Yesterday, Drew Nelson, Grand Secretary of the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland was down in Dublin addressing the Oireachtas. The problem the Orange Order has,
apparently, is that it’s misunderstood, so Drew would like people in the south to
know more about the institution. With this in mind, here are some facts about the
Orange Order that might help Dublin politicians decide whether Drew’s proposed
Orange march through Dublin would be a good idea.
1. The founding documents of the Orange Order say,
'An Orangeman should not merely be somebody who has hostility towards the
distinctive doctrines, the superstitions, the priestcraft and spiritual
despotism of the Church of Rome.'
2. The
'Constitution, Laws and Ordinances of the Loyal Orange Institution of Ireland'
(1967) states: "No person who at any time has been a Roman Catholic ...
shall be admitted into the institution, except after permission given by a vote
of 75pc of the members present founded on testimonials of good character.
3. Today, as always, each member of the Orange
Order is pledged to: “strenuously oppose the fatal errors and doctrines of the
Church of Rome, and scrupulously avoid countenancing (by his presence or
otherwise) any act of ceremony of Popish worship; he should by all lawful
means, resist the ascendancy of that Church, its encroachments, and the
extension of its powers”.
4.. Early in 1992, loyalist gunmen killed
five Catholics who were in a betting shop on the Ormeau Road in Belfast. Months
later, a parade along the road sparked fury when some of the Orangemen present
made "five-nil" hand gestures as they passed the murder scene.The
then Northern Ireland Secretary Sir Patrick Mayhew accused those responsible
for the taunts of behaving like 'cannibals' ".
5. On July 12, 1996, Robert
Saulters - who was later elected Grand Master of the Orange Order on
December 11 - told the Orange Order, that the British Prime Minister, Tony
Blair, " has already sold his birthright by marrying a Romanist. He would
sell his soul to the devil himself. He is not loyal to his religion. He is a
turncoat "
6. A few years ago, George Galloway,
then an MP, described the Orange Order as
"sectarian,
anti-Catholic, Protestant-supremacist". A defamation suit was pursued
against him by the Orange Order in Britain. Judge Lord Kingarth who threw out
the case, ruled it was "a fair comment on that organisation".
Ahh Jude.
ReplyDeleteI love July. Y'know why??
Its the one time of the year that I can read your blog and agree. In fact, its the one time of the year I wish you'd go further!
Its a real shame members of that organisation dont realise how they were set up by the English Government to prevent and counter the 1798 non-political aims of the united irishmen. I often wonder how many of these hardcore orangement are Presbyterians who were also targets of this grouping initially? If they actually knew the history behind it all, I hope they'd rethink it.
That said, suggesting that they don't erect flags in a well to do mixed neighbourhood seems to turn into 'you're trying to intimidate us' (or some other sentence with terrible grammar and spelling), so perhaps the history would be lost on them.
Good post.
Jude - the qualifications of an Orangeman don`t say anything that is not in the Anglican 39 articles of the Presbyterian / Baptist Westminster confession. The current qualifications do not read as you posted they are: "he should strenuously oppose the fatal errors and doctrines of the Church of Rome and other Non-Reformed faiths, and scrupulously avoid countenancing (by his presence or otherwise) any act or ceremony of Roman Catholic or other non-Reformed Worship"
ReplyDeletehttp://www.royalyork.org.uk/2007/01/qualifications-of-orangeman.html
I can also quote several senior Orangemen which is consistent with Grand Lodge policy of condemning terrorism and urging young folk to join the security forces and stay away from paramilitarism.
Not quite sure what your point is whit no 2 - several ex priests have gone on to be Grand Chaplains in the Orange Order.
When someone writes an post he/she maintains the idea of a user in his/her brain that how a user can know it.
ReplyDeleteTherefore that's why this article is outstdanding. Thanks!
My web blog ... view site