21 September 2022 01:26 am Views - 510
Britain’s late queen Elizabeth II, was finally laid to rest on Monday, September 19, amidst scenes of pomp and pageantry the British are well known for. It is said the bureaucracy had been preparing for her demise long before the queen finally passed away.
By a strange quirk of fate, the monarch is also head of the Christian faith in the United Kingdom. What is strange is that Christ - the founder of Christianity - and his lifestyle were far different from those of the British monarch.
His (Jesus Christ’s) was a life of simplicity, far removed from the grandeur we witnessed when the British queen was laid to rest. He did not travel in a chariot, (equivalent of today’s Rolls Royce) for him, the simple donkey was his mode of transport.
The death of Christ, too was vastly different from that of the monarch. He died nailed to a cross between two thieves. He was a man of non-violence, who preached love, equality and sharing. At his death his net value was 30 pieces of silver (the sum of money paid to the unfortunate who betrayed him).
When he died, the Christ had not even a place where he could be laid to rest.
His followers had fled in fear -- hiding from the authorities who had killed their leader. A kind stranger Simon of Cyrene donated his sepulchre to lay the bloodied and naked body of Christ.
A vast difference from the scenes of majesty we witnessed - instantaneously brought to us, thanks to modern-day technology which beamed live images around the world.
However, whatever... the queen was Britain’s and the world’s longest serving monarch or head of state. Though ill for a considerable period of time, during the month, prior to her death, she continued carrying out her duties until a few days prior to her death.
Her last public function being the swearing in of Britain’s new Prime Minister Liz Truss, days prior to her death.
While the British government hasn’t confirmed it, the exact cost of the queen Elizabeth II’s funeral expenses, a former royal security officer told the ‘New York Post’ he believed providing security alone would cost more than US$7.5 million. Financial analyst Danni Hewson told ‘Fox Business’ that the nation’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport estimated that the day could cost Britain’s economy US$2.6 billion...
At the same time, Britain itself is going through economic turmoil. Inflation is now in double digit figures. The cost of living is rising amidst fears of large sections of the population being unable to afford cost of heating during the coming winter, leading to sections of the people to demonstrate and protest.
To our country, Elizabeth II was queen from 1952 - 1972. While we became a Republic (1972), cutting ties with our former colonial ruler, we remained a member of the Commonwealth of Nations - an organization set up by the British. The queen remained nominally head of this organization. But cannot be held responsible for the deeds or misdeeds of various British governments either before independence or since the formation of the commonwealth.
Today, for example, Britain - the queen’s/king’s government - is demanding the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) supervise investigations into ongoing events in Sri Lanka, where the British government claims peaceful demonstrators are being rounded up and harassed by the police.
It sounds very like a return to colonial rule of the past in different clothing.
Yet, the Guardian of September 19 reported that heavy-handed police response to a small handful of anti-royal protesters, calling the police action in different parts of the country against unarmed non-violent protestors who opposed the crowning of Charles III asking the question “who elected him”...
Sounds like the story of the pot calls the pitcher names.
Perhaps it may be better for the British and their American comrades-in-arms, to do some soul-searching regarding their own actions in Vietnam, Afghanistan, their support for apartheid South Africa and their own heavy handed actions to put down protests in their own lands before casting stones.