Small victories can be highly significant.
Not because of their observable scale, but because they can be the harbinger of much larger ones in the future.
The Call It Out campaign scored a small victory today and that is hugely significant.
It really is…
The decision by the authorities to re-route two anti-Catholic marches is both sensible and proportionate.
However, if you take a step back and analyse the response from the Orange Order is self-evidently absurdly mental:
“Now is not a good time to be a Protestant living in Glasgow. The simple act of walking down a street is now effectively banned at certain times. Wearing an item of clothing that identifies you as a Protestant will lead to you walking a gauntlet of bigoted protestors who object to your presence simply because you are not of their faith.”
The idea that Protestants are discriminated against in any part of Fair Caledonia in 2019 is locked ward material.
What the folks at Call It Out asked for was that anti-Catholic matches be re-routed so that they would not go past Catholic Churches.
Now, if you have a difficulty with the characterisation of the Orange Order parades as “anti-Catholic” then I can’t help you.
This is mine from 2010 on that…ahem…Christian organisation.
As usual Angela Haggerty can sum up a lot in a single tweet.
One of the most pleasing aspects of this story is the nature of the Call It Out protests.
They are peaceful and silent.
With a few women bravely holding up a banner making the point about anti-Catholic marches passing Catholic churches.
These women could teach the drum banging brethren a thing or two about the true meaning of the word “dignity”.
Since these protests started earlier this year they have grown in size.
The message is clear that the days at the back of the bus for Catholics in Glasgow are over, done with and a thing of the past.
If you want to get involved with this Call It Out you can follow them on Twitter.
Sadly, if you have been socialised into a subculture where the sectarian abuse of Catholics is normalised then mutual respect can feel like oppression.
That is at the heart of the Orange Order statement.
They know in themselves that the old days are coming to an end.
This is a good day.
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Orange order appealing their rerouting order..
Janes Doleman covering live now…
in his twitter pages.
It may be worth remembering that the original so-called “Pilgrim Fathers”, who left England for the American colonies in the 17th century, left because they were PREVENTED from persecuting Catholics and not because they were persecuted themselves.
This fiction continues, becoming a useful defence for the LOL, IDF and many other aggressors.
We, at least, do not believe the hype.
When are these Neanderthal, Knuckle dragging, loyalist, racist breed of scum going to be ostracised from our normal day to day life? I have a little specimen working in my workplace who is one of these cretins, my god it takes me all my time to pity him!!!
The “good old days” can`t come to an end quick enough.I live in a 70% + Catholic/nationalist town in the north and every 5/6 years we are chosen to be allowed to host “the twelth” by the powers that be, despite previous protests, unfortunately not enough people protested. Aren`t we the lucky ones.
Which item of clothing were the OO referring to? If it’s their bowler hats, there is the remotest chance that they are regarded as flour graders at the Homepride factory. I think they may be referring to their sashes. However, wearing a sash never done beauty queens any harm – indeed, every participant in the Miss World, and latterly, the Miss Universe competition wears one. Maybe they are worried about which of the brethren gets to wear the one that represents the Republic of Ireland? If they wish to dress in brightly-coloured regalia, maybe they should participate in Gay Pride marches too? Who knows – perhaps Arlene Foster would be a willing attendee too? She didn’t put up to much resistance to her invitation from the Kingdom of Fife last year, did she?
You couldn’t mark their necks with a blowtorch