The Rangers Standard

I really enjoyed that piece Alasdair - it really reveals the size of the challenge which lies ahead of us.

This part for me really hit home....

Perhaps if there is a genuine desire amongst our support to celebrate our Protestant Identity it should manifest itself in ways which celebrate the many positive aspects of that faith rather than be critical of those of other faiths.

However something Super Phoenix wrote in response really struck home...

I think this sums up many of the the problems surrounding this type of dicsussion. Whilst we talk readily about our Protestant heritage do we ever consider it from a Protestant standpoint or merely a Rangers standpoint ?

To explain further...many of the positive aspects and characteristics of the Protestant faith which have been alluded to in this and other similar articles, fail to take cognisance of what practising Christians would refer to as the spiritual aspect of these traits. Such positive values and charactersitics would be described as "fruits of the spirit" rather than some set of values easily aspired to.

Sorry to set the cat amongst the pigeons here - but simpy recognising/ supporting the many positive values of the Protestant faith, and being even willing to defend them, does not make one a Protestant.

Iain, thanks for your thoughts. There is clearly a disconnect between those proclaiming a Protestant identity or adhering to Protestant values and actual practising Christianity. Like many Scots these days, I suspect the bulk of the Rangers support have little interaction with, for example, the Church of Scotland. But there is a definite sense of a loosely defined cultural Protestantism and a set of values that are seen to derive from Scottish Protestantism. Clearly this is an anomaly.

But I think we have to be realistic about this. To a certain extent we are living in post-Protestant times that are characterised by a decline in formal church attendance but also the continuation of religious identities and values. It might be useful for us to talk about a Protestant legacy. I think I mentioned that I wouldn't support this charter actually mentioning Protestantism but that I hoped people would attribute their own sources to the values outlined. Some, perhaps most, would consider them Protestant values but that wouldn't be mandatory.