Gordon Brown's statement that the Church of England will be allowed to pick their own Bishops and Archbishops has got to be a good thing.The power of patronage that a Prime Minister holds over the Church of England is bizarre and quite at odds with modern society. By this I don't mean that the Church has no place in society, far from it. But why should a Prime Minister, of any given religion or none have the power to appoint the most important people in the church of England ? I am pleased Gordon Brown thinks the current state of affairs is daft too.
Gordon Brown is also opening the door to secularism too in what he is doing. Many people, myself included, think that having a state religion no longer makes sense. Surely out society should reflect all religions and those who hold no religion. What gives the Church of England pre-eminence ?
The Queen is the Head of State and she is head of the Church of England. These two roles can be kept, but must they overlap ? I am a member of the Liberal Democrats and a Norwich City season ticket holder. It does not mean that I have to wear a Lib Dem rosette to every match I go to, even if the colours do match.
It is time, I think, for a serious debate on the issue of secularism and Gordon Brown may be the catalyst for it.
3 comments:
If I were Prime Minister, then I would want to retain the right to appoint Church of England Bishops. That way, I could select the joke candidate every time.
Laurence, PMs have been selecting the joke candidate for years _ can't you tell? CofE bishops are 'pygmies' compared with their RC catholic counterparts in the UK.
I do agree that the PM should have no role in choosing bishops however _ and hope he removes them from the House of Lords at the same time. We definitely do NOT want the 'playing field levelled' by appointing mullahs etc. to the HoL....
I wonder mr Allan would like to see whether Cormac o' murphy or Rowan william has the higher iq -and those are two bishops of similar theologicall views and authority.
I disagree with this ( the internal cof e mchais is awwefull-the PM's when they rarely use their own judgmetn tend to be better). It's not secualim bu tthe imposition of GB's own religous views-his a presbyterian and they belive the state should have no role in selecing religou minsters. This does not make them secularists!
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