Letter: ​Why do we celebrate battles and uprisings - in which thousands of people died - with parades?

We, the people of Northern Ireland, our politicians, and the organisers of parades should all ask ourselves - 'What is the purpose of parading in general, and what is the purpose of each and every parade in particular?' If the purpose is to demonstrate or claim difference or dominance, is that a reasonable and socially acceptable purpose? Our divided community needs, and should aspire to, a diminution of difference and dominance, a shared future free of outdated religious and nationalistic differences, dominance by one faction and reversal of dominance by the other. Where the claimed difference is of a religious nature, and supposedly Christian, those who would demonstrate their difference should heed the words of the Christian guru, Jesus, who admonished those who publicly flaunt their religiosity. Band parades are, by their nature, militaristic. Many such parades here in Northern Ireland celebrate battles, military victories, and armed uprisings in which thousands of people were killed. We don't march in celebration of the battles of Hastings, Bannockburn, Bosworth, Culloden, Trafalgar, Waterloo, Alamein. Why then does one faction here march in celebration of the Battle of the Boyne and the siege of Derry and another faction march in celebration of the Easter Uprising? Why should such barbaric killing and dominance by force and violence be celebrated? Certainly, there is a case for commemorating those who died on all sides in such conflicts, particularly the two world wars and the recent Troubles. But why glorify their fate with the trappings of the militarism which killed them? Here we have parades to commemorate those who died at the Somme, and we have a UK-wide event each year on November 11 to commemorate the dead of both world wars and subsequent conflicts. Perhaps, without the militarism, those commemorations would be attended in future by the faction who, until recently, failed to acknowledge that many people of their own persuasion died in the two world wars. If the people who organise parades, of whatever hue, and those who traditionally take part in them, are not prepared to voluntarily reconsider their attitudes and purpose there is a definite case for an overseeing body, such as a Parades Commission, which will consider the purpose and effect of any parade before allowing or banning it. Those who disregard the commission's ruling should be subject to the full rigour of the law. The alternative is a blanket ban on all parades other than all-inclusive, non-sectarian carnivals. Dennis Golden, Strabane