What's happened consensus?

The Thinking Anew column in today's Irish Times.

Michael Commane

A theme running through tomorrow’s liturgy is one of a kind God, offering comfort and forgiveness to the people of the world.

If such a concept or picture could be “branded”  in the world of Twitter and Facebook it could well prove an extraordinary success.

The world in which we live seems so fractured and on the brink of breaking in so many places right now. On all continents people are holding their breath in anticipation of what’s going to happen next.

There is the worrying standoff between the European Union and Russia. 

There is major conflagration right across the Middle East. There is the never-ending cycle of violence between Israel and Palestine. Christian Muslim tensions, which were spoken about during Pope Francis’ visit to Turkey last weekend, continue. Racial tensions rage in the United States. Within the European Union there is great mistrust and discord.

The growing popularity of a brand of fanaticism in the world of politics and religion is surely a cause for concern.

The philosophy of ‘them versus us’ seems to be in the ascendancy at present and far too many people and societies seem self-righteous in their belief and in their anger too.

In an excellent article in this newspaper last Saturday former Moscow correspondent Conor O'Clery point out how leaving Russia out in the cold was never a good idea. The hope the world had at the time of the fall of the Iron Curtain quickly evaporated as we returned to our default mode.

What has  happened to  consensus? What had  happened to tolerance? But maybe we can go a step further and ask; where are we with our forgiveness, our kindness to one another?

One of the most important tenets of Christianity is the belief that we are all made in the image and likeness of God.

There is an urgent need at present that we the people, the citizens of the world, take a moment out from our current race towards aggression and intolerance and make a conscious decision to spend more time and energy looking for what unites us rather than for what divides us. Above all we should make it part of our life ambition to search for peace, to be people of kindness and forgiveness. Of course the world is made up of many different cultures, traditions and religions but we all share a common humanity and we believe we are all children of God.

​In Strasbourg last Tuesday week Pope Francis in his speech to the European Parliament said: “In addressing you today, I would like, as a pastor, to offer a message of hope and encouragement to all the citizens of Europe.

“It is a message of hope, based on the confidence that our problems can become powerful forces for unity in working to overcome all those fears which Europe – together with the entire world – is currently experiencing. It is a message of hope in the Lord, who turns evil into good and death into life.

  

"​This  is a message of encouragement to return to the firm conviction of the founders of the European Union, who envisioned a future based on the capacity to work together in bridging divisions and in fostering peace and fellowship between all the peoples of this continent. At the heart of this ambitious political project was confidence in man, not so much as a citizen or an economic agent, but in man, in men and women as persons endowed with transcendent dignity.”

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Every time we are tempted to belittle and demonise another person, instead of seeing her or him as a threat or someone who is in grave error, if we see them as a person with a “transcendent dignity”  surely our attitude and behaviour will be softened. We will see them in a different light. As Christians we believe that is in light of a forgiving God.

​The God of Isaiah speaks to the heart of Jerusalem, talks of comfort and strength and that the time of bondage is over (Is 40: 9)