Over the years I have shocked many friends and acquaintances with my forthright opposition to the Orange Order and the scorn I have poured on Orangefest and the like. I think it’s sometimes been perceived as a failing on my part rather than a reflection on the organisation itself. But I have continued to insist that the Order as currently constituted cannot function as a non-sectarian organisation, taking part in jolly cross-community events funded by the taxpayer.
As Dominic Bryan says in his book ‘Orange Parades’ (2000):
There are a series of laws governing the relationship an Orangeman should have with members of the Roman Catholic Church. Marriage to a Roman Catholic and attendance at a Roman Catholic service can both lead to a member being expelled. In practice the use of these rules tends to vary among lodges. On more than one occasion, debate has taken place...over a member who has attended the funeral of a Catholic (p.106).
Bryan gives the example of a previous case which caused criticism, when David Trimble attended the funeral of Catholic victims of the Omagh bomb in 1998.
And now, the St Simon’s Church Total Abstinence LOL 821 from Sandy Row has caused red faces (nearly) all round by its utterly disgusting complaint about the conduct of two Orange Order members, also senior members of the Ulster Unionist Party, for attending the funeral of Constable Ronan Kerr, who was assassinated by dissident republicans last April. Initial coverage implied that particular offence had been taken because the men had attended the funeral mass, and some comments on web sites and the radio distinguished between the two, saying that it was fine to pay respects at a funeral but not to attend the mass. When you are in a hole, it’s really best to stop digging, and think about what you are doing looks like from outside the hole.
It is important to remember that the complaint has come from only one Lodge out of 1,200. It may, of course, be prompted by an ulterior motive connected with party politics within unionism. It is becoming increasingly clear that the complaint is not supported by many Orange members and Lodges. However, the situation was able to arise because the organisation’s membership qualifications are not limited to supporting Protestantism, which I think can be justified, but include the denigration of another religion, which cannot.
Hopefully, the incident will prompt debate about how that might change in future. Until then, the Orange Order has nothing to contribute to the new Northern Ireland.
2 comments:
I agree with you Jenny but in the case of the 2 UUP politicians believe they also bear responsibility by being affiliated with the Orange Order in the first place and, as a consequence,its rules.
This may suggest that their membership of the Orange Order and their positions within the NI Assembly are completely incompatible with one another.
Yet no action other than a timidity of silence has echoed from either of their lips in the wake of this debacle.
As a consequence I for one offer neither understanding or condemnation to either.
They themselves must dig their way out of their own mess. And I think they have received far too much sympathy over this issue when it is their very membership of the Orange Order that has at least equally been responsible for this outcome.
I also think if the Orange Order refuses to change its sectarian rules then it is the duty of the Assembly to introduce legislation to do it for them.
If we are to progress, snail-like, in this society, we should get on with it rather than cowering behind a wall of not wishing to upset this or that person's sensitivities.
Let us recognise and confront sensitivities which, frankly, in a lot of cases, are based on conditioning, prejudice, intolerance and ignorance.
epic - good point about individual responsibility, however a couple of people leaving, however high profile, won't change the nature of the organisation. Although a wider boycott might lessen its influence, I'd rather see a review (by its members) of what the OO is for in a multi-cultural society. The answer may be that there's no place for it, but I would hope that the objectives could be changed - but that may be too big an ask in this case.
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