Catholics not allowed, BUT Hindus are OK?

W

Walt

Back To Reality
The current frontrunner for the Prime Minister of the UK is Rishi Sunak, who is of Indian descent through Africa. His ancestors came from India to live in Britain's African colonies, where both his parents were born. They fled Africa when the British lost their colonies, and moved to England. Sunak is a practicing Hindu.

I just want to applaud the British Conservative Party for reaching out to immigrants. The American Republican Party could learn something from them. The Conservatives lost a lot of racist votes because of this, but have gained a lot of conservative immigrant votes also. They were willing to take a chance and do it. They have noticeably more non-whites in leadership than Labour has, which is amazing.

BUT...

It is still illegal for a Prime Minister to be a Catholic. Blair became a Catholic right after leaving office. Had he become a Catholic as Prime Minister, it would have been illegal. He accepted Holy Communion at a Catholic Mass before being in office, and was investigated for that transgression. Johnson claimed to have renounced his Catholic faith, and to be an Anglican now. There are questions about whether he is a secret Catholic. All his known children are christened Catholics.

Originally a Prime Minister had to be a member of the Church of England in good standing. It was considered important, because he was the "defender of the faith." Over time it was loosened to allow other Protestants to become Prime Minister. Then even non-Christians could become Prime Minister.

It is long past time to let the Prime Minister be a Catholic.
 
Quite frankly, why should we in America care?

Seriously, I thought theocratic rule died in England a long time ago. Bigotry sadly, never dies.

So what would be the difference if a PM was Catholic?

Also, IMHO I have no more respect for non-white folk who "fled" when the Brits lost their colonial status than the Brits who prospered under that system. Just saying.
 
The US government is rotten with religion - despite it being supposedly separate from state- and largely controlled by AIPAC- agents of a foreign religious power .

In a sane world only agnostics should be allowed to sit in high office. Agnostics should rule over the squabbles of the religious nut-jobs.
 
The religious "test" in England is an historical relic dating from the late 17th century when King James II, a Catholic convert, was suspected of wanting to impose a European-style absolute monarchy. He was overthrown in the "Glorious Revolution" of 1688 - the last coup d'état in England. There followed half a century of attempts by Jacobite Tories to restore the Stuart dynasty. Yes, it's time for this relic to be formally buried.

In the United States it's not illegal for a declared non-Christian to be President. When was the last time this happened?
 
Tranquillus in Exile said:
In the United States it's not illegal for a declared non-Christian to be President. When was the last time this happened?
Click to expand...

Lieberman was the first non-Christian on a major party ticket in 2000. He is Jewish, and was Gore's VP candidate. While technically not President, VP has the exact same requirements as President, and its main job is to step in if a replacement President is needed.

Lieberman got more of the popular vote, but lost out to Cheney based on the Electoral College. That suggests to me that it is possible for a non-Christian to win. I might be wrong. Maybe if he had been the lead on the ticket, they would have lost enough votes to make it impossible.

I did not think we would have a Black President for a while longer, but Obama did it. Clinton, a woman, was able to get the most popular votes. It is hard to say whether a non-christian is possible.
 
Walt said:
The current frontrunner for the Prime Minister of the UK is Rishi Sunak, who is of Indian descent through Africa. His ancestors came from India to live in Britain's African colonies, where both his parents were born. They fled Africa when the British lost their colonies, and moved to England. Sunak is a practicing Hindu.

I just want to applaud the British Conservative Party for reaching out to immigrants. The American Republican Party could learn something from them. The Conservatives lost a lot of racist votes because of this, but have gained a lot of conservative immigrant votes also. They were willing to take a chance and do it. They have noticeably more non-whites in leadership than Labour has, which is amazing.

BUT...

It is still illegal for a Prime Minister to be a Catholic. Blair became a Catholic right after leaving office. Had he become a Catholic as Prime Minister, it would have been illegal. He accepted Holy Communion at a Catholic Mass before being in office, and was investigated for that transgression. Johnson claimed to have renounced his Catholic faith, and to be an Anglican now. There are questions about whether he is a secret Catholic. All his known children are christened Catholics.

Originally a Prime Minister had to be a member of the Church of England in good standing. It was considered important, because he was the "defender of the faith." Over time it was loosened to allow other Protestants to become Prime Minister. Then even non-Christians could become Prime Minister.

It is long past time to let the Prime Minister be a Catholic.
Click to expand...

Are you sure about this?

I know the monarch of the UK must be a member of the Church of England...and cannot be a Catholic.

But the Prime Minister???

I think this is not correct. Can you furnish a link?
 
Frank Apisa said:
Are you sure about this?

I know the monarch of the UK must be a member of the Church of England...and cannot be a Catholic.

But the Prime Minister???

I think this is not correct. Can you furnish a link?
Click to expand...

I think the UK Government is trying their best not to enforce the law, and the law is a bit vague, but the law is there... sort of.

Roman Catholic Relief Act of 1829 says that no person professing the Roman Catholic religion is allowed to advise the monarch on the appointment of Church of England bishops, and the original job of the Prime Minister is to advice the monarch on Church of England bishops.

