In my neck of the South Carolina, a question that often comes up is “Carolina or Clemson?” On this subject, I tend to stay neutral. I make more friends that way. But that puts me in a minority; almost everyone in the Upstate will defend one or the other to the death. Perfectly good friends will put each other down mercilessly for supporting the wrong school, and that’s in polite circles. Gamecocks and Tigers cause more strife in South Carolina than slavers and abolitionists did.

But that pales in comparison to Belfast.

Here, the “teams” of Catholic and Protestant have been at odds for years. The signs of the conflict are everywhere, splashed on walls and twisted around the tops of fences. And while the open conflict is no longer as heated, the tensions are still as strong as ever. With such apparent, overwhelming animosity and such high stakes, is it possible to visit this city without taking a side?

I can’t speak for every visitor, but as for me, I find it much harder to remain objective about the Troubles. Personally, I’m drawn toward the Republican side simply because I think of Ireland as one island, one country. While I like both Great Britain and Ireland, I think of them as two separate countries on two separate islands. But then I realize geography is a silly reason to take a side in a war. Hawaii is far removed from the continental U.S., and how would I feel if they got serious about wanting to be their own country?

Both sides of the Irish conflict have committed horrible crimes, and both sides have really good points. So maybe it’s not so difficult to say that the fighting between them is silly and needs to stop one way or the other, and it doesn’t really matter which way.

Then again, isn’t taking the side of neutrality still taking a side? By choosing peace, am I not trying to influence others to share my opinion? Once again it proves impossible to view Ireland with a truly objective perspective.

But why is that a bad thing? Taking sides and having opinions are part of what makes us human; it is a sign of our free will. There are times when we’ll be right, there are times when we’ll be wrong, and there are times when no one is right. But there’s nothing wrong with taking a side. Just be careful how you defend that side, and never simply assume you’re right.

But then, that’s just the side I’m taking on the matter.