With the National Liberal Party standing in full support of protecting the Mercian Christian Church’s place within Mercian society, it is unsurprising that the vast majority of Mercia’s Christian population, itself 50% of the entire Mercian populace, tend to vote National Liberal or hold Party membership.
The Church has also historically had close ties with the National Liberal Party; His Lordship Richard I, Lord Spiritual of the Mercian Christian Church, has historically held positions in every Mercian government apart from the Coalition government, and the Church’s Synod Representative was given a spot in the Government Cabinet all thanks to Mercian nobles who went on to join the National Liberal Party after the Partisan Democracy Act was ratified.
As such, on Tuesday 16th August, the Lord Spiritual once again joined the National Liberals, on the second day of their Party Congress, to deliver a speech on the position of the Mercian Christian Church, and why the current government would be committing a great injustice to try and disconnect it from the government. Despite being the head of the Church, the Lord Spiritual delivered an address that was not steeped in biblical symbolism or quotes, to be readily accessible by the nonreligious members of the Party. The speech was said as follows:
My assembled countrymen, I am honoured to deliver to you this speech tonight, on a topic that is, as you all well know, very dear to my heart. The topic is on an institution that has been integral to Mercian society since the Alliance of Crowns between the Region of Clyro and the Archduchy of Loringia, and has been something staunchly protected by the National Liberal Party in their time in Government and Loyal Opposition. That institution is, of course, the Mercian Christian Church.
The current government is not only grotesquely republican in its approach to the Lords & the Nobility, but is also unrelentingly atheistic in its standing on the Church and its role in Mercian society, which is political first and foremost. “Why should we have a delegate of the Church in the Cabinet?” exclaim Coalitionists, “Why should an anti-church government have to listen to advice from the Mercian clergy?” The answers to those questions are rooted in Mercian tradition, in history, and also in the objectives that the current leftist government has promised but not yet reached.
The Church, and my stewardship of it, exists as a physical reminder of the authority of God over the lives of all who believe in him, and in the power of the Lords who represent those who follow the Gospel of Peace or not. The Church itself is a direct manifestation of the inviolability of founders’ rights; that those who founded the micronation should have every right to preserve elements of its past and steer the direction of its future within reason, for the simple reason of being the one who put the nation into motion. It shows not only the sanctity of the Mercian nation, but also that its citizens respect the one true principle that runs across most micronations.
Furthermore, the Mercian Christian Church does not exist to support the largest denomination of Christians in the country; indeed that demographic would be Roman Catholics, many of them proud National Liberals and one of whom, the recently absent Baron Fionbarra Ó Cathail, was the first Catholic to represent the Mercian Christian Church in the place of a Protestant candidate. The Church does not exist to foist a political approach upon the state either, with most church members voting their consciences at the ballot box (usually for the National Liberal Party, it must be said). The reason the Mercian Christian Church does exist however, is something that proves the failure of the current coalition government and their plan to expand Mercia at the expense of the state church and its institutions.
The coalition government believes that the Church has no right to representation within government or the politically dominated Mercian culture, and as such should be removed. The same government has attempted to create the superficial trappings of regional cultures through rather poorly advertised flag-making competitions and such ilk. With the government’s track record for cultural improvement, and its designs on the Church, then if both were realised then what would we be left with? A Churchless Mercia, and a country that was culturally bankrupt.
The Church is the first and foremost display of the Mercian national identity, even for non-believers. It is the identity of the Diarchy, one of which, myself, is the Supreme Governor of the Church. All other cultural organs within Mercia run under the surface of the Church. The current government, which seeks to eradicate the Church as an entity connected to the political world that all Mercians participate in, is completely at a loss to find things to replace the Church as a binding force for Mercian identity.
I propose, my fellow party members, that we think of something unprecedented; that we, keeping the faith of the Church, go out and expand Mercia to be more than a political entity. We could turn Mercia into a place of more than Parliament, but a place too of business, of charity, of art and of learning; we could move away from the political simulation and into the realms of a true social project.
The only party capable of achieving such a future is one that realises that the Church can and will be the rock upon which the rest of Mercia’s future will be built. That one party is the National Liberals. God bless you all and thank you.
