Hardly to believe

Touched-up photos are so very common nowadays in satire and readily used by the media, so of course Paisley and Adams in one and the same photo could only be interpreted as a fingered photo.

There are faces of this world that are almost incompatible. When you see them words of aggression and discrimination seem to come to mind in endless streams. This has often been the case with these two men from Northern Ireland.

Hatred
The mutual recrimination and allegations of the protestant and catholic communities of Northern Ireland has often reminded the world what hatred is. Disgust of the political and cultural opponent never leaves much hope for mutual solutions; rather there is a fear of the enemy that distorts humanity. If hate takes over, if disgust is the prevailing feeling, there only seems to be shared blame left.

Nations as humans
This is a common lesson in European history. There have been countless accusations between nations that have been almost impossible to solve. Sometimes we live in nation states that suppress national minorities and we won't loosen the grip. At times I believe that nations should be looked upon as if they were human beings, thereby also implying that that nations should behave as if they were humans.

Guilt confession
Some days ago a learned man reminded me of what he thought was the key to the mystery of the German success after the Second World War. He pointed to the German churches' "Schuldbekenntnis", that is their confession of guilt. In October '45 the evangelical churches realized their responsibility at a meeting in Stuttgart. They admitted that they also had a responsibility for the terrible mistake of the German totalitarian state that led to a world war. They demonstrated a way towards credibility through "Schuldbekenntnis".

A discussing humanity
We regain trust in those people and those nations that dare to confess that they are not infallible. The churches confessed their misjudgements of Nazism. This ideology could only gain its momentum because people, including the church, succumbed to fear, lies and hatred. Everybody who has been angry knows that anger makes a person hallucinate. Whole nations sometimes hallucinate. Yet, if we dare to admit our infallibility, then we might meet many other faces next to one another in the future, just like we now can see Paisley and Adams. When enemies resolve to peaceful methods there is hope of a decent political future. We should develop our abilities as citizens and nations, so that we may be known as "a discussing humanity", rather than a warrior tribe.

Peter Skov-Jakobsen, Lutheran minister in Holmens church in Copenhagen, www.holmenskirke.dk