Forty-seven police were injured while trying to separate Catholic and Protestant rioters in Belfast on Sunday.
The violence broke out during a march by a Catholic band, Northern Ireland police said on Monday.
Police fired water cannon to defend themselves from petrol bombs, fireworks, stones and bottles thrown at them by both sides in running battles lasting nearly 12 hours, police said.
The initial violence was caused by pro-British Protestant groups demonstrating against the Republican band parade, the police added.
The area had been tense for a week, since violence erupted – and seven police officers were hurt – after a Protestant band marched past a Catholic church, playing music in defiance of a ban by the parades commission, which regulates marches in the British province.
Hundreds of large fireworks and 34 petrol bombs were thrown at the police as they tried to keep the rival factions apart, Chief Superintendent George Clark said.
Clark said he had been angered and saddened by Sunday’s violence by loyalist and republican rioters, which he described as “savage, appalling and reprehensible”.
Source: Reuters
My comment:
The violence in Northern Ireland is regrettable. It must be possible for Catholics and Christians to debate issues of faith, without beating each other black and blue.
Jesus the Messiah said that His followers should rather bless their enemies, and pray for all who persecute us.
This is the correct approach.
Matthew 5:43-45
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’But I tell you: Love your enemies[b] and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
May I enter Heaven knowing that I have not done any harm to anyone. Will anyone take my life, just take it if you can. I am already dead to this world, and made alive by the spirit of God.
Written by Ivar
ivarfjeld.com 
…..I am already dead to this world, and made alive by the spirit of God….. Amen an awesome journey to get to that place and a blessed rest in all things in Him! Dead men ya just can’t offend them and all your I did this or I did that or I am or was such and such just don’t get it.. it also gets dropped by the wayside …it’s all about Jesus!! and what HE did and ”is” …†
You are mistaken if you think who you are calling Protestants are Christians in Northern Ireland. They are just gangs of violent men that call themselves by religious names but they do not have the Holy Spirit in them and they do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and have no idea what the gospel really is. They are brainwashed from birth to hate each other and they love to hate and to kill just like fighting dogs are trained from puppies to kill, these people have suffered the same type of conditioning and have no real idea why they hate each other but they love the thrill of killing and violence because it is all they know. Northern Ireland needs the real Jesus and the real Gospel but sadly all it has is men like Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness who are members of the secret society’s that run the chaos from high places.
Yes, it was only a matter of time before the violence again erupted in Northern Ireland. Creating religious strife and violence is a way of making money for the hooligans. “…the love of money is the root of all evil…”
If only it was that simple (making money for hooligans)!
The popes have always detested the UK, ever since they lost a major asset when the UK became protestant in the reformation. “their” lands were appropriated, and “their” properties were demolished, But the bitterest pill to swallow was that “they” no longer enjoyed the role of supreme ruler of the nation. They impudently called the UK “marys dowry” (still do in fact). They and the demonic forces that activate romanist oppression (religion) have waged a relentless counter attack ever since the reformation era. How many people have heard of Hooper, Latimer, Ridley, Rogers, Taylor etc? Protestants were judicially murdered on orders of the pope, The anglican church has generally always been anglo-catholic in its religious practise. A few men of God managed to break out of the establishment religious strait jacket and experienced and preached true gospel revival, Christ crucified, the blood of the Lamb, repentance, conviction, salvation, true holiness etc. EG Robert Murray M’Cheyne, George Whitfield, John Wesley, Charles Wesley.
I once lived close to a parish church, it was about 800 or 900 years old. Inside on painted panels you could still see axe and knife marks made by iconoclastic reformers, to deface and ruin pictures of saints. It acted like a visual testimony of history. Yet not more than a few feet away was a statue of mary (illuminated plastique), brought in by misguided and duped clergymen as a gesture of friendship and unity “with our prayerful friends from rome” I waged war against religious strongholds in that region for about 18 months. The religious spirit makes people old, dry, bitter, hard, bent over, crippled, cynical, arrogant, complacent, aggressive, bloodthirsty, violent, all that sort of thing. More than once, I had religious demons manifest and try to attack me especially when I sounded tekiah gdolah shofar inside their altar shrines…..LOL
Any way back to Northern Ireland. The “troubles” as they were euphemistically termed, were cynically planned to try to demoralise and humiliate the British goverment (already reeling after the ongoing post-world war 2 dismemberment of the British Empire) and, more significantly, to weaken and still further divide the authority of the anglican church, which was already falling apart due to its obsession with interfaith dialogue, liberal bible criticism and marxist political crusades,
The ira certainly give us an object lesson in how papal enforcers do their work of intimidating with fear and violence, when given licence and opportunity.
Its significant that very shortly after the agitation began in 1969 or so, the pope stepped in (in 1970) and made saints of 40 rc’s who had been executed in the UK for treason since the reformation in England outlawed the saying of mass. The popes have a habit of doing that, canonising specific people when they crave influence in a particular national situation, or to stir up tensions and reignite divisions for their perverse political and religious purposes.
