BALANCING ACT

I've seen in American films members of the Ku Klux Klan being described as 'pointy-heads' or even 'pointy-headed fucks', but I've never seen this being interpreted as being racist against white people. On the contrary, it's quite reasonable for peddlers of hate to be referred to in disparaging terms. Only in Scotland, it seems, is it even considered that disparaging terms for bigots are themselves bigoted. Reading the 'Nil By Mouth' website, for example, leads one to believe that 'Orange bastard' is somehow a term of sectarian bigotry directed at Protestants, when, in reality, that is simply not true. The majority of Protestants couldn't care less about anybody's faith, or lack thereof, and would certainly never align themselves with the bigoted Orange Lodge.

In point of fact, many of those marching about, professing to be 'protecting Protestantism' from some perceived threat have never ventured inside a church of any description and more than a few have not even been baptised. Rather than being Protestants they are merely heathens, whose whole outlook on life is determined by a hatred toward something they don't even understand. 'Orange bastard,' therefore is not directed against Protestants or Protestantism but against these hate-filled individuals. And it stands to reason that if you're going to sing about being up to your knees in Fenian blood then you deserve the description of 'Orange' with the appropriate noun 'bastard' added on for effect.

So why does 'Nil By Mouth' persist in broadcasting this myth? It is probably because they are too scared to tackle the reality of sectarian bigotry in this country so try to water it down by pretending that 'one side's as bad as the other'. This has the unfortunate effect of letting the bigots off since they can always use the 'whatabootery' argument supplied by 'Nil By Mouth'. It is also significant that 'Nil By Mouth' identifies sectarian and racial bigotry in Scotland as being "perhaps most visible in relation to football", while ignoring the hate-filled parades marching up and down our streets every summer, with some participants coming over from Northern Ireland for the occasion, bringing their own brand of bigotry with them.

You might remember that I contacted 'Nil By Mouth' a while back, asking for evidence for this assertion on their website:

"Widespread discrimination in entering employment, and certain established social networks, also fuelled tensions between the Catholic and Protestant communities in Scotland. Employment opportunities  were denied to people of both denominations on the grounds of the religious group to which they blonged or were perceived and prejudged to belong. Discriminatory recruitment practices were conducted both officially and unofficially and a name considered traditionally Protestant or Catholic, or whether a candidate attended a Catholic or non-denominational school, was sufficient grounds for many businesses to exclude people from employment."

It is relatively easy to find old job adverts where 'RCs need not apply' was the norm. I've never heard of any such discrimination, however, against Protestants and asked for evidence to back up their claims. After phoning them to chivvy them along, I finally received an answer. You won't believe what their 'evidence' was!

"Probably the most relevant area of employment for you to look into for whatever piece of research you are doing is the area of education and the consistent practice of non Catholics being overlooked and excluded from holding senior teaching and leadership posts at publicly funded schools."  

I have sent two e-mails back, expressing the following:

"Is this some kind of joke? Denominational schools are entitled to ensure that senior management are in tune with the ethos of the schools, whether those schools are Roman Catholic, Episcopalian or Church of England. Why is there no problem with this 'discrimination' in England or elsewhere? Why only in Scotland?

I'm afraid your answer only opens your organisation to the charge of being guilty of the very bigotry it is supposed to be helping to stamp out!"

 

and

 

"The reason why I bring up the allegation of bigotry toward Nil By Mouth is that you used the phrase, 'publically-funded'. This is the argument employed frequently by people in the Orange Lodge and other anti-Catholic organisations in their agenda against RC schools. As I say, it seems that only in Scotland, out of every nation on Earth, is this seen as a problem.  

The abolition of denominational schools would be a reasonable argument if it were not for the fact that there is actually no such thing as a non-denominational school in Scotland. Religious Education is compulsory in Scotland, especially in primary schools, and the curriculum is heavily weighted in favour of Christianity. Assemblies adhere to Christian festivals and practically all schools have a pastoral link to a local church. Effectively, this means that non-denominational schools are, as many people call them, Protestant schools.   

Many people feel that Nil By Mouth is not effectively tackling sectarian bigotry because it feels the necessity to 'balance things out' and argue that 'both sides' (if you can call it that) are as bad as each other. Your pointing the finger at RC schools would tend to support this view of your organisation. Do you think this view is correct and, if not, how would you counter it?"

 

I await their reply with interest.

 

Meanwhile, on a lighter note, I see that Mike Ashley is asking for his £5million back. The fact that no attempt has so far been made to get rid of Ashley shows that the Real Raynjurz Men are not as rich as they have been making out. The letter was apparently sent to Ibrox a couple of weeks back and we are only now hearing about it. So much for the 'transparency' and 'openness' that was touted before the EGM! (This is a major theme of the new book I'm working on about Sevco.) And now Big Mike has called for an EGM of his very own. Get those pishy bedhseets out, lads - the 'rats' are on their way back!

 

Did you see that article in the Daily Record yesterday about the shop in Troon selling gollywogs? Rather shamefully, they're still, apparently, on sale with folk jumping in to absolve the shop owners of racism. Seemingly they're 'too old' to know how offensive these things are. What a load of pish! Get the auld cunts telt! The Record, meanwhile, used the opportunity to let us know who the REAL racists are. Paired with this story was the weeks-old story of Nigel Farage accusing the SNP of being racists. It's good to know where the Record's priorities lie.

 

And, sticking with Farage and UKIP, the police are investigating claims that there have been some dodgy dealings in the General Election in Thanet South, where Farage stood and lost. There doesn't seem to be much in the way of evidence - just a general feeling that something was wrong. Strangely, there was a huge amount of evidence of wrongdoing in the Indyref but nobody was interested. 'Time to move on,' we were told. Why the difference in approach? As if we didn't know!

 

After the removal of THAT picture, there's an embarrassing empty space on the wall at the top of the marble staircase. Fortunately, it won't be empty for long, as the Sevco board has announced the purchase, for a very cheap price, of an unwanted portrait of Hurmadge. Surely that won't prove to be controversial!

 

 

 

Can you guess what it is yet?