Growing Up Orange
My orange roots run deep, going back, i guess as far as anyone can trace the Boal family tree. The *12th of July, for the first 18 years of my life meant parades, 'God save the Queen' (although i'm not sure which god they really mean), 'The Sash my father wore' , playing a lambeg drum and carrying a banner or a sword, which is pretty cool when you love swashbuckling movies & books.
As expected by family tradition i joined the order when i was old enough & everyone was happy, especially my dad who is, & has been for as long as i remember, the worshipful master of the lodge he is in.
Change
But then the most traumatic event happened in my life; Jesus!
Jesus came & changed everything, now i wanted to worship Him alone as my Master, and to live primarily a life for His Kingdom & not for the country i live in. To glorify Him; not so called Protestantism, and to distance myself from any organisation that claimed Him and His name falsely, demeaningly, shamefully & hypocritically making people swear oaths, that if true meant that person was a follower of Christ.
I know that there are many Christian's within the orange & i by no means am saying that you cannot be a christian & orange. But for me i could not be a part of something that had 'christian' hanging as a banner at the core of it, yet was an excuse for drunken revelries, sin and called someone other than Jesus worshipful master (even if it was my dad).
So i took the plunge & left, knowing that i'd deeply hurt my parents.
The 'South' & Me
Up to this point i had pretty much refused to even cross the border from N.Ireland into the South, & if i did venture across i'd exit the car as soon as we returned back to the 'promised land' and kiss the roadside. I tell no lie!
But with Jesus came freedom & before long i was helping at CEF camps filled with catholic kids from the South Dublin area.
Here seems a good place to confess that one of these teenagers met Jesus, grew into a fine young woman & married me a few years ago (you can read that story here). This was never an issue to my family although, i believe a letter was submitted by my dad explaining that although raised catholic, Babs was now a Christian. I guess this was in case anyone questioned that his son had married a 'Free-Stater' and so question his membership of the lodge.
Protestant?
I would say that i feel that the orange, though not alone & not the primary cause, has contributed to how the meaning of 'protestant' has changed over the years. We no longer mean those reformed Christians who protest against false religions & doctrines. But in N.Ireland use it to promote a political view, a dislike of roman catholics & even attach it, at times, as a label to terrorist organisations.
In recent days threats have even been issued to other ethnic groups living in Belfast, claiming that N.Ireland should be for white protestants only. This is a huge failure & oversight of what the protestant reformation was truly about & if those guys truly were protestants they would repent. They would also seek to love other ethnicity's & to bring them to Jesus.
Worship
On the 12th of July i'd ask you to bow your knee & worship the One True and Only Worshipful Master; Jesus Christ the Son of the Living God.*It is an interesting fact that during the 1859 revival in Ireland the twelfth day parades were cancelled. Crowds did still gather, but without any regalia of orangism and to both pray & hear the Word of God preached.
