I was astonished to learn that in Britain you can be sentenced to five years in prison for using the technical jargon of a particular religious denomination in public. This is based on this poster:
To my understanding of the word "sectarian", this means that if a Catholic mentions the sacrament of reconciliation, a Jew speaks of a bar mitzvah, a Muslim discusses the sevenfold circumambulation of the Kaaba, a Lutheran talks about the ninety-five theses, or a member of the Church of England wonders who will be the next archbishop of Canterbury, that's a criminal offence if done while the speaker is a passenger on a train.
This makes me wonder if in Britain the word sectarian means something very different from what I've always thought it meant. Then I found this Wikipedia article, which says:
Sectarianism is a form of bigotry, discrimination, or hatred arising from attaching relations of inferiority and superiority to differences between subdivisions within a group. Common examples are denominations of a religion, ethnic identity, class, or region for citizens of a state and factions of a political movement.
I would never have guessed that that's what anyone means by that word. I live in Minnesota, a state whose constitution forbids the use of taxpayers' money for the support of "sectarian schools", and that simply means schools with a particular religious affiliation.
Should this usage be classified as a regionalism?
Best Answer
Just to add to Nigel J's answer and particularly that it is a regionalism.
The Scottish Government have an Advisory Group on Tackling Sectarianism in Scotland. This, in itself, shows that they feel sectarianism is something to be tackled.
In 2015 they came up with the following "working definition" of sectarianism:
see section 3.9 of the interim report
By 2015 they proposed a new one:
see Section 5 of the 2015 report
Without delving into what these mean, it does show that the word "sectarianism" is used in Scotland, especially, in a particular sense, and that even the Scottish government doesn't quite know what. It refers to a culture dependent on people seeing themselves as members of either the Protestant community or the (Roman) Catholic community, and to generations of rivalry, at least, between them.
In Glasgow particularly Rangers is supported by Protestants, and Celtic by Roman Catholics. There are wider loyalties beyond Scotland to other parts of the British Isles, with Rangers fans often waving Union Jacks and Celtic preferring Republic of Ireland flags.
Supporters of Rangers and Celtic have many traditional songs, some of which contain phrases which most people would consider offensive such as "F**k the Pope", or Queen, as the case may be. Others do not contain anything particularly offensive in themselves, but if sung on a train, by a group of young men or teenage boys, for example, may result in a response from another group, and while this may be good-natured, it often isn't, and can end violently. Even if it doesn't, it can be un-nerving to other passengers.
The Scottish Government claim that this law is intended to reduce such happenings, but opposition parties are generally opposed to it and it is under review. While poor relations between Protestants and Catholics, and football violence, or violence at other community events (e.g. Orange Parades involving Protestants), is a problem; the Scottish Government is pro-independence and has been accused of being uncomfortable with loyalties beyond Scotland.
It does not prevent two friends discussing their divergent theological perspectives; and this particular rule does not apply in England, Wales or Ireland. but only in Scotland.