But there’s no danger
by davebarclay1954
It’s time again to speak out against hatred and division. There is a movement afoot to have the Orange Marches banned in Glasgow. These marches purport to be peaceful and supportive by marching through a community which is predominantly catholic by a group of Protestants, celebrating a victory in the 17th Century by a Dutch Protestant over the Catholic Irish. What does any of this have to do with Scotland?
Answers to that question please on a self addressed unstamped elephant to the usual suspenses.
Anyone seeking to promote hatred, division and violence should rightly come under the microscope and if found to be complicit in any crime then the organisers should be held accountable under the law for the acts of their followers. In case anyone is in any doubt as to the reason for today’s chosen track they should remind themselves what was happening in Northern Ireland when it was written in the late 1970’s. Sectarian violence was the norm and it always seemed to be the working classes who were killing and being killed. Declan McManus (or Elvis Costello as he is better known) turned this into a hit without explaining who or what Oliver was.
If there can be no Orange March without sectarian violence then surely it is high time that these Marches were cancelled and removed from the calendar forever. Regular readers will know that I have never condoned violence (yes I have used violence in the past to protect others and would gladly do so again in the future). I believe that all it takes for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing, and I refuse to do nothing in the face of evil.
I have never supported violence for the sake of violence but will not stand by idle while others suffer at the hands of a tyrant. As always comments are welcomed and if there are any who disagree with me then please tell me why you think I am wrong and don’t use bad language to get your point across. Dialogue is what makes us better than the rest who would rather use their fists to get their message across.
As always music is from YouTube and I don’t own the copyright in it, that belongs to Elvis Costello and The Attractions and their record label.
barclaydave 
Hatred is, obviously an extremely bad thing and those who foment vilence (or indulge in it) should, of course be held accountable for their actions.
I think though that we need to show great caution before banning things. Bans can lead to a slippery slope. For example there are those on the left who call for the banning of “fascist” organisations. This has led (in Communist countries) to not only genuinely Fascist organisations being prohibited, but also to the banning of centre-right (and, indeed moderate socialist parties).
Banning hateful ideas can also cause them to grow like topsy. “what are you afraid of that you need to ban that idea? I shall seek it out to ascertain your reason for prohibiting it” some will say. To take a concrete example, the prohibition of Mein Kampf (in Germany) has not prevented the growth of extreme right-wing parties such as the Alternative for Germany, nor has it stopped Fascist parties forming despite the ban in the German constitution on their existence. Such organisations simply deny being fascist/nazi and (if they are banned) form under another name.
Returning to Mein Kampf, the internet means that bans are virtually meaningless anyway.
While terrorist organisations should undoubtedly be banned (for example Islamic State is rightly prohibited and it’s supporters dealt with severely), those who advocate obnoxious views (Communists and fascists) should not be banned (unless they advocate violence or indulge in it), although I suspect that the security services take a very close interest in the activities of groups such as the British National Party (on the far-right) and the Socialist Workers Party (on the far-left) and I’m reassured to know that MI5 are monitoring such extremist movements.
To be clear, it was right that so-called National Action (who expressed support for the murder of the Labour MP Jo Cox) where banned, as they clearly posed (and pose) a direct threat to the democratic state.
Kevin
Kevin, as always thank you for your input. I don’t think that banning something or some group works for the same reasons you outlined, people will always check things out and see why they were banned. I can only hope that the security we enjoy today continues, after all we have the best security forces anywhere.
Dave