Scottish Catholic Observer

A new academic report that claims sectarianism and religious bigotry are a ‘myth’ in modern-day Scotland has been questioned by the Catholic Church and politicians.

Gillian Raab, an emeritus professor of applied statistics at Edinburgh’s Napier University, claimed that inter-marrying between young Catholics and Protestants had eroded the ‘social distance between sectarian groups.’

Her conclusions were based on an analysis of 111,000 couples from the 2001 Scotland census, the first to include questions about religious affiliation.

However, a Church spokesman suggested the work’s conclusion made no sense, an anti-sectarian campaigner said her claims were a ‘huge mistake,’ while a Labour politician has questioned whether an academic based in Edinburgh was in the right position to address a problem which he believed largely occurs on Scotland’s west coast.

Not a myth

Ms Raab’s thesis, published in the scientific journal, Ethnic and Racial Studies, concluded: “Rather than policies to reduce sectarianism, what may be needed to promote future harmony are initiatives to tackle the promotion of the myth of sectarianism and the reality of football-related violence.”

Peter Kearney (above right), the director of the Catholic Church’s Media Office, questioned how Gillian Raab arrived at her conclusion.

“You can say that people in Scotland are generally less religious and there are more marriages between Catholics and Protestant, these are both things which are true,” he said. “But I don’t know how you get from there to the conclusion that sectarianism is a myth when it clearly isn’t.”

Crimes

Dave Scott, campaign director at anti-sectarian charity Nil By Mouth, said that, since 2003, almost 2500 people have been convicted of sectarian offences across Scotland.

A former police officer and Rangers supporter was this week found guilty of singing sectarian songs at Ibrox, fined £1000 and banned him from attending football matches for five years.

While a probationary officer with Strathclyde Police, Jamie Hetherington was detained during the Rangers versus Aberdeen game in April last year. Sheriff Lindsay Woods told the 23-year-old at Glasgow Sheriff Court, that he had ‘brought shame’ on the force.

Opposition view

Tom Harris, who is campaigning to be Labour’s Scottish leader, has urged MSPs to vote down the SNP Government’s Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications Bill, but said few on the west coast would think sectarianism was a myth.

“I feel quite strongly that anyone living in Glasgow is not going to believe that sectarianism is a myth “ Mr Harris said. “It makes sense that generationally those traditional divides are less than they were, because of course there are inter-marriages and fewer people going to church, but here in Glasgow and the west it is anything but a myth. I wish it was. There is a danger that someone could read this research and use it as an excuse to be complacent about the need to tackle sectarianism. Ms Raab obviously doesn’t believe it is the problem it is, because she lives on the east coast of Scotland. It is dangerous to call sectarianism a myth.”

First minister

Last week, First Minister Alex Salmond said sectarianism was threatening the future of Scottish football and called for legislation to address it.

“Sectarianism is not a myth,” a Scottish Government spokesman said. “Sectarianism and other offensive behaviour will not be tolerated in modern Scotland. As surveys show, more than 90 per cent of Scots support stronger action being taken to tackle sectarianism and offensive behaviour associated with football.”

The Justice Committee report on the Offensive Behaviour in Football and Threatening Communications Bill was due to be published this week.

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