So now we have King Charles III. The new king declined to end a long-standing relationship with his divorced (still married?) amour - our new Queen consort, when he married. Having treated his solemn marriage vows as optional, we are now going to witness him make further solemn vows at his coronation. Presumably, he may also regard these as optional which will make his coronation a farce of the highest order. Unless he has repented of this perjury or does so in the future, I confidently expect this coming hypocrisy to result in heaven throwing his vows back at him. The British press recently reported that donations of hundreds of thousands of pounds (in cash) given by Arab billionaires for access and honorary titles were accepted on his behalf for one of his 'charities' (the restoration of a Scottish house that he occasionally uses). The British monarchs have as one of their titles 'Defender of the Faith' (still used) which was given to Henry VIII by the Pope for his defence of the Church's dogmas, before his decision to divorce his wife and 'marry' another in defiance of the same Pope and then take control of the Church in England. Charles (a great fan of the 'religion of peace') was asked about his attitude to this title some years ago and said that he would prefer to be regarded as the defender of FAITHS rather than just one of them!
Looking at this from across “The Pond” there is no doubt that Charles has a lot of baggage. But even more, I wonder with the huge demographic and societal changes in UK in the past 70 years is the monarchy viable? Leaving aside his personal past and even his abilities, I wonder what is the role of a British monarch in 2022? I don’t know if their society is as fractured as it is in US, but as said above, it is hugely different from what QE II inherited.
Out of curiosity how well has the Hashemite Monarchy treated its Christian subjects? I have heard monarchists say positive things about the Hashemites, it would be the hight of irony if an actual Muslim monarchy treated its Christian subjects better than this supposedly Christian monarchy.
perhaps the lack of the queen's strong and charismatic figure will make all the difference when another major scandal erupts in the royal family; frankly, I don't rule out that this is related to the time of the warning when Europe will be full of civil unrest.
Perhaps for the first time in its long history, Britain acquired a new prime minister and monarch in the same week which seems to be quite strange but happening.
If I was to ask someone what it means to be British these days I would imagine it would be very, very difficult for anyone to describe. Sadly the same thing increasingly goes for being Irish. Say what you like about say the Russians and they know exactly what they mean by Russian. If people are confused by what it even means to be a man or woman how could they know what it means to be a Patriot and to love their own Country?
King Charles, by his own words shows himself as a full on globalist, great reset, global warming, communist leaning goon. Wonder if Canada will get his picture on our money before cash disappears? lolz
His Father Prince Phillip was exactly the same or worse. Prince Phillip in a Globalist Conference in Texas (of all places) years ago that the best thing that could happen for the sake of the planet would be if most of the population would be wiped out by a virus.
I've long felt that the death of the Queen would mark a transition into some new kind of era. Nothing really to base that on, just a feeling. It feels ominous to me.
The present conflict seems to arise directly from Russian confusion about what it means to be Russian. They claim that the Ukrainians are Russian, when the Ukrainians appear to be absolutely convinced that they are NOT. Russia also claims that Belarussians are Russian. Some Belarussians also choose to disagree. The Crimean Tatars don't consider themselves Russian but were forcibly Russified. There are Finns living in the former Finnish province of Karelia that don't consider themselves Russian etc. etc. The greatest demonstration of 'patriotism' in recent decades was given in NAZI Germany where the population massively and voluntarily supported Hitler and his gang based on their ultra-patriotic posturing. Samuel Johnson said that 'Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel'. It can be, and is, used to gain support for would be dictators and then to consolidate them in power once achieved.
I think they are looking back to an old Imperial Past. In a way it is a form of Idolatory. setting up a State as a kind of God. I don't think orthodoxy is much help in overcoming this crazy notion. State Churches are always a bad idea.
So true. I have read Anglican blogs in which the fact that the Spanish Armada was defeated and the subsequent creation and expansion of a massive and very powerful British empire is given as proof positive of God's special relationship with England and His approval of the creation of the Church of England. While the loss of wealth and influence suffered by Spain and Portugal is pointed to in order to 'demonstrate' God's distaste for the Catholic Church. The majority of the British people historically regarded the rest of the world as barely civilised compared to themselves and regarded Ireland as a particular problem because of its proximity to the 'Promised Land' and its obstinacy in resisting the certainty of English superiority economically, militarily, culturally and especially in matters of religion. So, they decided to dilute this resistance by encouraging English and (especially) Scots Protestants to move to Ireland. These immigrants, naturally, preferred to go to that part of Ireland which was wealthiest because of its rich agricultural land and natural harbours, Ulster with its consequent and long-lasting problems. Then there came the famines, an added confirmation that God disapproved the religion of the poor in Ireland and an opportunity to decimate the Catholic population by refusing to feed them unless they attended Church of Ireland services. Russia has, over the decades, done pretty much the same thing generally and especially with Ukraine. Russia was the first state to embrace Socialism and was therefore obviously superior to any other nation and this sentiment was encouraged in Soviet times and took root and continues today. In Soviet times, it sent hundreds of thousands of Russian workers, especially miners, to the rich region of the Donbass and other eastern regions of Ukraine. These immigrants brought their own certainty of national superiority together with their language, culture and Russian Orthodoxy (as opposed to Catholicism and Ukrainian Orthodoxy). They refer to the Ukrainians by derogatory names, just as the Protestants in Ulster did to the Catholics and regard themselves, in relation to the native populations, just as the Ulster Protestants did.
Your description of the Irish situation is bang on the money and this lends considerable credence to your view of the relationship between Russia and the Ukraine. Chesterton was right when he said religion was the only engine of history.
I saw this Pew study the other day and in light of these last few posts, wonder if this is why we are seeing younger people eventually bail out on formal religion? It’s both a challenge and an opportunity imo. I can certainly understand why people are disappointed in the “institutional” religions. Maybe it will be a catalyst for them to actually turn to God and get to know him. I think the danger in religion institutions besides the faults of the people inside them, is it can create a type of religiosity- sort of check the box. We don’t have a relationship with God. So I pray maybe this will happen. Of course, my bias and believe is the Catholic Church as an “institution” must and will go on. I believe it’s where we are saved because of the sacraments especially the REAL prescience of Jesus in the Eucharist. Peace. https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2022/09/13/modeling-the-future-of-religion-in-america/
Not my king. Just a rich guy with a man made title. Few things get me angry these days, but one that does is when I think of all the atrocities that the house of Tudor and house of Winsor did to the Irish for well over 800 years.
