Bishops in the House of Lords have been urged to become involved with the reform of the upper chamber. Reports this week said that the Secretary of State for Justice, Jack Straw, would propose replacing the Lords with a wholly elected 300-seat senate.
The think tank Ekklesia and the democracy campaign Power2010 said last week that reform was inevitable. In an email campaign that targeted the 26 bishops who sit in the Lords, the two groups had forwarded 59,681 messages by Wednesday calling on them for “clear and principled leaderÂship to take this forward” .
The emails asked the bishops to supÂport “core principles” that both ChrisÂtian and non-Christian demoÂcrats could share, which included the requirement that people of faith should face election with no special privileges and no reserved places.
We have managed to mess up our government with only 50 senators. Imagine what 300 could accomplish.
The Senate is composed of 100 senators, two from every state. Or did you mean just the the 50 Democrats? I did read the article and one comment was that the trust of elected officials was at an all time low. So why would they want MORE elected officials?? Hmmm, methinks that this is a ploy to get the church out of government.
I agree –300 elected officials. Wow that is a lot. Talk about the wheels of the government moving slowly.
good- what wonderful news! For the sooner the Church of England breaks its ties with a secular government the sooner it might move from washing its hands with Pilate to standing in the place of Jesus
Given the declining religious and economic integrity of North America’s episcopally-led religious bodies, I hate to think how much worse the governments of Canada, the USA, or Mexico would be with bishops making speeches and having votes in those national legislatures.
“A ploy to get the Church out of government?” Sure……why not? Makes sense!
Save Britain:
Restore the Peers and abolish the Commons!