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The United Kingdom was recently described as 'the most secular
State' in the Western world.
Few who take the bother to study the statistics provided
by Government and semi-government agencies will doubt the
fact, as the spillover effect has been drastic.
Churchgoing on mainland Britain is at an all-time low, and
the Churches, apart from evangelical ones like Baptists, Elim,
and other evangelicals are struggling.
The Church of England has fewer members than at any time
in its history, and the Methodists have lost two-thirds of
their membership since the 1950s.
Even Scotland, once the stronghold of the Kirk, has experienced
the same decline in religious belief and the Church of Scotland
has experienced a sharp decline in membership. Northern Ireland
is still the most churgh-going part of the UK, but there is
certainly no reason for complacency.
Many Protestant churches in parts of Belfast and Londonderry
have closed, although that may be more due to the movement
of members due to intimidation and civil disorder.
But while church-going is still high by UK standards, it
has to be said that Ulster is not nearly as religious as it
was in the 1950s and 1960s.
Secularism and the inroads made on the Lord's Day due to
the policies of the British Government and the European Union
have been among the prime reasons.
There was no demand in Northern Ireland for Sunday opening
of public houses. Yet, due to the absence of a local administration,
this was foisted on the Ulster people by the stroke of a pen
by a Government which didn't care about majority Protestant
opinion.
It was the same eight years ago when Sunday opening of shopping
centres became a reality. Again, there was no demand from
Northern Ireland people, but their views did not count.
Is it any wonder that the Protestant Unionist population
is disillusioned and doesn't trust the Government? Majority
opinion doesn't count, and when some local councils did attempt
to object to the imposition of Sunday opening of leisure centres,
they were threatened with financial penalities, sufficient
to make most reluctantly bow to the pressure.
On the UK mainland, where most restrictions on Sunday vanished
30 years ago, a generation is growing up in which only a small
minority have any knowledge of Christian teaching or values.
Sunday Schools, once a mighty instititution in Britain, have
declined drastically, especially in urban areas. Going hand
in hand with the decline in religion and church-going has
been the opening of the floodgates as far as drinking, gambling,
and the erosion or even scrapping of laws on obscenity.
Marriage as an institution has been undermined, the State
is falling over backwards to recognise gay liasions. The British
abortion rate is now the highest in Europe, and it is the
same with the divorce rate.
Crime has reached astronomical proportions, especially crimes
of violence. Many British cities and towns are virtual 'no
go' areas at night, especially at weekends, such is the menace
and the violence.
What a sorry state of affairs, and while Governments promise
tougher measures to deal with crime, the reality is that much
of it is just hot air and talk, as opposed to firm action.
Northern Ireland could go the same way if authority is not
exercised here. Anyone doubting this has only to look at the
situation in the 'Holy Land' in Belfast, an area transformed
from being a peaceful well-ordered society a few decades ago
to one of violence, public drinking and indecent behaviour
on a large scale, with unruly students accounting for a lot
of the mayhem. The Orange Order is firmly opposed to any further
inroads into the laws which govern this Province, and also
to any more appeasement of lawbreakers.
The Order will strive, with all its resolve, to resist any
further debasement of our society.
But there is an onus on all concerned Protestants to play
their part in opposing the trend which has contributed so
much to the decline in standards of public behaviour in Northern
Ireland. Many people prefer to keep a low profile, and adopt
an attitude of 'pretend it is not happening' or 'as long as
it is not in my backyard'.
That is no longer acceptable, and the Orange Order deserves
the maximum support of the Churches, and concerned citizens,
including politicians, if the remaining restraints are not
to be swept aside.
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