In reading and hearing from McCann I was struck most by the religious divide. I had always known that Northern Ireland was predominantly protestant and the Republic of Ireland was Catholic, but I did not know the extent to which this contributed to the troubles that occurred. I feel that this is something that we take for granted in the United States. While religious discrimination most certainly still exists, I feel that religious communities are pretty well integrated. That is, people of every religion live, work, and form relationships with each other. I was especially surprised that the religious discrimination came between different sects of Christians. From my personal background I have never experienced any Christian who felt that their sect was superior to any other. Further, I have never encountered any Christian who even seemed to care what denomination other Christians were. Perhaps this is unique to my experience, but I feel that in general Christians feel closely enough related in their beliefs that there is little quarrel between them. Additionally, I was also surprised to learn that the conclusion of the troubles in Derry did not resolve the religious divide. It shows just how much the Irish align themselves to their religious views. Religious participation in the United States, by contrast, has declined steadily over the years to the point where I have never personally witnessed religious discrimination— individuals with strong beliefs simply seem to be more rare. McCann wrote about how peace was mostly brought about due to the people not having the stomach to continue the slaughter. It seems to me that this peace was shoddily struck and a true conclusion to the separation of Ireland has never occurred. There remain calls for a united Ireland yet many in Northern Ireland remain loyal to the UK. It is a wonder whether there will ever be a resolution to this seemingly forever ongoing division. I am curious to see if religious communities in Ireland will set aside their differences and begin to coalesce as the religious of the United States seemingly have. Will the Protestants of the north and the Catholics of the south make up and form a united Ireland?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In reading and hearing from McCann I was struck most by the religious divide. I had always known that Northern Ireland was predominantly protestant and the Republic of Ireland was Catholic, but I did not know the extent to which this contributed to the troubles that occurred. I feel that this is something that we … <\/p>\n