FORGET Indyref2, what Scotland needs in the wake of Brexit is a healthy dose of old-time religion – according to Scotland’s foremost Orangeman.
Speaking at Tuesday’s Twelfth of July rally in Belfast, Henry Dunbar, Grand Master of the Grand Orange Lodge in Scotland, said that instead of independence referendums in the wake of the EU vote, Scotland and Northern Ireland needed “a gospel revival and a return to the inspired Word of God that made this country great”.
Addressing Belfast Orangemen at Edenderry, Dunbar said: “In an age of apostasy in many of our churches, the Orange Order is a voice for the Protestant people. We have been handed down a great legacy, and with that legacy comes responsibility. We must ensure that we pass on our heritage and culture, and the Reformed Protestant Faith, to future generations.
“We live in troubled times, brethren. And it’s right we should organise to defend those things we hold dear – our civil and religious liberty, our constitutional monarchy and our democracy. But let’s put things in their proper order and not forget to give God the pre-eminence in our lives and lay our worries and troubles before His Throne of Grace.”
On the EU referendum, in which Scotland and Northern Ireland voted Remain, he said: “In both Scotland and Northern Ireland there have been demands for further referendums on our place in the United Kingdom. It’s not more referendums we need, it’s a gospel revival and a return to the inspired Word of God that made this country great.”
Scottish secularists accused Dunbar of having “a vested interest in the country returning to biblical values” that are widely rejected. “People don’t want to return to unmarried couples, divorcees and gay people being pilloried and playgrounds being locked on Sundays. Scotland is a much more tolerant country now,” said Keith Porteus, executive director of the National Secular Society.
“We hope it will go even further to adopt secularism, where everyone is equal regardless of their religion or non-religion. A good place to start would be for there to be no faith schools, but all schools open to everyone regardless of their parents’ religion. That would lead, before too long, to much less sectarianism.”
A spokesperson for the Scottish Greens said a second independence referendum was a democratic choice for Scotland: “All democrats should support Scotland’s right to a second independence referendum if that is the option open to us and it is what the people of Scotland want.”
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