Letter - secular head of state | National Secular Society

Secular head of state

Tell your MP why you support our campaign for secular head of state

Writing to your MP can help to get the campaign for a secular head of state on the political agenda. We campaign in parliament as an organisation, and your support will bolster our case.

Hints and tips

- Personalising your letter will make it more likely to have an impact.

- Keep your thoughts fairly brief. MPs are busy and get a lot of correspondence.

- Use clear and simple language.

Name*:

Email*:

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Address:

Message*:

Dear {{name}},

I am writing to ask you to support efforts to introduce a secular head of state in the UK.

By law, our head of state also assumes the title of Defender of the Faith and the Supreme Governor of the Church of England. An 18th century law requires the monarch to be Protestant and explicitly states they cannot be Catholic.

This is discriminatory and entirely untenable in our increasingly religiously diverse and nonreligious society. The 2021 census revealed that Christians are a minority in England and Wales. At the same time, Anglican congregation numbers continue to plummet, with less than 1% of the population regularly attending Sunday worship.

Our country would be best represented by a secular head of state who does not uphold the privileges of any one religious group. They would, of course, be entitled to their own personal religious views.

Linking the head of state to religion isn’t popular. Polling shows only a third of Brits support religious ties between the monarch and the Church of England.

Furthermore, our current constitutional settlement requires the head of state to swear to uphold the doctrine of the Church of England as part of their coronation oath. This doctrine states that gay sex is a sin and same-sex marriage is impermissible. The UK is a tolerant country. Our head of state should reflect that tolerance, rather than enable the homophobic dogma of the Church.

If British monarchs are to continue acting as head of state, they should relinquish the role of head of the Church of England in order to end the unfair privilege afforded to the Church, and show equal regard for citizens of all faiths and none.

Yours sincerely,

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Letter - secular head of state

Secular head of state

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