Tuesday 29 June 2010

What's God Got To Do With It?

It's time. In fact it's long overdue. The Church of England and the Presbyterian Church in Scotland have been part of our social and political establishment for far too long. Not only is this unfair upon all the other denominations and religions in this country (of which there are a great many), it is also unfair upon the large population of secularists (i.e. those of faith and without who don't attend organised religious meetings) and atheists that live in this country.

For the sake of fairness, we must end the privileged relationship of the state with the Church.

For the sake of the Church, we must end political interference in it's freedoms.

For the sake of sanity we must call for a secular Government at all levels, free from religious discrimination.

We should not have Lords Spiritual sitting in the House of Lords. It's just as bizarre as having the Lords Temporal.

Why on Earth do we have chaplains for our MPs and councils? The Lord Mayor of Leicester made a stand against this... by installing a humanist chaplain (which is nice, but still not quite right) and banning council prayers. The idea of Christian prayer at a council meeting that might involve councillors of other/no faiths is quite disgustingly privileged.

In a stunning example of political meddling with Church affairs, the Speaker of the House of Commons went against Church advice and appointed a different candidate to the post of Chaplain the Commons. 1) The Speaker shouldn't be choosing chaplains for MPs. If they want a chaplain they can go see them on their own time. 2) The Speaker shouldn't be getting involved in Church affairs.

I'm a royalist, but I think it's time for our Head of State to cease their function as head of the Church. We must remove our links and break politics and the Church apart for the good of the country and the Church.

If you feel benevolent and particularly generous, this writer always appreciates things bought for him from his wishlist

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