Rev. Ivan Foster: ‘Compromise with error cannot deliver peace’

In the summer of 1998, I along with fellow Free Presbyterian ministers in Co. Tyrone, issued a statement in the wake of the Omagh Bomb, which resulted in 28 men, women and children being brutally murdered, as well as many more seriously injured, commiserating with the families so wickedly bereaved.

Part of that statement read: “We accuse our Government and in particular the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, and the Northern Ireland Secretary of State, Mo Mowlam, of pursuing a policy in Northern Ireland that has encouraged this atrocity and the many others that have gone before, by seeking to placate terrorism through immoral concessions such as the present early release of convicted terrorists.

“Yesterday’s murderous monsters have become today’s ministers-in-waiting!

“We have already heard words of condemnation from the lips of those politicians, who favour the release of convicted murderers and bombers, that are but an echo of the words employed to condemn the actions of those terrorists they are now determined to release ... The politicians who have supported the present policy of appeasement that underwrites the ‘Peace Agreement’ cannot escape having blood on their hands after today’s evil.

“We would earnestly seek to warn the Protestant people not to be swept further from the teaching of the Bible by the wave of ecumenical propaganda that has already begun in the wake of the bombing.”

That dreadful event epitomises the emptiness of the ‘peace’ that the proponents of the Good Friday Agreement promised.

That dreadful terrorist crime remains unresolved today.

Since then, many others have had cause to question the validity of the ‘peace’ promised.

The whole GFA was built upon appeasing the terrorists. The early release of terrorists, some of whom were guilty of murder and if God’s law had been adhered to, they would have forfeited their lives in accordance with Genesis 9:6.

“Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.”

Instead, some of those who engaged in terrorist atrocities and others who stoutly supported their actions, became joint rulers of our province!

The GFA rewarded atrocities with political elevation and honour, and, as is the case with all blackmailers, the demands of the Republican movement have accelerated!

And why not? The prizes won via the GFA only strengthened the hope of the blackmailers for further concession.

Following the referendum on the GFA in 1998, this newspaper asked me for a comment. Part of what I said was this:

“For me, it was refreshing to see from the results of the referendum that there was a remnant of some 275,000 citizens (28.88 per cent of voters), the most of whom were Loyalists, still standing defiantly and ready to vote ‘No’ after the bullying onslaught of the political and ecclesiastical propaganda machine had swept over Ulster.

“The Prime Minister, presidents, millionaires, ecumenical churches, the Roman Catholic church, the Ulster Unionist party, the SDLP, Sinn Fein, the Alliance party, the Loyalist fringe parties, the various greedy, grasping business and professional groups, and many, many more – all united to threaten, bribe and seek to cow Ulster into saying ‘Yes’ to the peace deal, and yet 275, 000 said ‘No’.

“Before too long, that ‘No’ will surface as the reality of the United Ireland programme that the NIO, the SDLP and Sinn Fein are following becomes obvious.

“When that happens, those leaders of the Unionist parties that campaigned for a ‘Yes’ will find themselves faced with the difficult task of explaining how their promises and much publicised assurances have all unravelled.”

Ever since 1998, Unionism has been on the back foot, desperately and hopelessly striving to stop the slide toward a united Ireland that the GFA initiated. So far, their efforts have failed, resulting in the present political ‘faux pas’ at Stormont!

Will Ulster’s Protestants never learn that compromise with error cannot deliver peace and security!