As we enjoy glorious July in Glasgow, as sure as night follows day, there are attacks on all things Orange from Republican filth across Scotland and Ulster. At this stage I should point out that I have never been a member of any Orange march, or band nor do I have any desire to. It’s just never been part of my life.

In recent years, though, it has begun to fascinate me, that the kind of cultural music and processions it is associated with can attract such venom. Across the globe there are festivals, processions and marches galore, which bring colour and sound to countless towns, cities and resorts worldwide. Many of these are steeped in local cultural traditions that mean nothing to visitors but everything to those taking part, and many there to support the celebrations.

While in the past I have simply enjoyed the music, noise and colour of such celebrations, more recently I have been able to do a quick Google to understand what is being celebrated. Sometimes finding out can be a real eye opener and can trigger a question... would the Scottish media and “liberal” chattering classes have an issue with this?

As various celebs line up to attack the Orange March, it would be interesting to see their reaction to festivals celebrating all manner of victories and historic events that are routinely celebrated in Europe. Starting very locally, I can’t recall any complaint or moan about Irish Republican marches in Glasgow, or hate filled anti-English or anti-Semitic marches dressed up as pro-Palestine or pro separation marches.

Going across Europe you have 300,000 people take part in Assumption day celebrations in Bavaria, while a percentage of their income tax goes directly to the Roman Catholic Church. In the Balearics, you have Es Firo in Majorca, celebrating “Moors v Christians” which is essentially a celebration of The Roman Catholic Church driving Islam out of their Island. No one bats an eyelid.

Each month in Spain there is at least one celebration of a Saint as these Catholic celebrations hit the streets and are enjoyed by all, with alcohol and noise forming a large part of the celebrations. Do I, as an English speaking foreigner, understand what people are chanting and shouting? No.  Do I care? No.

In Ibiza, there is the feast of the Epiphany, and Carnival, which are both Catholic celebrations with the usual street processions and music. Across Spain alone there are countless Catholic celebrations of various Saints and events including St John, St Bartholomew, St Matthew, and a festival of coffins. In Italy, like Spain,  there are numerous public religious celebrations and processions including ones for St John, St Peter, St Paul, St Lawrence, Feast of the Redeemer, and Feast of the Assumption all involving bands, music, street closures, and holidays. In Croatia, where tourism is heavily based on music festivals, this country too has religious festivals across the land in line with the Catholic religious calendar.

Across the globe, countries celebrate their culture in their own way, regardless of how much of a majority or minority any particular group has. In comparison, the Protestant faith is perhaps the most modest of the major faiths in terms of celebrations.

The Orange celebrations of freedom from the tyranny and corruption of the Roman Catholic Church via the Boyne celebrations should be enjoyed and Protestants should be defending the rights of the Orange Order to celebrate our freedoms and values that this battle brought us.

Modesty and turning the other cheek by the institutions of the Protestant faith have allowed them to become easy targets for anti-Protestant bigots. It is time that those within the Protestant faith who believe themselves to be moderate and the Orange Order to be less so, to step up and work with the Order to demonstrate that the processions are normal cultural celebrations, and that the critics are the bigots looking to shut down a culture they don’t believe in.

If our country can embrace the biggest celebration of freedom we have, we can all win from it.