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As I write this Month's article for the Orange Standard it
is Holy Week and our minds turn to that very sad day, Good
Friday and three days later on Easter Sunday our sadness turns
to joy, "Christ has risen from the dead".
Easter seems to be the beginning of a new year, every thing
seems to come to life, the bulbs in the garden are blooming
as are the trees beginning to bring forth a new year in the
appearance of their leaves, the sheep with their little lambs
the cows are calving and life does not seem to be so bad,
many are given a new lease of life whilst others suffer illness
and deaths, Jesus himself tells us "not to be afraid"
as he goes to prepare a place for us.
Following a two day Conference in Glasgow last week in the
company of forty other Orange Delegates we were presented
with a very well organised and interesting Conference of the
three Orange Jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. The three
jurisdictions were represented by County Masters or their
Deputy's and Grand Lodge Officers. Included in the agenda
was a presentation under the title "Reconnecting with
our spiritual roots" by a member of the Orange Institution
in Scotland, a Christian Preacher who so much impressed the
delegates of the Grand Lodge of Ireland that we have invited
him to come to Ireland and give the presentation to our Chaplains.
In this year of 2008 our membership will have to do more
than just talking about the "Act of Union". Only
in Scotland do we hear of the 300th Anniversary of the Act,
Ireland has still a few years before we celebrate the 300th
Anniversary of the Act of Union, we can not wait that long,
now is the time to press upon those in Assemblies or Government
that we must do more to stop the European Constitution, we
must appeal directly to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II to
defend and uphold the British Constitution, as promised to
us in the Coronation Oath. The Bill of Rights 1689 states
that we should never be ruled by "foreign powers".
Why is the Prime Minister Gordon Brown, against having a
Referendum to allow his British voters to decide on whether
they want a European Constitution or not, that includes the
updated version under the name of "European Reform Treaty"
(a virtual carbon copy of the European Constitution) the question
is "Will the European Union destroy Our Protestant Constitution?,
and the answer to that is a resounding YES.
a) It will undermine our national supremacy
b) European Union laws have primacy over British laws
c) There is an increasing Roman Catholic influence
d) Un-elected European Union commissioners dictate policies
which erode our national sovereignty.
If you care about our Protestant Constitution it is time
to start writing!
We read in the newspapers about deals on the disbandment
of the I.R.A. Army Council, we have seen some deals that have
been done since 1998 with the former Prime Minister who offered
to hold a secret, masked meeting with the I.R.A. leadership
as he fought to save the peace process from collapse. The
former Prime Minister didn't need a mask, Dick Turpin wore
a mask and he turned out to be a more honest man than the
former Premier or the former President of the United States.
What kind of deals are being offered at the present time on
our Church parades and processions to celebrate our culture
dating back to the formation of the Orange Institution and
beyond? This Institution does not wish to be used by anyone
to further their own ends.
As I walked from the car park into Church on Palm Sunday
I was joined by two others, and the comment was made, do we
get into step; one remarked it won't be long now, meaning
of course it won't be long now until the Twelfth, I trust
our membership are not "Twelfth of July men" and
are hopefully working all the year round for the Institution,
for the Protestant people and above all for their British
way of life.
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