The arrival of a new born child, third in line of
succession to the throne, is a justly celebrated event.
But this innocent and
privileged baby will be shaped by the questionable features of current laws
which not only exclude Roman Catholics and those not in communion with the
Church of England from succession to the throne but which also require a new
monarch, according to the Act of Union of 1707, to profess the 'True Protestant
religion' and 'to preserve and maintain the Presbyterian form of Church
government in Scotland'.
In addition, if he comes to throne,
he will, like his grandmother Queen Elizabeth, unless current laws are changed,
have to declare his Protestant faith and repudiate the doctrines and authority
of the Roman Catholic Church before the UK Parliament or at the coronation,
according to the Accession Declaration Act of 1910, and swear, at the
coronation, according to the Coronation Oath Act of 1688, to be Christian and
uphold the privileges of the Church of England.
Those who proclaim that they are
against religious sectarianism need to seek to change the several laws that sustain
these unacceptable discriminatory arrangements for the monarchy and not just
focus on the streets and football terraces.
Letter in the Edinburgh Evening News 24 July 2013 on behalf of Edinburgh
Secular Society
