The age-old enmity between Rangers and Celtic is growing, and a number of unsavoury incidents have dominated recent headlines.
The Old Firm temperature has been rising for a number of years, and blame can be apportioned every which way, but before the situation escalates further, all parties need to take stock of their responsibilities.
Rangers is a club in turmoil as it tries to recover from years of mismanagement. It is as politically astute as a naive fourteen year-old, and has a foolish tradition of 'dignified silence' in the face of brickbats and barbs. Owner, Sir David Murray, received a knighthood in 2007 and his compliance with the Scottish political establishment likely contributed to this honour. Meanwhile, during his Ibrox tenure, the Rangers support was publicly pilloried on a regular basis.
Nature's most basic law ensured that a weak and defenceless Rangers would attract numerous and widespread attacks, and so it proved. Just this week, news broke that Dundee United fans had complained after breathing the same air as the Rangers support during an on-field gubbing: the poor wee souls.
The climate was set then for an enemy initiative to blow Rangers out the water. The ensuing onslaught, it has to be said, is working, and the result is a frustrated and angry Rangers support. The Rangers family looks to the club to defend it, but the club only speaks fondly of its fans when it wants their money. The rest of the time it blows with the putrid wind.
The Rangers support is not, however, without fault. It doesn't argue its case. Instead, it puts on a show of defiance when it doesn't get its way, and pours fuel on the flames. This makes a bad situation worse. It recognises a double-standard in the reporting of football songs and chants, but it doesn't adequately convey this information to a world that is being led by the hand to condemn Rangers and ignore the rest.
The national media, holier than thou, pontificates and panders to the new morality, and the over-riding message is that Rangers is toxic: irredeemably and inexcusably toxic. If only the Rangers support sang about republican murder gangs, it might be forgiven, but no, it is accused of being 'sectarian', just like Scotland's state-funded education system, and is hung out to dry.
The greatest hypocrisy of all is the monstrous double-standard that sees Rangers in the dock on a charge of sectarianism while our nation-state refutes all charges, glories in its hypocrisy, and brags about how our educational apartheid is worth keeping and cherishing.
When an issue catches fire, the media is often blamed, and it usually responds as though it is merely the conveyor of information, and therefore faultless, but in Scotland it has played a significant role in upping the ante in a climate of hate that will bring rain and wind and hell if there is no end to it.
When journalists and commentators list the 'offences' of one support, but no other, they are either deaf, blind and stupid or liars. The partisan nature of this beast is undoubtedly a factor in a deteriorating situation across our society.
Our politicians, particularly the Labour Party under Jack McConnell, decided to launch an initiative against sectarianism - but not sectarianism in our schools, and certainly not sectarianism closer to home in the Labour Party - and its focus, predictably, was on Rangers and Celtic, but perhaps more the former than the latter.
Since then, sectarian tension in the west of Scotland has risen. While Rangers was, and still is, ill-equipped to hold its own in the debate, Celtic was ready and waiting to tell the world how holy and wonderful it is. Celtic is open to all, don't you know.
Perhaps we should remember; Celtic was formed to keep Catholics away from Protestants - and away from the influence of Protestantism - and it is this bit of Celtic's history that is rarely ever told. The early charitable aspiration of the club is now cited, quite wrongly, as the sole reason for Celtic's existence. This revision of history is lapped up and wholly believed by a compliant fourth estate.
To be fair to Celtic, it fights its corner well; it always has done, and perceiving itself to be a minority, especially an oppressed minority, is a powerful motivation to be cuter and cleverer than its opponents.
While Rangers has been apologetic and pathetic in defending itself, Celtic has been strident and aggressive. In recent times though, Celtic appears to have under-emphasised its obligation to broader society, and when it challenges the football authorities and referees, the stench of cheating is left hanging in the air.
This causes a feeding frenzy amongst the extremist element within the Celtic support, and it doesn't just undermine Scottish football: it undermines Scottish society.
Each time Celtic fails on the pitch, the implication is always the same: Celtic were cheated. Each time Rangers gets a controversial decision in its favour, the implication is that officials favour Rangers. This mindset is rooted within the Celtic family, and it certainly won't change overnight: it may never change.
Scotland, however, has changed, and the idea that Celtic is institutionally discriminated against is preposterous. The tentacles of the Celtic family reach into every part of Scottish society, and British society too.
Celtic is a part of the establishment it purports to rebel against and a quick look at the directors on the club's board will confirm that Celtic is a very well-connected club - and more influential than Rangers has been in living memory.
Regrettably, Celtic is intent, even in these 21st century days, on being the rebel, on being the victim, and on being an innocent abroad in a supposedly bigoted Scottish landscape. This is as irresponsible as it is far-fetched.
Celtic is Scotland's new establishment club, but the crown rests uneasily on its instinctively rebellious head. It still feels the need to act the rebel even although it has become a part of Scotland's bourgeoisie.
