Opus 2025-145: Click Bait: Charles the Last

Great Britain does not seem to have great luck with kings named Charles.  Charles I had his head cut off. The current Charles might be heading toward the same feat.  I refer to the click bait headlines which try to tell us that Charles III might be converting to Islam.  I have no idea where they get this or if there is any substance to it.  I am not going to bother reading the articles because they would be full of nonsense and a pure waste of time.

One of the issues that I would address if I were concerned is that Charles is considered to be the head of the Church of England.  Now I admit that’s not exactly a high spiritual post considering the state of the Church of England, but there is still millions of Englishman who feel strongly about it.  Part of his coronation, I believe, involved a profession of faith, and a pledge to uphold the faith.  The faith being addressed was not his own.  It wasn’t even Baptist or Methodist.  It was the faith of the Church of England.  It is the source of the title “Defender of the Faith.”

Would he be allowed to stay on the throne if he abandoned the church of England and expressed his conversion to Islam?  Americans have a default of separating church and state.  In fact there is a place in the Constitution that prohibits religion being a qualification for office.  Not so in England.

And what about the country as a whole?  Historically the conversion of a king, or emperor would lead to the conversion of his kingdom or empire.  Much of that conversion was because the rank and file had little real allegiance to the official religion.  That would fit England very well today.  The Christian content of their character is almost nonexistent at this point.  At the same time they have a very sizable Muslim population, who are very rabid, or should we say devout, and would welcome the nation into the fold with great joy and celebration.

It would be a mistake for Charles to think of playing around with this.  Once he takes the step of praying to Allah through Mohammed, he would be expected to follow that path the rest of his life.  If he tried to switch back, then we might see a picture of Charles on a beach in northern Africa, wearing an orange jumpsuit with someone standing behind him with a scimitar.  Déjà vu.  That might make Charles the last.

homo unius libri