Sectarianism in Scotland: The Last Decade (Chapter Five)

Sectarianism makes Scotland look like an intolerant and backward society, especially in the modern world, with religion dwindling, and greater equality for all the aim of most governments. It is clear that, for the most part, people outside the central belt and south west do not consider sectarianism as a part of their lives. We have also seen the decline of sectarianism through changing economic and social factors. There has even been a backlash in some of the press. The Herald for example has been accused in the past of having an anti-Catholic employment policy, nowadays it is one of the most fervent condemners of sectarianism. The Herald quote used earlier about violence after Old Firm matches had mentioned the need for police to arrest sectarian murderers from both communities but then said 'especially the Protestant sector'. G. Walker has identified in his essays a movement by most of the Scottish press to portray Orangemen as backward and ignorant. This is due to the change in public opinion which now cringes away from anti-Catholicism and may also be a conscious effort on the part of the newspaper, particularly the Herald, to distance themselves from past attitudes and associations.

The attitude that sectarianism is negative in any shape or form has become more popular amongst most Scots. Many Rangers supporters have been embarrassed by the religious argument. As Walker points out by the 1970's the middle class were no longer prepared to be associated with the club as they sneered at crude religious bigotry (2). Many other Protestants were angered at what they saw as having to apologise for their identity. However this argument is a dangerous one. Rangers were associated with loyalism, unionism and conservatism as well as anti-Catholicism. Traditional or not, abuse and discrimination towards other people along religious grounds is, and should remain, unacceptable and deplorable.

Walker points out 'The Protestant working class was, and is, an entity much too diverse to sum up in terms of allegiance to a football team or a political party; what is being suggested here is that common associations pertaining to this group – Rangers, Orange Order, Unionism, Freemasonry – have been subjected to a level of criticism over the last thirty years or so which has had as a by-product the cultural marginalisation and caricature of the broader entity' (3). Walker seems to hint that it is now the working class

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