The conflict between Religion and state cannot simply be thought of something of the past. On the contrary, in today’s society, there are many cases of conflict between the two, and in some cases, even between Religious denominations. There is a communist regime in China which prohibits Religion, therefore rendering the Dalai Lama in exile due to this conflict. In 1959 the 14th Dalai Lama was forced into exile by the Chinese government. In 1951 the Chinese military pressured the Dalai Lama to ratify a which permitted the People's Republic of China to take control of Tibet. He fled through the mountains to India soon after the failed , and the effective collapse of the . In India he established a government-in-exile. After the founding of the exiled government he reestablished the approximately 80,000 Tibetan refugees who followed him into exile in agricultural settlements. In more modern times, the issue of conflict between Religion and state has further escalated. Two notable examples would be that of the Sectarianism in Northern Ireland and that of the volatile situation between the Israeli state and Palestinian Muslims.
The years 1970–1972 saw an explosion of political violence in Northern Ireland, peaking in 1972, when nearly 500 people, just over half of them civilians, lost their lives. It was the year which saw the greatest loss of life throughout the entire conflict. The Provisional IRA formed in early 1970, soon established itself as more aggressive and militant in responding to attacks on the nationalist community, who saw the Provisional IRA as their "defenders". Despite the increasingly and politics of the Official IRA, they began their own armed campaign in reaction to the ongoing violence. In Omagh, on the 15th of August 1998, the RIRA were suspected of planting a car bomb which left 29 dead and up to 300 injured. BBC News stated that those "who survived the car bomb blast in a busy shopping area of the town described scenes of utter carnage with the dead and dying strewn across the street and other victims screaming for help.” The Provisional I.R.A's offensive campaign began in early 1971 when the Army Council sanctioned attacks on the British Army. In 1972, the Provisional IRA killed approximately 100 soldiers, wounded 500 more and carried out approximately 1,300 bombings mostly against commercial targets. Between 1971 and 1975, 1,981 people were detained; 1,874 were Catholic or republican, while 107 were Protestant or loyalist. There were widespread allegations from the nationalist community of abuse and even of detainees. Nationalists also point to the fatal shootings of 14 unarmed nationalist civil rights demonstrators by the British Army in Derry in January 1972, on what became known as . Gordon Wilson, father of Marie Wilson, a victim to another bomb attack in Enniskillen, spoke out some time after her death, saying “But I bear no ill will. I bear no grudge.” He is now well known for being a peace campaigner; also spoke out about how he prayed for his daughter’s killers and pleaded with Loyalists, not to avenge her death. A reminder of the troublesome times in Ireland is the song “There Were Roses” written by Tommy Sands, “But centuries of hatred have ears that cannot hear. An eye for an eye was all that filled their minds”, which shows not only the usual reaction from sectarian attacks and deaths, but also relates back to the Old Testament teaching of Lex Talionis.
Recently in Palestine, the conflict between the Israeli’s and the Muslims has come to a head. Israel expresses concern over the security of its residents if neighborhoods of Jerusalem are placed under Palestinian control. Jerusalem has been a prime target for attacks by militant groups against civilian targets since 1967. Many Jewish neighborhoods have been fired upon from Arab areas. The proximity of the Arab areas, if these regions were to fall in the boundaries of a Palestinian state, would be so close as to threaten the safety of Jewish residents. The period between the beginnings of the Second Intifada up until today, in which Israel returned to perform arresting operations in zones in the West Bank and Gaza and later on retreated from the Gaza Strip in 2005. from the Gaza Strip inadvertently led to the strengthening of , which in 2007 . The road will constitute the border.” Since the conflict grew in 2005, 8051 Palestinians have died, whereas only 1300 Israeli’s have died in comparison. Mia Farrow, an actress, in an interview, recently spoke out against the war in Palestine, saying “"If there is one overriding impression it is how profoundly leadership has screwed up in this region, in Israel and in the Palestinian territory and at what cost to the most vulnerable, the children, the elderly, the innocent”. Another person who spoke out against the war in Palestine was Israeli scholar Avi Shlaim, who said “If Israel wanted to protect its citizens--and it had every right to protect its citizens--the way to go about it was not by launching this vicious military offensive, but by observing the ceasefire.”
However, that is not to say that I don’t believe that there aren’t people in the world, campaigning for change. Organisations such as Corrymeela and the World Council of Churches are both campaigning for ecumenism, which tries to bring harmony between religions and the state. Corrymeela is constantly campaigning to bring people from very different backgrounds together, and to unite them in their faith. Corrymeela also seeks to offer a language around relationships and reconciliations which can be applied to politics, conflict transformation, and faith. “The tragedies of the past have left a deep and profoundly regrettable legacy of suffering. We must never forget those who have died or been injured, and their families. But we can best honour them through a fresh start, in which we firmly dedicate ourselves to the achievement of reconciliation, tolerance, and mutual trust, and to the protection and vindication of the human rights of all.” This is a quote from the Good Friday Agreement, which was set up in light of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, in which a new and fresh start is promised, so that the past will stay in the past, but never be forgotten.
In conclusion, I think that this, the notion that there will always be conflict between religion and state can be clearly expressed through Jesus’ words as found in the parable of the Good Samaritan. When asked “How is my neighbor?” Jesus replies, “Which of these three do you think was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?" and the expert of the law replied “The one who had mercy on him”. Jesus finished this teaching by saying “Go and do likewise." Therefore, we should all, as followers of Jesus, ‘go and do likewise’ as that is what Jesus taught.