Why Liberals Hate TFP Bagpipes, but Others Love Them
Why does the TFP use bagpipes at its events? Over the last two decades, TFP Student Action has become well known for its epic campaigns with red capes, large red standards with golden lions, and bagpipes. The iconic TFP bagpipers are recognizable by conservatives and liberals on street campaigns, university campuses, and rosary rallies.
The “war pipes” are highly visible and audible in the crusade for traditional family values, especially at the national March for Life in Washington, D.C.
Nevertheless, many people want to know, "Why the bagpipes?" TFP supporters who enjoy them often pose this question, while critics, typically leftists on campus, attempt to discredit them by complaining about the "noise," even when they make a significant amount of unpleasant noise themselves.
How TFP Adopted the Bagpipes
In the 1970s, the Great Highland bagpipes became a part of TFP events, with a bagpiper performing at TFP conferences. The tradition of using bagpipes for public demonstrations dates back to the early 1990s and eventually extended to annual events like the March for Life in Washington, D.C.
By 2003, the impact of a TFP bagpiper's performance at Penn State University led to bagpipes being included in nearly every campus campaign.
TFPs abroad and sister organizations saw the positive effect of this innovation and adopted the bagpipes as a counter-revolutionary tool. Now, the rousing skirl of TFP bagpipers can be heard in Canada, Brazil, Ireland, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Poland, and Australia.
Liberals Call Them “Horns of Hate”
Until 1996, the British government considered the bagpipes a weapon of war rather than a musical instrument. The Scots used the pipes to raise the morale in battle.
Whereas the TFP fights in the realm of ideas. In this spiritual combat, the bagpipes boost the morale of TFP members who fight for moral values in the public forum.
The bagpipes strike fear in the enemies of truth. Leftists dread them every time they sound on a liberal college campus. As one George Washington University student confessed in a letter to the editor of the GW Hatchett, “Walking to class on Thursday afternoon, I suddenly heard bagpipes and saw the dreaded red sashes.”
Leftists and pro-LGBT activists in California accused the TFP bagpipes of being “horns of hate.”
The Skirl of the Bagpipes Stir the Soul
Unlike other instruments, the sound of the bagpipes stirs something deep within the soul. It inspires awe and touches on the metaphysical and sublime. For centuries, the bagpipes have inspired admiration on battlefields, royal parade grounds, coronation ceremonies, and funeral processions.
When TFP bagpipers play at the March for Life, crowds cheer joyfully. At times, even those who support the sin of abortion begrudgingly confess that the bagpipes “are indeed beautiful.” The beauty of bagpipes adds a note of sublimity to TFP campaigns and raises the soul to a realm of higher ideals.
One TFP Student Action follower said:
“The bagpipes gave solace to the men on the beaches of Normandy and, in similar fashion, give solace and promote kinship to all who support your work on college campuses. Don’t ever stop playing those bagpipes. What a beautiful sound to hear in association with standing on the principles of God.”
Bagpipe Music Silences Foul Insults
There are two practical reasons to use bagpipes on campaign: it drowns out the filthy insults and attracts people to a noble cause.
When liberals become particularly angry and spew foul language and vulgar insults, the bagpipes can clean the air of verbal abuse and deter leftist aggressors. However, many who hear the pipes at a distance will follow the music until they meet the TFP volunteers. Thus, the bagpipes carry and multiply the effect of the TFP campaign and help reach more people in the crusade for moral values.
Bagpiping for the Glory of God
Whatever a Catholic does is ultimately for the greater glory of God. Thus, the most important reason TFP Student Action volunteers play the bagpipes is for God, the Blessed Mother, and the Angels in Heaven. By adding beauty to the campaign and attracting more souls to the truth, the bagpipers serve God.
Is there a better reason to play the bagpipes?
Just as the bagpipes served for centuries as a beautiful instrument of war, TFP members play them to win the spiritual crusade of our time to restore Christian Civilization.