But don’t take away our appointed seats in the House of Lords.
In another demonstration that consistency is a hobgoblin of the small-minded and the self aware, the Archbishop of York is urging UK voters to turn out and vote, writing today that,
The role of church and religious leaders is one of warning their congregations not to sleep-walk down the street of despair, but to wake up and take responsibility to choose their political leaders. It is up to people to make up their own minds.
As Ekklesia notes, the ABY and other bishops have put themselves in a political pickle:
Bishops have been hoping to maintain 20 of their 26 places in a reformed House of Lords, should it be 80% elected and 20% appointed (ie a much bigger percentage of the appointed places than they currently have)
Ekklesia also observes,
Britain is the only Western democracy that has unelected clerics in its parliament. … The archbishops of Canterbury and York and the bishops of Durham, London and Manchester are, by tradition, always members of the House of Lords. The remaining 21 places on the bishops’ bench are not fixed but are occupied by those English diocesan bishops that have served the longest.
At least C of E bishops are elected by the laity and clergy. Oh, no, wait. That’s another church I’m thinking of.