In late 18th century Belfast, Protestant dissenters were influenced by the Enlightenment and the French Revolution and a major role in leading the abortive United Irish Rebellion of 1798 that sought to mobilise Protestant, Catholic and Dissenter under the common name of ‘Irishman’.

9. Of course the churches were not the only sites associated with ‘religion’, in the case of Catholics, monasteries, convents, schools and cemeteries were also religious sites which helped constitute communal space. Some were to become objects of desecration and destruction during the periods of conflict, not least in the recent NI Troubles (see Vincent, 2009).

10. We are indebted to Ian Shuttleworth for these graphs (see Gregory et al., forthcoming). The x-axis indicates a Belfast built up area much larger than the Belfast City Council area. For the latter, Russell (2013, p. 9) details changes in religious demography based on the 2011 census; Catholics now account for 136,000 residents—49 per cent of the total—an increase of 4.3 per cent since 2001 and Protestants for 119,000—42.3 per cent of the total—a decline of 12 per cent since 2001.

11. Large numbers of Irish emigrants also fought in the armies of the American War of Independence and the Civil War and to a lesser extent in the armies of European states.

12. By this Doyle (2009, pp. 2–3) means the violent tradition of communal rivalries that that was embedded in

The complex social relationships that existed among specific groups and individuals. Relationships between workers and elites, moderates and extremists, men and women, mill workers and labourers, the people and the state, and even between older and younger generations. [He goes on to observe:] [t]his is a level of analysis that brings us down from the lofty heights of theoretical antagonisms and into the narrow grimy neighbourhoods of the city itself, where the whirring din of the factories and the commotion of the streets frequently drowned out the distant clamour of grander historical forces.

13. Ian Paisley from the 1950s onwards was the latest in a long line of militant political preachers or ‘political parsons’ that included Henry Cooke, Thomas Drew (early and mid 19th century), Hugh (Roaring) Hanna (second half of the 19th century) and W.P Nicholson (early 20th century).

14. This open air preaching still continues and was still widespread in the inter-war period. Winifred Campbell (1976, p. 31), recalling the Protestant Shankill road at this time noted the prevalence of religious revival and mission campaigns: “we were preached to in the factory, at open-air meetings, lunch-time services, and by testimony bands…”.

15. Examples of stand offs and territorial disputes are legion as in the confrontation over the Holy Cross School, episodic confrontations at interfaces as in the Union Flag protests since December 2012, and annual disputes over contentious Orange parades including the ‘Tour of the North’, Whiterock and Ardoyne (see http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/issues/paradep; accessed 7 October 2013).

16. Arguably Gay Pride parades are among the most spectacular and inclusive alternatives to the Orange and Republican parades in Belfast although they provoke much fundamentalist opposition. Official attempts to depoliticise and render more inclusive the Orange and St Patrick's Day parades have met with mixed success, especially among working class youth (Leonard and McKnight, forthcoming).

17. See, for example, http://www.lifechurchhome.com/belfast/ and http://www.redeemercentral.com/