THE letter from the Reverends Burt and Petersen regarding the comments of the Provost to the recent Orange parade show a particular lack of Christian feeling. 

To withhold agreeing to his apology for any distress he may have caused is both petty and bitter.  

The Reverends elsewhere in their letter attempt to equate an Orange parade with sectarianism, racism, homophobia, etc.  The reality is that the Orange Order is positively Protestant.

To propose that allowing the Orange Order to exercise its right to public procession - “by all means let them march around the Battery Park a few times” - is rather to miss the point about civil rights.  The prejudices and lies of a minority should not be used to undermine the civil rights of all - whether we seek to exercise them or not.

Whilst many fraternal organisations have fallen badly in membership the Orange Order remains remarkably resilient, mainly, I would venture to think, due to its adherence to the Reformation, the Glorious Reformation and admiration of the Covenanters.  There may be a lesson in that for the Kirk as a whole.

Currently the Kirk is cutting its number of churches somewhere in the region of a half to a third.  Perhaps if it hadn’t spent much of the last 50 years pandering to trends in politics and sociology it may have fared somewhat better.

David Walters

Executive Officer

Grand Orange Lodge of Scotland