Martyr

Latest Martyr posts

• We have all heard calls at the bonfire firesite "burn the effing pope" .Remember the "no Floodery" posters in reaction to the towns former RC Priests views on bonfire. A few years back an article on the book "Foxes Protestant Martyrs" appeared in one bonfire societies programme. Is hostility to catholicism different depending which part of the country you live in? I remember talking to a now deceased former Lewes Tory Councillor, whose views re the Church of Rome were very hardline, never stopped him being re elected. If 40% of the people of Lewes were French and wanted Lewes to become part of France, lets not pretend we would have a normal society. Yet 40%of Northern Irelands, population want to bring it down, which is why the Unionists feel the need to exhibit their British Protestant identity.


• David James Smith ( shame be upon him) condemned the Lewes Fireworks Societies as based on a tradition of anti Catholic bigotry .
  Not so, historic anti Catholic feeling in England was very far from bigoted .The Pope was behind repeated Catholic funded attempts to invade protestant England not to say assassination attempts on Elizabeth . Papal to encouragement of violence against the English continued as late as the Gunpowder Plot
  Fawkes himself was more or less a mercenary but he was planning to ignite 2500kg of gunpowder which would have devastated a 490m radius , the 9.11 of its day
  England as we know remained Protestant and with William and Mary and the act of settlement 1701 ,established the constitutional principles that underpin Parliamentary democracy
  English anti Catholic feeling had nothing to do with modern sectarianism .The Catholic Church represented the despotism of divine right, the persecution of scientists like Galileo, and a clear military threat to impose a foreign puppet government . No wonder we celebrate thwarting its insane terrorists plots , especially in Lewes where so many of the Marian Martyrs were burnt .
  
  I detect a certain embarrassment creeping in about the original meaning of the fireworks but while it is a fantastic Party and everyone should be included maybe its time to remind ourselves what it was all about in the first place . Freedom . Nothing to be ashamed about , nothing to do with bigotry .


• That'll punish them for liking kiddies a little too much and burning the Protestant Martyrs outside the Town Hall!


• And in front of it the martyrs were burnt


• You heard the 6am maroon which is let off by CSBS as they start making their way through the town to pay their respects at the Martyrs Memorial at the start of the day.