30th August 2004
Never before have I been sent a book where in the preface the author writes that the book "is intended to bring its author and its readers closer to an awareness of the Divine Intervention. It is a message particularly relevant at the present time". Indeed, I do not remember receiving a book before which even mentioned Divine Intervention. I knew at once, that this was going to be an unusual one.
"The Heart of Conflict" is written by a constituent of mine, Dr. Elinor Powell. She qualified in medicine in Trinity College, Dublin in the fifties and like 90 per cent of those who graduated she then became one of the diaspora. After a three year fellowship in Harvard she settled in Victoria, British Columbia, a charming city which I visited years ago. She specialised in endocrinology and internal medicine and was Chief of Staff in the hospital there for some time.
In the early 1980s Dr. Powell joined the peace movement and founded the Victoria Chapter of the Physicians for Social Responsibility and became affiliated with the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, winners of the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize. As if all that was not enough, in 1985 she obtained a Certificate in Conflict Management from the Justice Institute of British Columbia and has practised since then as a mediator and conflict management trainer at the Institute of Conflict Analysis and Management in Victoria. It is this part of her career which is background for this book.
While I have never met Dr. Powell I did know her dear late brother Dr. Bill Powell, of the Victoria Hospital Cork and Shankiel, very well. While Bill did not wear his religion on his sleeve his deep Christian commitment to his life as a doctor was ever obvious. His sister is a person whose Christian faith means much to her, too. When the Emperor Napoleon, at the height of his power was asked what was the most important day of his life, he singled out the day he made his First Holy Communion, Eleanor singles out the same day in her life too, her Confirmation, in the Church of England, as one of great importance.
But this book is not all about the effect of Christianity on the world, the values of other religions and the secular world are considered, too. The world can be seen as a machine, controlled by human beings using coercive power or legal sanction with little thought for justice, peace or security. We seek unlimited economic development and use overwhelming coercive power as a means of settling all political and social conflict. The writer suggests we need to renew our beliefs about human nature and our attitude to the globe which sustains us. Spirituality is introduced as the fundamental property of our nature that affirms life and promotes it against the mechanisms of death.
Religion, in the past, no matter which one it was, was previously important in defining public order but, now, it is a private affair. This, I feel, is probably more true of Christianity than the other world religions and certainly it is so in Ireland. It has, she writes, lead to the individual and his or her rights being considered to be greater than that of the collective. While this individuality can be very good for progress (think Michael McDowell!) it can also make for problems in collaboration and can lead to exploitation of the many by a few powerful people.
Darwin's theory of dominance by those who desire power is questioned and the advances made by groups of animals, including human animals, who collaborate is examined and frequently co-operation appears to win out ahead of competition. Bonding assists survival.
Knowledge cannot be pursued independent of values and the means of gaining knowledge entails ethical judgements. We need to be told this over and over again.
Dr. Powell has much to say about religious extremism, such as when a group takes into itself the authority of the Ultimate Truth, which it then denies to all others. Greater mobility and globalisation means cultures are more likely to meet and clash. Even in the Christian or post Christian West our views of God can be different. Some of us will see God as a judge, perhaps a harsh one, and this will influence our justice system and how we deal with crime. Those who think of God as a loving and forgiving God tolerant of failings (Social Welfare for all!) think differently. While those who feel they are the "chosen people" will feel they are God's elect and consequently have moral superiority.
In Islam, apparently, attention focuses much more on the individuals' duty to the community. In China and Japan there is huge social pressure on the individual to conform, the group being greater than its members. This can mean there is much less conflict between generations, which we should look at. It can allow strong members of the group to gain control and be above criticism, however.
Does economic failure mean one is a moral failure? Should people who don't "measure up" be marginalised? What about the values of honour and grace, useful attributes to consider in the context of the Olympic Games. Worryingly, Dr. Powell suggests that people of low status may feel they gain honour in their community by becoming suicide bombers. But she does add that where there is unremedied injustice the middle classes often take up the causes of the oppressed. In how many parts of the world is this happening?
Vengeance and justice apparently come from the same Greek word. It is vital to recognise the unseen motives behind those who are Freedom Fighters to some and Terrorists to others and to deal with these issues. Osama bin Laden, she suggests, sees the world as in a time of spiritual crisis and that is why he encourages such destruction of Western life which he sees as causing the crisis. Violence is seen as entertainment by the media with little to differentiate between whether it is fiction or fact. In the televising of the two Gulf Wars, that is certainly true.
The later chapters of the book deal more practically with mediation encounters. Dr. Power stresses the need for the mediators themselves to have inner peace and says that their power "is evidence of a tremendous investment they have made in working through their own negative experience, their shadow side". "No one," she writes "can know the whole truth of a situation."
For the health professionals she has the following advice, we act most effectively when we appreciate and foster the gifts and strengths of people we are treating, and while admission of fault may lead a person open to a legal action often apologising would probably settle a difficult situation.
As can be seen I have enjoyed this book enormously and found it mentally very stimulating. It is published by Northstone Publishing in British Columbia and those of you who are good on the internet I'm sure will be able to find somewhere to buy it.
Senator Mary Henry, MD
