Letter: Scarva is rapidly becoming a carnival, a Protestant Mardi Gras

Scarva is an event that celebrates our history, culture, and our traditions. I have no problem with that. It provides an opportunity for families and the community to come together. It doesn’t happen very often. Unfortunately the religious aspect, which for me is the most important, has been moved from centre stage and marginalised. It is rapidly becoming a carnival, a Protestant Mardi Gras and people from all cultures and all religions join in.

The only message of any substance that remains are the great Bible stories on the banners, and they are largely ignored. We need to draw on these stories, move them back to centre stage, and draw in people from the margins. This is a battle for hearts and minds, and it’s a battle we have to win.

This is no sham fight. We have a choice, do we just abandon Scarva, give up on our people, and walk away, many have, or do we engage and try to claw back the ground we have lost? If people studied those banners, gave them some thought, and went home and read the stories, it would teach them so much, and Ulster would be a different place. They are a part of our Judeo-Christian history we are in danger of losing.

More fulfilling than the junk food that grabs our attention, the stories build character. They keep us lean and healthy, and they last! Scarva has so much to teach us, but it’s a diet of ‘sweet and sour’. Does it still make a contribution to our faith, our history, and our culture? We need to turn a light on that and see if we can still make a case. Esther, Samson, David, and Gideon, speak to us from the banners, and sound a warning. They have a message, listen carefully.

Would the generations passed on, feel included? They will notice the gospel tracts blowing in the wind, and the desecration of the Ulster Sunday. Would they feel comfortable with that? Would they see anything worth saving and want to come back? So much on offer would be foreign to their palate. Politicians have failed, churches have failed, and Christians have failed. We need Elijah to step off one of those banners, and lead us back to the truth.

At the moment, Ulster, weak and betrayed, is wandering through the wilderness and seeking the Promised Land. We need to be careful or we’ll end up like Moses. He climbed Mount Nebo to see it, it’s on the banners, but because of his sin he never crossed the Jordan and entered the land of promise. He died in the wilderness, food for thought. We need to be careful, it could happen to us. Scarva has so much to teach us, if we are willing to learn.

Clive Maxwell, Bleary