Celtic pulls strings in our society: it doesn't dance to them.
Celtic Park will host the opening ceremony in the Glasgow Commonwealth Games: Ibrox will witness the rugby sevens.
Celtic is in the driving seat: Rangers is a passenger along for the ride.
The strength of Celtic and the weakness of Rangers has been a factor in a worsening situation. One is an aggressive heavyweight while the other is no more than a lightweight whipping boy. When the two clubs return to intellectual parity and demonstrate a willingness to remember the responsibilities they carry, problems will ease - but they won't be solved.
As long as our media sees fit to denigrate Rangers, repeatedly and consistently, while turning the other cheek to unseemly behaviour from other sources, there will be no utopia.
While our politicians ignore the wishes of the Scottish people, and continue to fund sectarianism in education, there will be no utopia.
While death threats are being issued and lethal packages in the mail are being used to terrorise individuals and communities, utopia will be a million miles away.
While a mindset of persecution is widespread and tangible, and an intrinsic part of an official club view, utopia is a pipedream.
While authority acts like a private army to root out those who sing and chant questionable lyrics, utopia is an impossible dream.
The government itself has played a leading role in bringing us to this point, Jack McConnell's clueless and muddled attempt to eradicate sectarianism was misguided and stupid. It has raised tensions and exacerbated a situation that will erode in time anyway with some nudging and cajoling - and sound leadership. Only a fool would suggest antagonising and criminalising as a viable and lasting solution.
Rather than authority being confrontational and crude in an attempt to make society more harmonious, it should back off and encourage constructive means to dampen down the distasteful expression of passion.
It should also understand a concept called 'mock offence'. This is when a party pretends to be offended when the sole intention - the real motive - is to bring trouble to another's door. 'Mock offence' is a tool to hurt and harm, and not a genuine complaint, and it would be grown-up to at least recognise this.
The idea that a Celtic fan can be offended by utterances from Rangers supporters is patently absurd when he will have listened to - and never objected to - an abundance of insulting language and song from within his own team's support. He may even have participated in it. Exactly the same is true the other way round.
The football community has much to commend it, and millions of people in this country love the atmosphere, the sport itself, and the banter that goes with it, but we have a sinister side too, and when I see football fans rushing to be offended, I see a pack of liars.
We are counting down now to the umpteenth Old Firm clash of the season and the mood isn't healthy. When blue faces green across the Ibrox pitch, there will be a tangible feeling of hate - even more than usual - and it needn't have come to this.
Rangers need to embrace its support again. Perhaps new ownership of the club will be a vehicle for a smarter songbook and a healthier outlook. The club, however, must provide leadership, because without it, the Rangers support will be frequently and publicly vilified by the usual suspects, and that's not going to contribute to a future of harmony and respect.
Celtic has to end its long-running grievance culture. Many of its fans never will, but the club, surely, is above believing in Masonic conspiracies to keep it down. The Celtic support, or at least an element of it, is comfortable embracing victimhood, so it looks for excuses to portray itself as a victim. I'd like to think that the club itself is above this kind of mindset.
Our politicians like to grandstand on the issue of sectarianism, but they are no more than hypocrites. Sectarianism is enshrined in our laws. Instead of public posturing on the issue, our politicians should be seeking to bring our children together instead of spending millions to keep them apart.
Rangers and Celtic represent two communities in a fractured society, and our political leaders, it would seem, have no plans to mend the break.
There is a simple message for our politicians: either deal with our educational apartheid or get off your soapboxes. We're sick of your hypocrisy.
The Scottish media is a multi-headed animal, but too many of those heads see Rangers as an evil while lauding a club whose fans sing in praise of murderers. This just doesn't add up. If our media is perceived as being partisan, and it is, what hope is there for an outbreak of peace?
The usual suspects in the media - the 'moral crusaders' against sectarianism - start from the premise that it's a Rangers problem and their pre-determined conclusion is always consistent with their first instinct: Have they ever lived in Glasgow? Have they never witnessed the rampant sectarianism that runs deep amongst at least some of the Celtic support?
“Dublin, Belfast, Cork and Donegal - Soon there'll be no Protestants at all". Does our fourth estate delude itself that this isn't sectarianism?
If Scotland goes over the precipice, some of our journalists and broadcasters will need to examine their consciences very closely.
Finally, Rangers is on the brink of a new era. A new owner will have his own ideas on how to progress the club. We won't have voted for him, but we'll still have to examine his plans carefully - and he'll almost certainly have an opinion on supporter behaviour.
I suspect that he'll have something to say on the songbook issue, and it could be that changes will be encouraged. If it is done in consultation with the supporters, the result could be mutually beneficial, but if it is done in dictatorial fashion, ill-feeling and frustration will be the likely outcome.
I believe we should take the opportunity of this new dawn to make Rangers a better club - and with a better support.
Rangers and Celtic - whether we like it or not - are a catalyst for cataclysm in Scotland.
We must never forget that.