Antidisestablishmentarianism
Antidisestablishmentarianism is the English term for opposition to the abolition of the state-church status held by the Church of England (Church of England) since the Act of Supremacy of 1534, while disestablishmentarianism holds that the state-church status of the Church of England should be abolished.
The anti-establishmentarianism movement in 19th century England opposed proposals to strip the Church of England of its status as the state church of England (established church). Advocates of the political position of disestablishmentarianism - that is, disestablishment (of the state church) - said that a state church violated religious liberty. The state, they said, should be secular, meaning that religion and the state are separate. This idea is called disestablishmentarianism. So anti-establishmentarianism wants to keep the state church.
It has been successful in England so far, but not in Ireland (see Irish Church Act 1869) and Wales (see Welsh Church Act 1914), where the Church of Ireland - already a small minority church - lost its position as a state church in 1871 and the Church in Wales in 1920. The term is not widely used nowadays, although the issue is still relevant.
In November 2012, for example, the furore over the then Church of England General Synod's decision not to ordain women as bishops (revised in 2014) led to the House of Commons attempting to introduce this measure through the state, essentially demonstrating anti-discrimination parliamentarianism as British politics continued to interfere in the internal affairs of the Church of England.
In 2014, Nick Clegg, then deputy prime minister and leader of the Liberal Democrats, said that the Church of England should no longer be the established church. David Cameron, then prime minister of the United Kingdom, responded to Clegg's comments by saying that the position was "a long-standing liberal idea, but not a conservative one."
The word, which is not an artificially created joke word, is a popular example of a long word in English, such as Donaudampfschiffahrtsgesellschaftskapitän in German.
Questions and Answers
Q: What is antidisestablishmentarianism?
A: Antidisestablishmentarianism is a political position that aims to keep an established church.
Q: What is an established church?
A: An established church is an official state church.
Q: What is a disestablishmentarian?
A: A disestablishmentarian is a person who wants to stop the state church.
Q: What do disestablishmentarians believe?
A: Disestablishmentarians believe that a state church hurts the freedom of religion and that the state should be secular, meaning religion and the country are separate.
Q: What is the idea behind disestablishmentarianism?
A: The idea behind disestablishmentarianism is that the state should be secular and religion and the country should be separate.
Q: What is the opposite of disestablishmentarianism?
A: The opposite of disestablishmentarianism is antidisestablishmentarianism, which wants to keep the state church.
Q: Why is antidisestablishmentarianism famous?
A: Antidisestablishmentarianism is famous because it is one of the longest words in the English language.
