A statue honoring the Pikemen of the rebellion of 1798 in Wexford, Ireland
Good Morning, God!
This statue honoring the pikemen who fought and died in the rebellion of 1798 has stayed in my mind — or should I say it keeps coming up. Standing there, looking at it, I was impressed with the bravery of the farmers going up against armed soldiers with pikes. Then, say a week later, I thought — HOW DUMB WAS THAT! As I confessed, God, my Left Brain was really judgmental.
Then I thought, hmmm, maybe I should read more about this rebellion. Sigh. It was a case of good intentions having the opposite of the effect that was intended. (Jay Forrester’s rule: In a complex system you almost always get the opposite of what you intend.)
The United Irishmen (Catholics and Protestants and Dissenters) was founded in 1791 to remove English control of Irish affairs. They were big fans of the French Revolution — which made the English nervous — and then repressive. It went from bad to worse and the French sent 14,000 soldier to invade Ireland in 1796 but bad weather kept them from landing. That meant MORE vicious suppression and informants and spies everywhere. Most important the rebells had no good way to communicate. Hard to plan a revolt without secure communications.
So, God, there I was JUDGING without full (any?) information. The rural rebellions were meant to be secondary to the rebellion in Dublin. But Dublin didn’t rise. So the rural men were all there was. And the capricious and cruel punishments of ordinary people left the farmers feeling as if they had no options.
Now, God. Are You thinking, where are you going with this? I am. Sigh. I guess making people AFRAID is not a good long term way to get them to do what you want. Except, if you get them to be afraid of someone outside . . .
Will we ever be smart enough to manage to live together in peace — with mutual respect — or at least forbearance? Oh? Not SMART . . . more MATURE! Will we ask for Your Help in becoming Mature?
Will I ASK? Will I RESPOND? Do I even have a good definition of MATURE? Ah, yes, if I listen to You.
Story teller,
A Moment with God 
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