10/31/2024
I have had this photo for several years and never written about it, but look at it still. It haunts me and reminds me how close we can be to violence.
The photo was taken at a home of someone from Northern Ireland who was in the Irish Republic Army IRA. Some saw as a terrorist group while the members felt they were a necessity due to the brutal mistreatment of the English government upon Ireland.
As I look at this photo of the young IRA members they appear like happy young men who have a promising life ahead of them. They appear to be kind yet these men spent years in prison for violent political crimes. They protested in cold English jails by not wearing an inmate uniform but covered themselves with a blanket for years.
When I met this man who owned this photo, I stayed in his home as an air BnB, there was a continually gnawing trauma, anger and sadness he carried due to his role in those times. He too was in prison for years.
It is a reminder for me and hopefully others that in this time of division in the United States due to this strong polarity of presidential candidates we too need to remember we are all Americans. Whatever leaders tells us, friends tell us or our favorite broadcasters if they advise us to act in aggression in any way or form we are straying from what humanity really is. To disagree is one thing, to attack only creates an internal pain that you have to live with. Like my IRA acquaintance I could see he would live in the pain of his transgressions and violence that he committed all of his life. What a weight.
One must ask themselves do I want to subject myself into such inner turmoil because I have a different belief than another?
