You all are welcomed to disagree with me and I welcomed your well-balanced rebuttals. Although I do like the Queen as a person, I find it incredibly difficult to reconcile status, wealth and power with the true tenets of Christian teaching. I am a Roman Catholic, David, and I do take the Pope's statements over mine too, but again, status, wealth and power are not something his position is affords a great deal of humility to. I am of Irish heritage too, William, and although I don't harken back to the times of 'the troubles' nostalgically, they are a reality. While I agree and pray for progress, let's also not just 'sweep them under the carpet' in an attempt to make the Queen the last standing symbol of international relations Christianity. It is widely believed it was The Queen's decision to keep British forces in Iraq. She is a war time Monarch and she personally hasn't always demonstrated honourable Christianity. I do not believe that I do her a disservice when I say this, Trevor, because I believe it is a fair, factual and balanced assessment; She is not an outstanding advert for Christianity, and placed into context historically, she's a rather embarrassing one. I am not an anti-Monarchist, nor do I have political leanings against the throne. I am simply telling it how I believe it is. When I use terms like "village idiot", James, I do not mean to insult anyone (I am including myself in it). I speak figuratively in terms of being dragged into Wars on Terror, Falklands etc which just seem to be lucrative killing sprees. You can claim these decisions went over the Queen's head, but I doubt anyone will believe you.
I think you speak from a place of ignorance Ernie.. sorry to sound so harsh but a lot of what you say is just negative self-loathing. Her Majesty is clearly a Christian and I do thank God for her.. as for being the 'village idiot' of Europe, that's simply nonsense.
Thanks Dr Craig, as a Briton it's very encouraging to hear your (and Pope Benedict's) words. Have to say, it's such a shame how we in the UK so quickly forget some of the great values and freedoms we once thought integral to our view of ourselves and fought to hard to keep. Still, we keep on sharing our faith in love and hope for something better.
Ernie,
I too am a Brit and do not recognise what you say. I think your last paragraph is cynicle at best. The Queen of all royals seems to display Christian character and, if her speeches are anything to go by then I have little reason to doubt the genuiness of her faith. You do her a disservice.
Ernie,I am British of Irish catholic heritage, a protestant Christian, theologically educated, yet take the polar opposite view to you. To say Ireland is no friend of the Queen is actually now becoming quickly outdated. I talk to my mother regularly who lives there, they watch British T.V. and showed up when the Queen went to visit recently. Attitudes are changing, though there is a hardcore of people who will not like the monarchy until they die, and hopefully bring their largely outdated views with them to the grave.I do not agree with your picture of us as the village idiot of Europe, actually I think the opposite is true. Looking at the governmental systems of other countries, particularly those who were 'clever' enough to opt in to the Euro, I have no feelings of envy and certainly don't feel like the 'village idiot'. I value a monarch who professes a faith and has always done so in comparison to the politicians we democratically elect who say one thing in opposition and another in government. They are the spineless, wishy-washy yes men. Since she meets common people more frequently than say David Cameron, it is arguable that she is more in touch than he. The bad most definitely does not outweigh the good.
With all due respect, Ernie, I think I'll take the pope's statement over yours.
There's many examples of British altruism largely because we invented civility itself. We didn't invent Christianity and it's arguably we have never embraced the true Anglophilic appropriation of Christianity because that would be Roman and found in Ireland, which as we know, is no friend of the Queen's. It's difficult to find anything ethical about a monarch, let alone moralistic. It's perhaps more difficult to infer genetic fallacies about the good deeds of the English people and attribute them to their, now symbolic, leader. Perhaps obstusely cherry-picking the numerous beheadings and medieval totalitarianism. Not to mention slavery, the Indian Raj and African colonies of which were put in place by "cool brittania" long before Wilberforce sought to remove them. The bad outweighs the good here. This antiquated symbol of tradition and identity remains, merely for tourism, which is why our monarch knights and makes 'honourably british' those who merely bring money into to the now politically defunct "United Kingdom/Great Britain" which is basically just the village idiot of Europe these days and America's military lap dog. The only time the British still sing "God save the Queen" is at football games before their true religion commences, and if that wasn't disconcerting enough, Dr Craig, the true practising conscious Christians only sing "God save the Queen" out of pity, almost. Having read Matthew 19:24.
There is no God in Buckingham Palace. Just money, aristocracy, redundancy and tourism interest (more money). For this reason, and the fact that this particular Queen carries herself with a certain dignity and affability, the symbolism is still being treasured by a indoctrinated secular society who worships wealth and will genuflect to anything with riches. I am a Christian, but let's not distort the facts.
Receive our free Newsletter
Get Dr. Craig's newsletter and keep up with RF news and events.
Children
New! Apologetics Resources for Your Children from Dr. Craig Find out more →
TV Show
Dr. Craig’s new TV series Reasonable Faith begins Monday, Oct 1st! Read more →
Cruise
Reasonable Faith Roots of Christian Civilization Cruise Find out more →
RF App
Get the free Reasonable Faith App for iPhone, iPad, & Android! Download →
Scholarly ArticlesArticles published in peer-reviewed journals
Popular ArticlesIntended for a general audience
DebatesSelect transcriptions of Dr. Craig's debates
Q & AWeekly question and answer
Video / AudioDebates, Talks, and Interviews
Reasonable Faith PodcastConversations with William Lane Craig
Defenders PodcastClass on Christian doctrine and apologetics
Current Events BlogAudio commentary on current events