I think it entirely possible that the latest outbreak of tribal conflict in the province has been planned and timed to cause further divisions and strengthen the hand of the Irish and English cardinals, to fuel the desire for the anglican “church” to officially reunite with rome…..
Lets not get carried away though. Protestant religion is just as banal and useless as rc religion. They use their lambeg (drum) and fife to keep alive that sectarian bloodthirsting tendency in their pseudo masonic orange lodges, and march defiantly to provoke an angry or violent response from their catholic neighbours….. Their religion is a militaristic and aggressive type of self righteousness, yet another “form of godliness that denies the power thereof” (there are SO many flavours and varieities) “an empty way of life handed down to us by our forefathers” Its the anointing that breaks the yoke. Who the son sets free is free indeed….
Shalom, Jonathan
Thanks for the history lesson, Jonathan. I must admit that I don’t know much about the conflict even though my great-great grandfather came from Northern Ireland—County Fermanagh. He was a tailor and came to America to establish a small tailoring shop. According to my grandmother, he detested religious violence and blamed the RCC for instigating most of it.
I am acquainted with some recent immigrants from N. Ireland and they are convinced that the violence is a money-making scheme for the perpetrators.
as a brother in christ and a northen irish man having lived in belfast for past 30 years and now live in england i have to say that as to northen ireland not having the real jesus i have to disagree ,yes i agree not all Protestants are born again christians but we do have a lot of solid christian churches who are well established in the truth and spread the gospel message and many true evangelical pastors who hold to the truth of gods word ,infact in my years here in england i have come to see many churches in england who have joined the ecumenical bandwagon road of false doctrine i went to a church here were i live for two years and i found it not to be true to the gospel of christ and as paul says in Galatians 5 vs 9 A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.i have now left that church and go to a little gospel hall but i have to say with conviction that we do have the real jesus in northen ireland we might not have true christian leaders in politics but we do have pastors who are preaching the truth of gods word christ crucified ,repentence ,forgiveness of sins ,hell ,and judgment so i praise god for the men and women he has in our troubled country who are doing the lords work ,may i add is there any driffernce in the riots we had in england last year to what we have in belfast people dont need an excuse for Violence just a spark to light the fire no matter were we live but praise the lord he coming back soon ,but in the meantime lets pray for the people who conduct these acts of violence and that the lord jesus christ will remove the blindness from there eyes and bring them into the light of the gospel truth ,god bless
Fare point Mark I’ve only been up the North twice on day trips many years ago, I live in the south so my statement: “Northern Ireland needs the real Jesus and the real Gospel but sadly all it has is men like Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness who are members of the secret society’s that run the chaos from high places.” was too blanket and I retract it as such. I’m glad you have seen first hand the Lord Jesus working through men in northern Ireland and I’m also glad the true Gospel is being preached. Praise the Lord
God Bless
But the problem in Northern Ireland is that the TRUE Gospel is not being preached. They preach a free-will works religion. It is similar to Israel. The BIG enemy in the North of Ireland is the ‘PAPACY’
The Independent Orange Order front Church (Free Presbyterian Church) that was started by Ian Pasiley (and others) who is a member of a higher ranking Order the Royal Arch Purple Lodge preaches Calvinism and not Arminianism. So you are wrong on this account even tho I hold to nether of the above two false doctrines of men. Your false doctrine is being preached in the North of Ireland by secret society members and on the other side so is Arminianism. Satan dose love to plant dualism in the minds of Christians and divide the Body of Christ.
There might be some who do not preach the true gospel, but to say that the true gospel is not being preached atall I would disagree as I know of many true evangelical pastors who do preach the true gospel, but I do agree that the true church has many probs to contend with in these days as the lord jesus said would be prior to his return many would fall away and apostasy would rise in these last days but the lord jesus said his word would never pass away as long as we have men of god who are in the truth of the gospel praise god we will still see souls save untill the time of the gentiles are fufilled god bless
i grew up in the baptist church went to sunday school was tought the gospel from a early age, as my parents were saved from a young age i never really payed much attention to ian pasiley or followed the free Presbyterian churchs doctrine i do know there are some drifferences in doctrinal teaching ,but i have always been in the baptist church and still hold to baptist teaching wich is jesus crucified for our sins on the cross at calvary ,rose the third day ,repentence ,forgivness of sins ,salvation ,turning from sin ,faith and trust in christ alone ,through grace alone ,justification ,Sanctification etc i agree satan does and is dividing the true church of christ in these last days ,im not saying there is no false doctrine being tought there is we have the word of faith movment ,the emerging church movment ,etc we have wolves in sheep clothing through out the world and is getting worse as jesus said it would in the last days the point i was trying to get across was even know there are men who do not hold to the true gospel of christ in northen ireland we still do have true pastors and teaching on gods word, but i do admit not many in these days teach forgiveness of sins ,repentence ,christ crucified ,salvation ,judgment ,hell etc and these secret societys will be exposed for there true intentions as will the false teachers who lead many away from the truth of gods word for there own purpose and gain ,but lets pray for the troubles in n.ireland and pray that the lord will lead many more to his truth and salvation and give the true church the strengh and grace they need to spread his message in these days we live as the time gets closer to his return that more will repent of there sins and turn to christ for forgivness and salvation for i beleive we are coming to the close of this age were jesus said everything would increase ,famine ,earthquakes ,lawlessness ,unsettled weather ,apostascy ,falling away from the truth .god bless
We have had armenianists, calvinists, dispensationalists, baptits, methodists, lutherans, presybyterians, adventists, pentecostals, high church, low church, latter day, latter rain, holiness, anglican, orthodox, etc etc, all shades of so called protestant doctrine or theology (opinion actually) Does any one really know or understand what all these titles and labels mean? Is it important? Maybe it is to a professional researcher or intellectual. It seems like there has been an ongoing struggle for centuries now. Who really knows the truth, what is the proper christian doctrine? One could spend a lifetime-and many do-debating and discussing the latest theological ideas just like the clever people in athens-or the Jewish men who spend a lifetime in devoted torah study. But how many of those have stood or sat in the counsel of God Almighty to see and to hear His word, how many have truly come to know the One who gave us life and salvation…..? It seems to me that the missing link in the entire theological minefield, is the revelation of the JEWISH roots of Christian salvation.
