Pros and Cons - Debbie Newman, Ben Woolgar 2014

Disestablishment of the Church of England
Section I. United Kingdom issues

Currently in Britain, the Church of England is ’established’. This means that Anglican Christianity is the official religion of Great Britain. The monarch is head of the Church of England. In addition, senior bishops of the Church of England can sit in the House of Lords. There have been increasing calls for the disestablishment of the Church of England — the ending of its privileged status as the official religion of Britain — from many quarters, both within and outside the Church itself.

Pros

[1] The case against the establishment of the Church of England is simple — it is an embarrassing anachronism. It fails to reflect our largely secular multicultural society. In Britain today, believers are a minority, Christians an even smaller minority, and Church of England worshippers a tiny fraction of the population. To provide such a minority with a legally and constitutionally privileged position is bizarre. The secularisation of the past two centuries and the rise of an atheistic and scientific worldview make all forms of traditional religion irrelevant. Moral issues are discussed by philosophers, scientists and bio-ethicists — there is no need for the superstitious angle provided by religions.

[2] Establishment is not just philosophically objectionable, but embodies religious discrimination in practice. The monarch has to swear an oath of allegiance to uphold the Church of England. Bishops sit in the House of Lords — no other religious leaders do. More perniciously, the heir to the throne cannot marry a Catholic, and the prime minister cannot be a Catholic. These mediaeval hangovers contribute to a Catholic sense of victimisation, particularly in Northern Ireland. To end this religious discrimination, the Church of England should lose its secular privileges and be disestablished.

[3] Ironically, establishment has actually been dangerous for the Church of England. Parliament can block church reforms as church law needs to be voted through both Houses. The prime minister also has to approve church appointments and it is believed that Margaret Thatcher appointed some of her own choices as bishops. Parliament also finds it easier to meddle in church issues, as in the debate over the ordination of women.

Cons

[1] The Church of England has been central to British history for 400 years and still plays a vital role. Historically, Christianity has been fully engaged with secular laws, wars and social policies. The separation of church and state is a development of the past century or two. It is right that moral and spiritual leaders should be involved in political decision making. It cannot be denied that religion is still vitally important for a great many people. The Christianity represented by the Church of England is not an exclu- sivist religion — there are few of other faiths who view it with hostility. Indeed, Muslim and Jewish leaders oppose disestablishment.

[2] These are academic niceties of symbolic importance only. Attacking establishment can accomplish little in practice, and ignores the real problems of prejudice and religious mistrust. Disestablishment would send out a strong signal that there is no place for religion in modern society. Instead of taking away the secular and political role of the Church of England, all major religions should be given some degree of representation in parliament and by the royal family. Leaders of other religions should be given a place in the House of Lords. Charles, Prince ofWales, has already stated that he sees himself as a ’Defender of Faith’ in a multicultural Britain rather than ’Defender of the (Christian) Faith’. Religious discrimination can be ended by making the establishment multi-faith rather than no-faith.

[3] So-called secular societies have not proved a success. Stalinist Russia’s suppression of religion resulted in the revival of superstition on an unprecedented scale. The constitutional separation of church and state in the USA sits uneasily with vulgar and extreme expressions of fundamentalism.

Possible motions

This House calls for the disestablishment of the Church of England.

This House believes that religion and politics do not mix.

Related topics

Churches in politics Monarchy, abolition of

Religious teaching in schools