Letter: The great need of the hour is not bigger bonfires or louder drum beating, but for the Protestant people to return to God

Most commentators and politicians who are supportive of the Twelfth and the events surrounding it will refer frequently to the importance of our culture and our unionist traditions. Fair enough, but surely there is another element which, although rarely mentioned, is of much greater significance than anything else, and it is one which underpins all the others. I refer to our evangelical Protestant heritage.

Each Orange parade is primarily a Protestant parade. On the Twelfth, as I watch or participate, I see evidence of that Protestant heritage in many of the banners and I hear it in the hymns played by the bands. Platform proceedings and resolutions will also reflect the centrality of our Protestant faith. Each Twelfth, we give thanks for the civil and religious liberties secured at the Boyne, and remind ourselves of Reformed truths which are so precious and so relevant in this increasingly secular age.

That, to me, is what the Twelfth is about. Of course there are cultural and political aspects to it, but the great need of the hour is not bigger bonfires or louder drum beating, but for the Protestant people to return, in repentance and humility, to the God of their fathers. That’s the only way forward. And what a difference it could make by way of witness to all our neighbours.

Wallace Thompson, Belfast