I agree, Jonathan. True Christians understand the Jewish roots of their faith. But the anti-Jewish bigotry began to infest the Church from earliest times. Constantine made a point of excluding the 18 Jewish bishops from the Middle East from the Council of Nicea.
Jonathan. Are you Jewish by chance?
its not whats in the title of a church that counts no matter what denomonation it is. the truth is not in its title ,the truth is what Gods word teaches us in the Holy Bible thats were we as christians get our truth from, Gods word is the final authority. true christianity comes from the Lord Jesus Christ and what he tought through out his ministry while he was here on earth to the apostles who then went into the world to preach the gospel that jesus tought by grace alone through faith alone in christ alone .there are many denomonations and titles but if what they teach does not line up with scripture from the Holy bible inspired and breathed by God then it is a false gospel and teaching ,if we want to know who is teaching truth then its important to find out what God says in his word then if we study the scriptures and know what God says in his word we will know who is in truth and who is not if it does not line up with the what the bible says, we are to be like the Bereans who looked to see if what was being tought was according to scripture Gods word ,and the truth that i hold to is that im a sinner from birth and that jesus christ died on the cross at calvary ,he payed for my sins past present and future with his presious blood and if i come in deep true repentence and seek his forgivness and turn from sin to put my faith and trust in the lord jesus christ for salvation i will be saved .god bless
I think you will find that most denominations claim that they preach the word of God! Even the bishops of rome do! But they sort of argue (perpetually) over who is right and who is wrong, or who is more true than you. in fact it can become a life long obsession for some people, a lucrative academic career. And now the church (The Body of Christ that is) has compromised and corrupted itself with all manner of unbiblical ungodly notions (driven by competing theologies), for the sake of ecumental unity, socio-political relevance, and plain old popularity, So we see churches governed by new agers, witches, feminists, freemasons, politicians, perverts, etc. “As many as are sons of God are led by the spirit of God” Its the anointing of God that breaks the yoke, not theology. Elijah knew this well. That was why he repaired the altar and called down fire to consume the sacrifice. When he said to choose, if baal is god serve him, if The Lord is God, then serve Him, he was referring to Deut 30, I set before you life and death, blessing and curses, “choose LIFE” But it was the fire of God that brought that theological notion to actual life, and the people realised the law was true “the Lord He is God” Deut 4:35-39. Its fire we need, not more theology. Ten L’esh lipol
shalom, Jonathan
No, I was raised as a religious protestant. I once ministered with a shofar alongside Rev Michael Cohen. He said your name in Hebrew is Yehonatan.
I consider myself a messianic gentile…..
well i agree there is a lot of cults out there today that do not hold to the pure word of God or what scripture teaches ,some of whom you mention would come under that category, but we also have a false christianity that has risen today wich is moving in tune with the world not out of the world ,Jesus said we the true christianity ie the bride of christ are in the world not of the world ,so we have a false christianity that has compromised the word of God for the sake of unity a unity that will lead to the one world religion that is rising up in these last days also a lot of groups teach salvation by works that is not what jesus says ,in eph 2 vs 8,9 for by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselfs it is the gift of god Not by Works ,lest any man should boast we can not get to heaven through our own works or methods again in romans ch 1vs 17 as it is written the just shall live by faith works come after salvation not to obtain salvation wich a lot of cults and the false christianity teaches today ,its hard today because lot of churches that once held to that truth as you have said have compromised it for the sake of unity a unity that will lead many to the gates of hell ,but praise God his truth will never pass away from this world and even in the darkest of days it will still shine brighter than ever before and more will be saved by Gods grace and mercy ,let us pray much for the unsaved and the false teachers and the false unity that has polluted our world today that as the true body of christian beleivers in jesus christ we will shine brightly in the days ahead and spread the word of truth the real truth of Gods free gift of salvation by grace alone ,through faith alone in christ alone amen god bless