An excellent article in the 'Mail on Sunday' reminded people
of the importance of November in the Protestant calendar.
The article, on November 5, stressed the importance of
that date, in that it marked the anniversary of the defeat
of the infamous Gunpowder Plot, when Guy Fawkes and his
co-conspirators were arrested as they prepared to blow up
the Houses of Parliament.
The article pointed out that November has a special significance
for Protestants. It was in November that the Gunpowder Plot
was defeated, the Spanish Armada was defeated, Prince William
of Orange set out to claim the throne of England, and it
was in November that the great monarch, Elizabeth the First
was born.
Quite a distinguished list, and each of these events was
of the utmost importance to England, and to its religious
destiny.
Had Fawkes succeeded, then it would have sparked off a
bloody civil war, with Protestantism in danger of suffering
the fate of the Huguenots in France.
The Spanish Armada was not only sailing to try and uphold
the authority of Philip of Spain over Elizabeth. The Armada
contained many Jesuit priests, representatives of the terrible
Inquisition, and no doubt dedicated to eradicating Protestantism
by brutal means including the burning of 'heretics'.
Some Orange Lodges in Ireland, and not a few in England
still hold Gunpowder Plot services - services of thanksgiving
at the defeat of the conspiracy.
Today, we are told, religious intolerance, and the threat
to freedom of worship is very much consigned to history,
a thing of the past.
Really? Is this not a delusion? All the evidence points
to the fact that freedoms, including that of freedom of
worship, is a fragile thing, and there are strong elements
who would deny 'Dissenters' and 'Nonconformists' the right
to assert their faith.
Britain is changing dramatically in many ways, and long
established institutions and organisations are under threat.
If cherished freedoms, including religious freedom, are
to be retained and respected, then all who value these freedoms
won by Protestant dissenters at terrible cost, must stand
up and be counted.
The Orange Order in these islands must be in the vanguard
of defending these cherished freedoms, and all who support
them must remember the time-honoured saying 'The price of
freedom is eternal vigilance.'
