The uncomfortable truth about the Queen's Platinum Jubilee
Summary
Queen Elizabeth II is celebrating her platinum jubilee this weekend, and there's a lot going on in the UK and Commonwealth to celebrate. But is she really still Queen Elizabeth, or is she just a figurehead? And what does that even mean? On this episode of The John Henry Weston Show, we take a look at the Queen s relationship with the Crown, and why it's important to remember who she really is.
Transcript
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Today and Friday in England and all the Commonwealth, we are celebrating the Queen's Platinum Jubilee,
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an unbelievable 70 years as Queen. Her reign has witnessed stunning changes, but none more stunning
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than abortion and many of the other evils she has been forced to sign off on. Well,
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that's what we're going to be discussing on this episode of The John Henry Weston Show. Stay tuned.
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To learn more about it, all of the expenses for this are being covered by sponsorships and ticket sales,
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and it's going to be awesome. We have Jim Caviezel speaking. We have Jason Jones emceeing.
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You're going to want to come out and see all the folks.
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In 1850, my namesake, John Henry Cardinal Newman, published the following terrifying and striking words,
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The Catholic Church holds it better for the sun and moon to drop from heaven, for the earth to fail,
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and for all the many millions on it to die of starvation in extremist agony,
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as far as temporal affliction goes, rather than one soul.
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I will not say should be lost, but should commit one single venial sin,
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should tell one willful untruth, or should steal one poor farthing without excuse.
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Now, that published text was from a lecture on the topic of certain difficulties which Anglicans felt about becoming Catholics.
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He actually repeated this same text again in his famous biography in 1864.
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And let's make sure we understand what it means.
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The Catholic Church holds it better that all these terrible things would happen
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rather than just one person committing one willful venial sin.
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And this text from Cardinal Newman is perhaps just a more vivid way of saying shorter phrases, which we all know.
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The ends don't justify the means, or we can't do evil that good may come of it.
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So, I'm going to say some things today which are going to be perhaps unpopular.
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Here in Canada, we think of our leader as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
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So, he's the leader of the government, a position which we influence by voting.
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But in fact, the monarch is still Queen Elizabeth II, the Queen of the United Kingdom.
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You might know, certainly our friends in England can't miss it with all the Union flags everywhere,
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that this weekend is the celebration of the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth.
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Queen Elizabeth is held up as really almost a heroine.
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One of the few remaining world figures who will actually name our Lord Jesus Christ.
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Now, many think of the Queen as some kind of just figurehead.
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She does not directly, at least not openly, engage in any decisions about politics or life of the country,
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or really any of the Commonwealth countries either.
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Or even in England and the UK, for that matter.
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If she wields any influence at all, it's really behind the scenes.
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But actually, there's a lot more going on here.
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There's some complex historical and legal things which we won't go into here,
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which make Canada's situation a bit different to how it is in the UK,
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The United Kingdom is not a republic like the United States.
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What this means is that the crown has drawn back the exercise of its powers
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and, in practice, allowed the machinery of government to function as if it were a democracy.
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It's something that looks and acts like a separation of powers.
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But in fact, they're all working in the name of the crown, in the name of Her Majesty the Queen.
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In theory, she could end this arrangement and start ruling like a proper monarch at any time.
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But I'm telling you this to make clear that nothing is made law by the UK House of Parliament
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These bodies hash out the bill, and then it is presented to her for royal assent,
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In Canada, it's similar, actually, because bills receive royal assent in the Queen's name
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from other officials like the governor general or his deputies.
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By convention, the Queen never refuses royal assent.
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For the last several centuries, this has been very rare across remaining monarchies of the world.
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If this happened, the appearance and facade of a democracy would disappear,
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and an unelected, hereditary leader would be interfering in the decisions of an elected body.
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It means that when bills are presented to Queen Elizabeth,
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they do not become law until she gives them her assent.
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She has the power to prevent them from becoming law,
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albeit with, you know, there would be like a massive constitutional crisis that would cause.
