Maybe it is a fairy tale. To quote Chesterton, I’ve often found fairy tales to be closer to reality. In this case, monarchy and Faerie are quite similar. Both act as a goad upon what is currently perceived as “reality.” Faerie reminds us that the current fallen world is not the ultimate reality and we quietly attest to this fact when we reflect upon the intense joy and melancholy we feel when we hear Fairy Tales.
Likewise, Monarchy reminds us that the current power games politicians play is not RULE at its finest. Monarchy reminds us that these cheap, jaded politicians do not reflect the Reign of the Resurrected Christ. Even if a Monarch never was a liturgical icon of heaven, the idea (Plato, thou dost haunt us to this day!) of that reminds us modern republicanism certainly is not. To quote N. T. Wright, “Monarchy acts as an angled mirror that allows us to see around the corners of this fallen world into a more beautiful one.”
We often think that the monarchy of Romans 13 (and St Paul originally thought of him as a monarch, not as a democratically-elected President) as God’s minister means we can’t rebel and, aww shucks, we have to obey him. That goes without saying, I suppose, but why do people automatically assume the worst-case scenario? Why not see the monarch as God’s minister as an icon of heaven. Fallen, yes. But why not see him, like we see the icon, as pointing to heaven?
So is monarchy really just a fairy tale? Sure. Why not? In fact, does not framing it that way sort of point to the truth of it? I’m not offering slam dunk arguments that prove monarchy at this point. There are many limitations. I don’t deny it. But maybe I can get some people to think, “Hey, why does voting seem so futile? Why does it seem that for whomever I vote I get the same socialist package? Why is politics such a dirty concept?” Liturgical Monarchy can point us beyond these categories.
Good post. What are your ideas on the function of the monarch? Is he the image of Christ or of the father? By liturgical monarchy do you mean he is the image of Christ? I am saying this because I have recently heard about Kantorwicz's (and also shown in an article of Father Michael Azkoul) idea that originally the monarch was meant to represent the human nature of Christ and not just God in general.
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