Rabble-Rousing Bishops in the House of Lords

 

                                      Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, in the House of Lords

When the Conservatives in Great Britain passed legislation to send asylum seekers to Rwanda as a way of off-loading the vexing challenge facing many countries in Europe it seemed like a bad joke by a bad government. They were, in fact, deadly serious, and there were immediately legal challenges to the proposal.  

A few days ago the Supreme Court ruled that Rwanda could not be considered a safe option for the people who often cross the English Channel at great peril in the desperate hope of starting a new life and so the legislation has been deemed unlawful. No one really knows what will come next but it puts the xenophobic and cruel plan on hold, at least for now.  

We should all be aware that the Church of England, aka the Anglicans, have challenged the legislation from the outset and in the curious legislative system of Great Britain the Archbishop of Canterbury, currently Justin Welby, and the bishops have seats in the House of Lords and can speak to issues: 

[Welby) sits as one of the 26 bishops of the Church of England, who are known as the Lords Spiritual The bishops are all independent members, and each speaks and votes on matters of particular interest or concern to them.

Archbishop Justin has led debates in the House of Lords on shared national values, education, and the UK’s role in conflict prevention. He also often speaks on issues related to religious freedom, peacebuilding and refugees, as well as in response to events of national importance, such as the EU referendum, war or terrorism.

I truly don't know what to make of the oddity of this system. So much for separation of church and state! Yet these CofE bishops have served as a prophetic thorn in the side and moral conscience for governments in which "hardness of heart" is "business as usual."

I find it amusing that conservatives of the government and journalist ilk regularly bluster that the bishops should stick to religion. Of course, for them this means that they should ignore the gospel imperative to care for those who are on the margins of society and hide away in irrelevancy. I'm glad that they are rabble-rousers and I have no doubt that they will continue to raise their plummy voices as a compassionate conscience for the nation and quote Jesus while they're at it.