Religion should have no place at the King’s coronation - GP Taylor

Primarily, the coronation will be a religious event hosted by the moribund and out of touch Church of England, spiced up with representatives of other faiths, in a meaningless exercise of window dressing to show off our multicultural society.

The whole thing will be a medieval hangover that doesn’t have any place in modern society. It is a symbol of the perceived status of the Anglican church within our country as it clings on to its role as the established church.

I firmly believe we are at a point in history where society should be secularised and all religions pushed out of the education of children and public life. Due to their differences of belief and quest for superiority, religions bring nothing but division. Islam and Christianity both have questions to answer in the way they treat women, adulterers and LGB people.

Any faith that cannot support gay marriage or the equality of people regardless of their beliefs, sexuality or ethnicity, has no place in public life and should not be taking part in the investiture of a monarch.

Stephen Evans CEO of the National Secular Society recently said, “The coronation exists to assert the Church of England's supremacy over the constitution, the monarchy, the state and its citizens. It's the ultimate privilege from which all other religious privileges flow.”

I totally agree. It is morally wrong for King Charles to swear allegiance to any religion. It is impossible for him to be the defender of the faith or just ‘faith’ as he would prefer. KC3 should really have become the first secular head of state and all religious shenanigans stripped from the coronation.

No king or queen has a divine right. They are not given to the world by God to rule over us. Neither the church nor any other religion has any authority to jump on the coronation bandwagon in an attempt at national affirmation of their self-perceived value.

As a Christian and Church of England priest, I cannot wait for the day when all religions have no place in either politics or government. Religious leaders have no right to sit in the House of Lords or influence politicians. The best place for these people is in their places of worship and their echo chambers on social media.

Faith is about a relationship with God and not about power or influence.

We no longer live in a Christian country and it is only right to recognise that in every aspect of state. We are no longer culturally Christian as some would lead us to believe. Society has moved on. A secular country would be a safer country. Religions that advocate anything other than modern liberal values should not be tolerated.

Therefore, what will happen at the coronation is totally out of step with the modern world. We should be having less religion in public life and not more.

It is wrong that the King should be supreme governor of the Church of England and ideally there should be a vast chasm of separation between church and state. Any role the King has in any faith should be scrapped.

Henry the VIII has cursed us all. His desperation for divorce has echoed through history. The joining of state and church is an abomination. Religion should have no place in the workings of Parliament.

As He did with the money changers, Jesus would have thrown the King and Archbishop's out of the temple. A modern progressive society cannot be encumbered with historical religious shackles. The secularisation of public life would benefit both church and state. Each would be free from the tinkering of the other.

A disestablished church would then be able to go its own way and never face the censure of politicians. Likewise, Parliament could get on with running the country without having to pay lip-service to the church. King Charles could then believe whatever he wanted, without having to worry about what the nation thought. His religion would no longer matter.

Unlike his mother, Charles does not appear to have the same depth of faith. It seems strange therefore, to have a man as the head of the Church of England who may have more doubts than beliefs. He appears to believe more in the gospel of the World Economic Forum, than the teachings of the church. As we rapidly approach the middle of this century, it is only right that Britain becomes a secular nation. There are too many radical religious forces wanting to force their dogmas upon us all.

GP Taylor is a writer and broadcaster who lives in Yorkshire.