© 1992 Jim Breffni
© 1992 The Fellowship for readers of The Urantia Book
By Jim Breffni, Northern Ireland
The Irish Study Group began meeting in mid1990. It consists of four people at the moment: Adrian Joyce and Sabrina Rousseau, Lorraine Breffni and myself, Jim Breffni. Adrian lives in Co. Dublin and works as an architect. Lorraine and I live in Northern Ireland, she looks after our three children and I work as a computer programmer. Adrian has been studying The Urantia Book for four years now and was introduced to it when he was living in England. Lorraine and I have been studying The Urantia Book since 1980 and have found it a great help in bringing up a family. We were introduced to the book by a gentleman (whom we corresponded briefly with) in America who sent us a letter in the late 70 's recommending it. The recommendation in the letter was never forgotten and I eventually got around to ordering it from the local library who, in turn, had to order it from Belfast who, in turn, had to order it from England. We had to wait several weeks and, of course, the rest is history. I would like to thank Joseph P. Guardiano somewhere in the U.S.A. who sent us that fateful letter for I had lost his address by the time I realized the import of the contents of The Urantia Book. If He is still alive we would love to hear from him.
We believe we are the first study group in Ireland but would love to be proved wrong on that one! There are two or three other people on the Island who are/were readers of The Urantia Book. We have written to them but a correspondence never developed. Adrian placed an advert in a national newspaper for other readers to contact us but he had absolutely no reply. It must seem strange to those of you in the U.S.A. that we can count our country’s readers on the fingers of one hand!
Here, in Northern Ireland, we live on the cutting edge of life and death. The falsehoods in any religion or system of beliefs are soon exposed in this environment of extremes. The Urantia Book has withstood all the tests and questions we have asked of it over the years and it has not been found wanting. In this society one is practically forced to take one side or another in the continuing conflict, and the philosophy of The Urantia Book puts into context the awful waste of life on both sides, thereby allowing that most rarified of viewpoints in Northern Ireland — the objective viewpoint.
Genuine peace and progress will only come about when the old beliefs are enhanced or replaced by the truths such as those found in The Urantia Book.
We sometimes feel like visitors from another time when we see so much bigotry, barbarity, and ignorance around us. But the truth is that most people want peace. It’s just that present religion, beliefs, and culture are not sufficient in themselves to prevent this sort of situation let alone remedy it. Every society has its serious problems at the heart of which is a culture and philosophy so shallow that it is a miracle that humankind has progressed as far as it has. Society has plateaued and in some instances has started to degenerate. The gift of The Urantia Book to the world can therefore be seen as well timed and necessary for all of us.
The particular problems in Northern Ireland have led us to carefully examine what our attitude to violence should be. Are there any circumstances in which violence can be used? The Following passages from The Urantia Book indicate an answer:
| UB 70:1.2 | War is/Human interassociations |
| UB 99:0.2 | But religion/cultural requirements |
| UB 133:1.4 | Ganid, I/the contrary. |