Loyalist Rioting
Rev. Angus Stewart
Those loyalists who rioted in various parts of N. Ireland in the middle of September (2005) are guilty of hypocrisy and wickedness.
They claim that they merely want to march on the Queen’s highway, but when this is refused they block Her Majesty’s roads with burning vehicles and throw stones and petrol bombs at her forces.
They give off about IRA terrorists, but they engage in terrorism themselves with masked men, shots being fired at the police, 50 injured officers and wanton destruction of property, with all the misery this brings to young and old, women and children. These loyalists object to the early release of IRA terrorists, yet by their criminal activity they themselves also deserve imprisonment.
They complain about Jesuits (with their end-justifies-the-means ethic) stirring up Republicans on the Garvaghy Road, yet they resort to hi-jacking cars and throwing missiles in order to intimidate the civil authorities and gain their ends.
Their slogan is "For God and Ulster." But how do images of street riots and burning vehicles help Ulster? Moreover, the God they claim to serve says, "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God" (Rom. 13:1) and "Thou shalt not kill" and "Thou shalt not steal" and "Love thy neighbour.''