Reader Writes July 2023
The coronation of King Charles was striking in so many ways. The idea of an established
church linking sovereign and government is more than familiar, but when it was spelled out
in the Coronation Service it made you sit up. Our sovereign is the Defender of the Faith, a
Protestant, on oath to defend our State and church institutions. The Order of Service was
admirable, but we should also respect those citizens who are Republicans, who very likely
admire and respect our King. Within the present political landscape, the word that struck
me most with its gold thread running throughout the Order of Service was justice.
The King swore ‘to cause law and justice, in mercy, to be executed’ in all his judgements.
And in the Investiture the King exchanges the Sword of State for the Jewelled Sword of
Offering. In a Game of Thrones moment the regal and evidently strong Penny Mordaunt,
Leader of the House, handed over the massive Jewelled Sword of Offering. The
Archbishop gave it to the King saying ‘Receive this kingly Sword: may it be to you and to
all who witness these things, a sign and symbol not of judgement but of justice; not of
might but of mercy.’ Judgement and justice, might and mercy; nothing could be more
fundamental, and indeed biblical.
As soon as you turn from the Monarch to his, and our, democratic government, you run
into what many would claim is an absence of justice and a shortage of mercy. Just days
before the Coronation two Just Stop Oil protesters were sentenced to between two and
three years’ imprisonment for climbing up onto the Dartford Bridge. Just Stop Oil doesn’t
always endear itself even to those who are profoundly worried about the coming climate
catastrophe. Slow marching on busy roads at rush hour is thoroughly inconvenient. Is it
justified? The Government that makes the law and sets the legal tone, plus the judge who
convicted a civil engineer and a teacher of a public order offence, have executed
judgement with arguably scant justice.
Climate change protest in most of its peaceful (but inconvenient) forms has furthermore
been handled with might and often contempt in place of mercy. Let’s take a dramatic
analogy. During an opera at Covent Garden a member of the audience catches the whiff of
smoke and slips out to investigate; he finds a fire! Rushing back to the auditorium he
disrupts a moving and wonderful aria with frantic shouts of “Fire! Fire!”. Most of the
audience hisses “keep quiet!” or “Shut up!”; they had after all paid a lot for their tickets.
Security moves in and bundles the delinquent out; the police are called and ….. meanwhile
the theatre starts to burn down and the emergency exits have been cut off etc ….!
We have failed with Justice, let alone got as far as Mercy. I am profoundly grateful to those
prepared to go to prison to make us see that our theatre is actually on fire and we need to
make sacrifices to get the fire under control. God, speaking through the prophet Micah tells
us that what he requires of kings and their regents (and of presidents and their ministers)
is to ‘Do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.’(Micah 6:8)
Robert MacCurrach