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And really, real politic means that these laws will find some other non-constitutional way
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So, she also has another power, which she can exercise at any time.
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And that is the power to abdicate, to leave the throne.
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Now, if you're starting to feel uncomfortable, it's actually about to get worse.
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In 1967, Queen Elizabeth II was presented with what became the Abortion Act.
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As the name suggests, it is the act which made abortion legal
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in a wide set of situations up to about 28 weeks gestation.
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As a result of this act, England is set to have their 10 millionth abortion this year.
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That's 10 million unborn babies murdered thanks to abortion,
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which only became legal because of the royal assent given to that act in 1967.
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Would Roe v. Wade in 1973 have been possible without Queen Elizabeth's royal assent to the Abortion Act?
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That's a very important question. Think about it.
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And England does lead the way in a lot of senses.
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Even in Canada, abortion only came in 1969, again following England.
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So I want you to imagine, just for a moment, being Queen Elizabeth.
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Don't think about the media or anything like that.
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Well, would it not be better to face the consequences of a constitutional crisis
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than give your free assent to such an abomination?
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Or would it not be better to at least abdicate?
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In 1967, Queen Elizabeth gave her royal assent to what became the Sexual Offenses Act,
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In 2013, Queen Elizabeth consummated the work begun by this act by giving her royal assent
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to the bill which introduced homosexual marriage into law in England and Wales.
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The combination of these laws with other provisions of law means that children are being taught
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about these things in schools, and small businesses like bed and breakfasts and bakers
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are being penalized for not being equal enough.
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And again, this happened because of the royal assent given by Queen Elizabeth.
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How about the royal assent to the 2008 law that allows scientists to make human-animal hybrids
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And what about all the royal assent for the different divorce laws?
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Over the last 70 years, in 1969, the royal assent radically liberalized divorce laws in England
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and Wales, and further laws, all with royal assent, liberalized things further over the
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England seems to have been one of the better places to be under the COVID madness, but nonetheless,
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Queen Elizabeth gave royal assent to laws which allowed tyrannical government by ministers,
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along with everything we remember so well, allowing the government to lock everyone in their homes,
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restrict freedom of movement, close businesses, detain those suspected of COVID,
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And all of this happened because the Queen gave royal assent.
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Now, do you think that Queen Elizabeth will refuse royal assent to a bill mandating vaccines
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for her subjects, or a social credit system, or a one-child policy, or anything?
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Now, perhaps she thinks she has good reasons for this.
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Perhaps she thinks that it's better to retain her position and constitutional peace,
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because in that way, she can work some, perhaps, greater good, or at least prevent further evils.
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But let's not kid ourselves with the idea that it could be better to assent so as to keep one's position,
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How much is your good influence behind the scenes worth in the face of ten million dead babies and counting?
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And if the cost of maintaining some higher good is ten million dead babies,
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then all these immoral laws and the toleration of absolute tyranny under COVID,
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what exactly is being conserved or preserved here anyway?
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I wish her good in this life and in the next, but we're talking about the facts here.
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Others might say that these laws would have gone through with or without her assent,
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that not only would she cause a constitutional crisis, but also she would be unable to stop them anyway.
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Let's deal with what's real, not with what's fictional or counterfactual scenarios.
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These terrible, immoral laws, because actually, unjust laws, no law at all,
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but these so-called laws were passed with her royal assent.
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even if the crushing pressures and reality of her situation are unknown to mere subjects.
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We can have compassion on her state, even while being real.
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To paraphrase St. Thomas More in the film A Man for All Seasons, he said, and I quote,
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Your Majesty, it profits a man nothing to give his soul for the whole world, but for the crown.
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And that's what's interesting here, even if we don't know the state of her soul.
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Not the legal consequences of her assent, but Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth herself,
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and what she has done to herself by all these compromises and assent given to evil through her reign.
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So this Jubilee weekend, if you're benefiting from the holidays, enjoying them,
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And even more than anything, for we have a duty in piety to pray for our rulers.