The speech was welcomed by many cheers of ‘Amen!’, ‘God bless Mercia!’ and ‘Hear hear!’. It was on Wednesday 17th August that Baron James Thomas Draxe, the Bishop of Artifax and the new Synod Representative to the government, delivered his much more Christian-oriented speech on how the National Liberal Party and the values of the Church would be the crucial elements of a Mercian unity. His speech went as follows:
Fellow Mercians, Fellow party members, friends, It is my distinct honour to address you all tonight on this third night of the congress of the National Liberal Party. During this congress, we have heard, and will hear, many insights from our esteemed colleagues about the right course for this nation and this party. I wish to contribute, in my own small way, to this development of a strong ideological platform for the National Liberal Party.
I stand before you not in the first place as a politician. As such, my speech will not be a political speech so much as an appeal to all Mercians, whether they are a member of the National Liberal Party or not. An appeal for the restoration of Mercian values, and a call for the unity that this country so desperately needs.
During my tenure as bishop of Artifax, during my candidacy for the Loringian parliamentary seat, and during my involvement in the public debate, I have noticed a sharp division in our country. A division that puts before all of us a very serious choice. This division seems to me between those who hold dear to the values of our founders and of our Church, who cherish the Mercian history and between those voices who call for revolution, a powerful overthrow of the national institutions, the destruction of the Church and who are eager to introduce in this great nation many things that go against nature and against common sense. It is a very real division, a very real battle of ideas. It is a choice, between tyranny and between liberty. It is a choice between immorality and between a strong moral foundation for our nation. It is a choice between chaos and between rule of law. Our First Minister cherishes this division from his side. The coalition has no rallying cry louder than “we are not the NLP”. The coalition does not want this nation to be unified, and does not hesitate from calling upon the removal of all the things that bind us together as Mercians.
In this conflict of ideas, the National Liberal Party shows itself to be the safeguard of the ancient and positive Mercian values. It is a bastion of greatness, a vessel of hope that carries the torch of liberty. Amidst the crashing waves of revolution and desolation, the National Liberal Party stands tall like the prophet Jeremiah and calls out: “Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls.” And may it be our prayer, that the people of Mercia will heed that call, unlike the children of Israel who said “We will not walk therein.”
This is a speech on national unity, it is a call upon Mercians to come together. But it is also a warning. We cannot surrender the core values of our nation for the sake of unity. But indeed, we need to show that there is only unity in embracing those things that have made Mercia great and that will continue to make Mercia great. This, my friends, is the calling of us all as members of this party.
It is also this party that recognises the importance of liberty for all men. We recognise that the backbone of our society is not vested in our Parliament, but in our people. All men are endowed with unalienable rights by our creator. And that is why this speech is also a call upon the Mercian people to go out and contribute to our society.
Whatever your talents are, and wherever your interests lie, go and make something of your citizenship. The new media provides us with a broad range of opportunities to be creative and to contribute to the Mercian culture. From journalism to visual art and from being active in the Church to sharing videos online. There are plenty of opportunities to be a positive force in this nation. You don’t need to be in parliament to contribute, you just need to be Mercian to contribute.
I feel that I have spoken long enough, and that I have said all that I wanted to say. I hope and pray that the future of our party will be a fruitful one, and that we will very soon get the chance to govern Mercia again, and protect our nation like a strong guardian. I hope God will continue to bless our nation, our party and our people and I thank you all from listening to me tonight. I will now end with an eternal word, written long ago in a faraway land, but that still resounds to us today, holding the same force and truth:
“Know therefore today, and take it to your heart, that the LORD, He is God in heaven above and on the earth below; there is no other. So you shall keep His statutes and His commandments which I am giving you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may live long on the land which the LORD your God is giving you for all time.”
The new power of the National Liberal Party, combining new and active members with solid and cohesive ideology and the strength of Biblical truth, is coming at a time when the current Coalition government is on the wain, as the Social Democrat party dissolves and tensions emerge between the People’s Democratic Party and the Green Socialist Party, leading to publicly visible assumptions of contempt and the defection of Baron Henry Twain to the National Liberal Party.
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