Contemporary Christianity

Today our group met up with David Porter, the leader of the Centre for Contemporary Christianity in Ireland. It was one of the richest political, social, philosophical and religious discusssions we have had as a group so far, even including our time at school. It challenged and stimulated all of us to some degree. David Porter has had much more experience in Northern Ireland than anyone else we have met on the trip to this point and has the advantage of having lived and grown up here his entire life. He gave us a wonderful and explanatory history of northern ireland as well as all of the groups involved in the conflict. We visited three different parades today. One commemorating the history of the battle of the Sommes in which 20,000 soldiers died during WW1, another parade that was for peace and reconciliation and finally a parade hosted by the Orange order of the Ulster Unionist parties. It was a wonderful experience all around and we are thankful to have had the tour and experience of someone so well versed in Northern Irish History and culture. It has been one of our most educational days!