The Weight of Generations Past

Canada is not a country with inbred hatred. Sure there are some old rivalries from other countries that have simply been imported, but for the most part there are no cases of such hatred. Before now I had also never travelled to a place where hatred carries the weight of four centuries behind it. That is what it was like when I was in Northern Ireland.

It is amazing to me that people, especially in North America, will say that the troubles in Northern Ireland are over. The reality is that they are simply getting started again. Grudges can only continue when children take up the cause that their parents believed in. This is what has happened there. Well, not entirely. Much of the conflict that is still occurring is not an issue of ideals, but an issue of profit. 

Many of the hate based crimes of the past centuries have been an issue of profit. There may have been an issue of ideals originally, but it always comes back to profit. Even when children are raised to hate their neighbours simply on the basis of the colour of their skin, the church they attend, the church they don't attend, the accent that they have, there is always an issue of profit. The Jews were blamed for killing Jesus when it was easy for the government to take the money they had because they were not allowed to own any land. Immigrants are mocked because they take away jobs from the people who have lived in the country for many years. Religion is the main stay of conflict even when religion has nothing to do with it. The Crusades, the conflict in the states of Germany after Protestantism appeared, the conflict in northern Ireland were and are based around the idea of profit. I'm not sure how were are able to live with that. It's something we need to change. 

If we are really going to be serious about peace between people, then we must remove the weigh of generations past. We must take away the hatred that has followed so many of us for as long as we have known. We need to make up our own minds and not simply take up the cause of our ancestors.