The Tale of Two Protests

“People must have righteous principals in the first, and then they will not fail to perform virtuous actions.”
( Martin Luther)

Perhaps the handful of individuals who embarrassed themselves on the “No to Newco” march today would do well to carry out something of a post-mortem as to why they were left in such splendid isolation.

Let me do their job for them – their desire for “Sporting Integrity” is nothing but an absolute  sham - you know it, I know it,  and in fact the world now knows it.

Statement from Clyde FC

It was probably the hollowness, the lack of integrity of it all.....the lack of righteous principals which caused such a poor turn out.  Quite simply when it came to the crunch – their hearts were not in it. Its all fine and well marching for something you believe in, but when you know that ideal is false and does not hold up to scrutiny then it becomes nigh on impossible to perform virtuous actions.

Many moons ago, on the eve of the Battle for Two Sisters on the Falklands Islands, our troop officer addressed us with the words than 10 Volunteers were better than 100 pressed men. Several hours later Two Sisters had fallen to the guns of 45 Commando Royal Marines despite seemingly impossible odds. It was a story that was reciprocated all over the Falklands that night as the Paras and Scots Guards also recorded famous victories against overwhelming odds. By the end of the campaign there were 5000 British troops on the islands. There were 17000 Argentine Prisoners of War.

Virtuous actions are indeed a consequence of righteous principals.

As Scottish Football struggles to find a solution to the problem of Rangers, its perhaps worthwhile remembering that the problem was caused because of a campaign of hatred under the false banner of “Sporting Integrity”. There was nothing righteous, principled or virtuous about it, as others have commented it was little more than a bloodlust.

Yes Craig Whyte did wrong. But as the Crown Office orders Strathclyde Police to undertake a criminal enquiry into the whole mess, the possibility now exists that Rangers will in fact be victims in all of this. Of course some of us have been banging this particular drum for some time, citing the selling of our future, our past, our prized assets and our reputation as evidence of who has really suffered the most due to the actions of Whyte.

I wont insult your intelligence by asking you if you think the treatment of Rangers has been in keeping with the normal treatment victims of crime are afforded. The several thousand Bears who marched upon Hampden a few weeks ago tends to suggest otherwise. But of course it gets worse. It was not Rangers supporters who used the word “unlawful” to describe the actions of those wishing to punish Rangers, but one of the highest judges in the land.

And even then we were criticised for seeking justice.

Not only is their absence of any kind of sporting integrity towards Rangers, those charged with the responsibility of finding a solution now appear willing to resort to threats, bullying and intimidation to achieve their purpose.

Its hard times for those of us who are Bears. But we will come through them. The righteous principals which have guided our club through these years may have been hijacked for a while, but the thousands of  Bears who marched on Hampden demonstrate they have been returned to their rightful owners. There is a considerable movement amongst our support who would be quite happy to go to Div 3 and work our way up.

But ask yourselves who would you rather be ?

Those who stood by your club through thick and thin, took whatever punishment came your way and emerged from the whole experience stronger  and with our credibility and principles intact ?

Or those who operating from a mandate of hatred threatened to boycott, and consequently damaged their own clubs financially. Who schemed behind closed doors and under a false banner of “Sporting Integrity” when in fact money was their motivation, and who conducted themselves in a manner befitting fascist bully boys ?

Some time in the near future this whole period will be re-visited and analysed. When it does,  if such commentators use the words righteous, virtuous or principles you can bet your bottom dollar that it will be to describe the Rangers support and no-one else.