Rumour has it that, in giving Royal Assent to the same-sex marriage legislation, the Queen has breached her Coronation Oath. But the reality is that she would have done so if she had not assented.
The text of the Oath reads:
"Will you to the utmost of your power maintain the Laws of God and the
true profession of the Gospel? Will you to the utmost of your power
maintain in the United Kingdom the Protestant Reformed Religion
established by law? Will you maintain and preserve inviolably the
settlement of the Church of England, and the doctrine, worship,
discipline, and government thereof, as by law established in England?
And will you preserve unto the Bishops and Clergy of England, and to the
Churches there committed to their charge, all such rights and
privileges, as by law do or shall appertain to them or any of them?"
"All this I promise to do," replied the Queen.
Thus, within the meaning of the Oath, is the same things said in four different ways.
"The Laws of God and the true profession of the Gospel" are defined as "in the United Kingdom the Protestant
Reformed Religion established by law," which is defined as "the settlement of the Church of England, and the doctrine,
worship, discipline, and government thereof, as by law established in
England," which are defined as "all such rights and
privileges, as by law do or shall appertain to [the Bishops and Clergy of England,
and to the Churches there committed to their charge] or any of them."
Those rights and privileges are of course defined by Parliament. Within the understanding of the Coronation Oath, whatever Parliament defines as the rights and privileges, mostly in relation to incomes and property, of the Church of England's clergy are the only meaning of the settlement of the Church of England, thus the only meaning of the Protestant Reformed Religion established by law, and thus the only meaning of the Laws of God and the true profession of the Gospel.
The Queen is therefore bound by the Coronation Oath precisely and solely to sign whatever Parliament puts in front of her. That, and that alone, is her sworn duty as monarch.
It should be added that, just as did and will apply in relation to civil partnerships, anyone contracting a same-sex civil marriage with a member of the Church of England's clergy thereby acquires his or her rights and privileges in relation to pensions, housing, and so forth.
Nor should one assume that such will be few in number. As, to cite another example topical today, those who do not know about the homosexuality of a third or so of Conservative Members of Parliament at any given point since time immemorial are too ignorant to pass comment, so too are those who do not know about that of somewhere between a quarter and a third of the Church of England's clergy. Again, at any given point since time immemorial.
Nobody thought it was just Peter Mandelson and Chris Bryant.
ReplyDeleteAlthough at least Tories generally still keep it private-the other parties celebrate it.
As for the Church of England; let's not even start the homosexuality of Catholic clergy.
Although they tend to like males of the "young" variety, as we know.
You'd be amazed.
ReplyDeleteThe number of people who believe that it is a peculiarly left-wing phenomenon (in fact, it is relatively uncommon on the Left), and the number of people, especially on the noisy Evangelical wing of the C of E, who think that it barely exists among clergy.
On your last remark, you must be thinking of Sir Peter Morrison, PPS to Margaret Thatcher, and organiser of her 1990 Leadership Campaign.
Toby Young says all gay Tory MPs should now come out of the closet with as much fanfare as possible: http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tobyyoung/100265502/every-gay-conservative-mp-should-come-out-of-the-closet/
ReplyDeleteYou are right, it is very much a right-wing phenomenon, even the Labour ones are mostly on the right of the party and it gets less and less common the further left you go within and beyond Labour. But the Tories, as you say, one in three.
Yes, dears.
ReplyDeleteHomosexuality is a right-wing phenomenon.
Why did they let you both out of day care?
Yes, it is something - the male variety, and a fairly dated version of that even among the very young - that becomes more and more predominant the further right you go, until even the few people who aren't nevertheless act as if they were.
ReplyDeleteThe way that people who might not approve lap up their stage act as upholders of traditional morality and what have you, gives them no end of amusement. That is what they think of you.