Seneca (4 – 65 BCE) “Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful.” ’nuff said!
I know we all love Queen Elizabeth and the wonderful quiet, dignified way she does her job. But we feel for her when some of her progeny and relations, have, in the past acted as adulterous, spoiled, brats, but ah bless, isn’t she doing a wonderful job?
Well actually, in one very important respect, no; I just have to make a contrarian point here about her “Defender of the Faith” role.
When, this morning, we read “Queen ‘should remain Defender of the Faith’ – a BBC poll suggests”, may I remind you why we have a Church of England at all and a monarch who has the title “Defender of the Faith”?
Henry VIII wanted a new bride and couldn’t divorce her because the Pope forbade it. Henry was a bit miffed at the leader of England’s, then main, religion, i.e. Roman Catholicism, and decided to remove Papal power from England there and then.
This is the short version: Henry invented The Church of England, put himself in charge, made the monarchy sole appointer of the Arch Bishops of Canterbury (just to avoid annoying arguments from god’s appointed etc.) and made Roman Catholicism illegal. Now then – that’s what I call an action plan!
Therefore the Queen, as “Defender the Faith” is supporting a fabricated religion based on the whims of a horny ancestor.
The real kicker is that the Faith she is ‘Defender of’ is actually Roman Catholicism!
The title was awarded to Henry VIII by Pope Leo 1oth in recognition of his support for Catholic ‘Indulgences’ which provided the rich a short cut to heaven. Henry kept the title but became a Protestant a few years later.
‘Almost 80% of people in England support a religious role for the Queen, a BBC poll suggests’.
Poppycock! A poll of 2,591 people! You might as well take a survey of a crowd in a football stadium and ask people to vote for their favourite pastime!
The BBC’s blatant support of faith is insulting to the intelligence to the point of being wilfully partisan and therefore, I say, in breach of its impartiality brief.
Acknowledgements:- If I knew who made up the Underground poster I would thank them!
