Crown, City and Church: All in it together

 

The City finances the Crown. The Crown protects the City and serves its interests. This is the racket at the heart of the British Establishment. Add the third pillar of the Church of England and we have the holy trinity of Crown, City and Church. The origin of these mutually beneficial arrangements goes back to the Bankers Glorious Revolution of 1688 and the subsequent constitutional settlement. 

 

The Church blesses and sanctifies the marriage of political power with high finance. Its role is to speak out for all the City’s victims and deflect their anger into safe channels. Religious talk is cheap and changes nothing. Priests keep up the pretence that somebody in power understands and is listening. Behind the scenes there is a different picture. The City pays well for this vital service. 

 

The money lenders have a long established and significant financial interest in St Paul’s and the Churches in the City. AN Wilson says that the Dean of St Pauls and the Bishop of London enjoy ‘all the flummery of City dinners. City companies, presided over by fur-clad aldermen and livery men in gold chains, most of them freemasons’. To complete the circle the Bishop is a pillar of the establishment and friend of Prince Charles. They are all in it together!

 

The Occupy London movement was not strong enough to reach its intended target - the Stock Exchange. The Crown barred the way. So the protest was diverted to St Paul’s Cathedral. By accident rather than design Occupy London began to expose the contradictions at the heart of the Church. Political in-fighting ended with both the Cannon and Dean resigning their posts for opposite reasons. It is not difficult to understand why. 

 

The City has a voracious appetite for profit, bloated pay, gold plated pensions and bumper bonuses. It has plenty spare to pay for churches and charities. If this is good for Bishops, it doesn’t sit well with Jesus, a carpenter born homeless in a stable, who preached about the struggle between God and Mammon and threw over the money changers tables. St Paul’s shut its doors. But the Cannon of St Pauls, Dr Giles Fraser supported the protests. “I could imagine Jesus being born in the camp” he said. 
  
The City, through its Corporation of London, was ready to act. City lawyers sought the backing of the Her Majesty’s judges. The Crown was preparing to break up the occupation by force if necessary. The Dean and Bishop backed this plan. In the name of Jesus the protesters must ‘Go’. There would be a violent end to peaceful protests with the press blaming it on the protesters. This did not sit well with many ordinary Christians. The credibility of the Church was at stake. At the eleventh hour Church and City backed down. It was a temporary victory to the protesters.  

 

 

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