How clever of you to elide the legal, if occasionally unpleasant, Orange Order with the KKK which is an actively racist organisation

This, then, is what the Left has been reduced to. Not about justice or equality any more, it’s about showing who’s morally superior to whom, about waving your principles in people’s faces and establishing that you’re better than they are. Look how morally superior I am! Praise me for my correctly aligned moral compass, and burn them on their own unprincipled bonfire! Is it any wonder that Russell Brand looks good by comparison?

Why yes, you are indeed a liberal fachist.

Ah yes, the good old right to burn things. Including mockups of people.

Where is this, precisely? Link me to the statute!

What a collection of illogical arguments, you could have summed them all up quite simply by saying – I don’t like this it should be banned. Let me just deal with your attempts at dismissing my points. Comparing this to Northern Ireland is exactly where you’re going wrong, unlike there the Sussex history of sectarianism is dead, no one wants to persecute catholics here anymore but we would like to keep our local unique bonfire celebrations ( which are not fixed on November 5 ) which have survived and evolved. Now it’s just entertainment but there is a small part which still echoes the old conflicts, that’s actually a good thing, it helps to make people aware that such things once happened but perhaps you’d prefer this to be airbrushed out of history in case someone has their little feelings all hurt.
To deal briefly with your irrelevant mention of Rabbis and Imams. What you seem to be suggesting is that it’s OK to celebrate the Protestant Martyrs as long as the cause of their martydom isn’t mentioned ? Just the kind of empty gesture I’d expect from a professional offence taker.

“Come on LFF there are much more serious examples of bigotry & prejudioce for you to
write articles about”

Indeed, let’s just sweep the anti-Catholic bigotry under the carpet because it’s not fashionable
and move onto a more fashionable form of bigotry against which we can protest,
in just the way that “The Industrial Revolution and
its consequences” says that leftists do!

I shall forgo the opportunity to quote Martin Niemöller but hopefully some of those who browse
this website will get my point.

“Bonfire Societies of East Sussex and Lewes in particular have a long and fascinating history”

And? Not giving the vote to ordinary working people had a long history, should it have been
retained on that basis?

“Religious belief is choice. Race is not.”

Indeed, tell that the people of Afghanistan or Saudi Arabia or Iran. In any
event, the law doesn’t make a distinction.

“You’re mistaking criticism ofthe Pope (a vile figure) with an attack on Catholics.”

OK, so you’re saying that if someone I burnt an effigy of the Chief Rabbi or a senior Imam that
wouldn’t be OK either? Thought not.

“[the] Sussex bonfire societies, they commemorate the murder by Mary Tudor of Protestants in the sixteenth century…. the burning of the Papal effigy is the one remaining piece
of religious symbolism and it’s just that, symbolism to keep a historical tradition alive”

So on the basis that it commemorates a historical event and is just about symbolism it should be
allowed?
The rest of the country can happily get along with a bonfire and some fireworks
but to commemorate something that happened 400 years ago an effigy of the Pope
should still be burned?
Interesting, I never thought I’d see the day when a comment on a supposedly left leaning web site would provide the perfect rationale to throw the Northern Ireland peace process
back thirty years – I bet the Orange Order will be delighted!

Right so you’ve no problem with celebrating the brutal execution of a catholic who was probably set up by the state ? OK if you say so, however it might be an idea if you knew a bit about the origins of the Sussex bonfire societies, they commemorate the murder by Mary Tudor of Protestants in the sixteenth century, where’s the anti catholic bigotry in that ? Unless you’re suggesting it’s bad form to have knowledge of an act of persecution by the Catholic church and its state allies. Nowadays the whole thing is just a carnival, there’s pirates, Vikings and general dressing up, letting off fireworks and having a thoroughly good time, the burning of the Papal effigy is the one remaining piece of religious symbolism and it’s just that, symbolism to keep a historical tradition alive. Utterly harmless and fake outrage and demands for bans are the real bigotry here.

Being a Catholic is not the same as being black

Religious belief is choice. Race is not.

If someone wants to lampoon or criticise or attack a belief system then that is completely acceptable.

We should be able to critique and attack all belief systems freely: and that includes Islam and yes, Catholicism. I am not a religious believer. If someone went out and burned an effigy of Charles Darwin it wouldn’t bother me in the slightest. It is part of intellectual freedom. No one should be exempt from that.