MP Letter: Disestablishment

Disestablish the Church of England

The existence of an established church, the Church of England, privileges one part of the population, one institution and one set of beliefs. A national religion which retains archaic and unjust privileges is iniquitous to the rest of the population – the majority of which do not attend services of the Church of England.

Despite this, the Church of England's significant privileges have remained largely unchanged. To give a single, declining religious institution such influence in affairs of the state is clearly undemocratic, unfair and incompatible with our British values of democracy, equality and freedom of religion or belief.

Please write to your MP and urge them to support disestablishment of the Church of England to make the UK are more equitable and democratic country for people of all religions and beliefs.

You can use the below template to share the report and its findings and recommendations with your MP; just enter your postcode to get started. Please consider taking the time to personalise it. Let your MP know:

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Dear {{name}},

When asked in 2018 whether disestablishment of the Church of England would be a disaster, the archbishop of Canterbury replied ‘No’. It should, he said, be ‘a decision for parliament and people’. It is in that spirit that I am writing to you today.

The established status of the church in the 21st century can only be described as an anachronism. This is an organisation which, at its latest international conference, re-affirmed gay sex and marriage as sin. Our monarch, as head of the church, is oath-bound to uphold this dehumanising doctrine. State-sanctioned homophobia can have no place in the tolerant, pluralist society that Britain is today.

Be under no doubt of the power this institution wields in our society. Twenty-six bishops, by virtue of their office, sit in the House of Lords. They vote on legislation that affects every one of us and have the ear of decision-makers in the highest echelons of Westminster. These are the 26 bishops who voted against the legalisation of gay marriage. These are the 26 bishops who continue to oppose compassionate and rigorously safeguarded reform to assisted dying.

Indeed, far from acting as the moral compass of this country, the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse found the church prioritised its own reputation over the “physical, emotional and spiritual well-being” of children sexually abused at the hands of its members.

The church is, of course, welcome to implement its political agenda through the democratic channels that everyone else in this country is subject to. But the UK is both more irreligious and religiously diverse than ever before. Only 2% of Britons regularly attend Anglican services.

In a country that claims to uphold the equal treatment of all its citizens, the existence of an established church is a deep anomaly. It is high time its established status was consigned to the annals of history.

Yours sincerely,

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MP Letter: Disestablishment

Disestablish the Church of England

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