Catholic v. Protestant

Display the statement ‘Religion is a powerful motivator for violence’. Students respond and offer reasons for when and why this may or may not be true. (Catholic v Protestant Slides)

Students search for and share a recent news story about an act of violence where religion was involved.

Discuss your school house system asking the students to explain:

(i) the best ways to create a sense of belonging and inclusion,

(ii) the value or risk of creating a sense of us vs them conflict

(iii) the kind of escalation that might occur if one house sabotaged another (students can propose a scenario and consider how they would respond).

Students compose a paragraph outlining how they imagine an historical event or era called “The Troubles”.

Display the images of the “Trouble” in Northern Ireland and discuss student observations. (Catholic v Protestant Slides)

Listen to the song “Sunday Bloody Sunday” by U2, and read the lyrics. Discuss the impression that the song gives about the experience of the “Troubles” in Northern Ireland.

Watch the documentary excerpt ‘Catholic vs Protestant’ (5:24).

Students fill out a table outlining the two groups that were clashing at this time in Northern Ireland and then respond to the following questions:

1. How was the childhood of Jim the taxi driver different to yours? What would it have been like to grow up with Jim’s concerns?
2. Jim argues that religion was “used too readily to cover this conflict”. What evidence does he give?
3. Rowan Williams says that turning a conflict that is mainly about something else into a religious conflict helps you reinforce your own righteousness. How was this true of the “Troubles”?

Display the John Lennox quote, and invite students to respond, reflecting on their attitude to sectarian violence.

Students read 1 Peter 3.8-12 and answer the following questions.

1. List three instructions given in this passage.
2. Why does Peter say these instructions are good to follow?
3. Identify how Jesus displayed the qualities and values in this passage, and write them on a mind map.
4. In what ways do the values in this passage, and the actions of Jesus, contrast with the actions of those involved in the “Troubles”?

Students imagine being John Lennox’s parents just after their shop was bombed – they compose a post for social media addressing those who bombed the shop, drawing on themes from 1 Peter 3:8-12.

Students design a Belfast wall mural to encourage peace, with a two paragraph explanation of their design.

• Clip: The Fears and Dreams of Syrian Children (2:13)

Students watch the clip and identify the differences between the biggest fears of children in Syria with those of their peers in relatively safe countries. Students then imagine what it might be like to grow up in a conflict zone, composing a letter to an imaginary pen-pal in a safe country sharing about your biggest fears and hopes for the future.

Conduct a Mini-debate on the topic “Were ‘the Troubles’ in Northern Ireland religiously motivated?”

(Catholic v Protestant Slides)

• Homily: Holy Mass in Drogheda

Students read Pope John Paul II’s homily from his 1979 mass in Drogheda, Ireland, and create a poster outlining what the Pope calls the people of Northern Ireland to do, and the Bible verses and ideas he uses to appeal to them.