There is talk of other members of cabinet advising the monarch on bishops, but that would require that member of cabinet to be Prime Minister for the period of the advicement.

There might be a legal loophole, but no Prime Minister has wanted to test it. Blair literally converted within a week of leaving office. Johnson has denied he is Catholic, even though he was born Catholic, his wife is Catholic, and all his children are Catholic.

https://www.yahoo.com/video/great-b...h cannot,the prime minister's job description.
https://www.legalcheek.com/2021/06/...ould-topple-our-newly-married-prime-minister/
 
Random side note: Prince Phillip was born Greek Orthodox, but had to convert in order to marry Queen Elizabeth II.
 
With the forthcoming Latino majority across the United States expect a long string of Catholic presidents.

They might even save America;

Israel-s-end2.jpg
 
Frank Apisa said:
Are you sure about this?

I know the monarch of the UK must be a member of the Church of England...and cannot be a Catholic.

But the Prime Minister???

I think this is not correct. Can you furnish a link?
Click to expand...

No he's not, Salty is a total imbecile. He rarely fact checks anything and certainly doesn't provide any links. Disraeli was born a Jew, back in the 19th century, when anti-Semitism was rife ffs.

https://globalpolitics.quora.com/Ar...0&share=94540bb4&srid=aclK&target_type=answer
 
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Tranquillus in Exile said:
It has been said that the first Jewish president of the US will be Episcopalian (similar to Disraeli, who was baptized into the Church of England at the age of 12, and later was Prime Minister twice).
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I was careful to point out that he was born a Jew, anyway he looked Jewish wasn't much he could do about that.

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Tranquillus in Exile said:
It has been said that the first Jewish president of the US will be Episcopalian (similar to Disraeli, who was baptized into the Church of England at the age of 12, and later was Prime Minister twice).
Click to expand...

Goldwater, the Republican nominee in 1964, sort of matches that. His father, and his last name were Jewish. His mother was an Episcopalian. He was raised Episcopalian. He was never very religious.

So I guess a half Jew did come close to office.
 
Primavera said:
I was careful to point out that he was born a Jew, anyway he looked Jewish wasn't much he could do about that.
Click to expand...

Back then, even having distant Jewish ancestry would make you Jewish in many people's eyes. Much later, during WWII, British officer Edward Spears was described as "a very able and intriguing Jew who insinuates himself everywhere", even though he only had a great grandfather who was Jewish.

Sir_Edward_Spears.jpg
 
I would think it a grand idea for all religious people of any faith to be made ineligible for public office.

Singling out one stupid superstition over another, however, is an added level of insanity.
 
Walt said:
The current frontrunner for the Prime Minister of the UK is Rishi Sunak, who is of Indian descent through Africa. His ancestors came from India to live in Britain's African colonies, where both his parents were born. They fled Africa when the British lost their colonies, and moved to England. Sunak is a practicing Hindu.

I just want to applaud the British Conservative Party for reaching out to immigrants. The American Republican Party could learn something from them. The Conservatives lost a lot of racist votes because of this, but have gained a lot of conservative immigrant votes also. They were willing to take a chance and do it. They have noticeably more non-whites in leadership than Labour has, which is amazing.

BUT...

It is still illegal for a Prime Minister to be a Catholic. Blair became a Catholic right after leaving office. Had he become a Catholic as Prime Minister, it would have been illegal. He accepted Holy Communion at a Catholic Mass before being in office, and was investigated for that transgression. Johnson claimed to have renounced his Catholic faith, and to be an Anglican now. There are questions about whether he is a secret Catholic. All his known children are christened Catholics.

Originally a Prime Minister had to be a member of the Church of England in good standing. It was considered important, because he was the "defender of the faith." Over time it was loosened to allow other Protestants to become Prime Minister. Then even non-Christians could become Prime Minister.

It is long past time to let the Prime Minister be a Catholic.
Click to expand...

As I have stated before, Wally, you outthink your coverage.
 
Apropos to this, a memory:

Years ago an acquaintance said that there will never be a Jewish President of the USA, because Jews first allegiance is to the State of Israel.

I always wondered about that, given the USA's unwavering financial/material support of Israel, and that we as a nation use the BIBLE to swear oaths in public office, or that if a President doesn't end a SOTU speech with "God bless America", there is consternation among the masses.

Go figure.
 
Tranquillus in Exile said:
.
In the United States it's not illegal for a declared non-Christian to be President. When was the last time this happened?
Click to expand...
As recently as 18 months ago.

2017 to 2021, Donald Trumpf was America's first atheist president, and he is widely known to privately mock the Christian rubes who support him.
 
Tranquillus in Exile said:
The religious "test" in England is an historical relic dating from the late 17th century when King James II, a Catholic convert, was suspected of wanting to impose a European-style absolute monarchy. He was overthrown in the "Glorious Revolution" of 1688 - the last coup d'état in England. There followed half a century of attempts by Jacobite Tories to restore the Stuart dynasty. Yes, it's time for this relic to be formally buried.

In the United States it's not illegal for a declared non-Christian to be President. When was the last time this happened?
Click to expand...

The Constitution prohibits a religious test to hold any office.
 
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