The Thirty-Fifth HoS List Challenge

[Walpurgisnacht]

Chag sameach to all!

The rules are simple; I give a prompt, and you have until 4:00pm on the 28th (or whenever I remember to post the announcement on that day) to post a list related to the prompt. As for what constitutes a list? If you'd personally post it in Lists of Heads of Government and Heads of State rather than another thread, I think that's a good enough criterion. Writeups are preferred, please don't post a blank list, and I'd also appreciate it if you titled your list for polling purposes. Once the deadline hits, we will open up a multiple choice poll, and whoever receives the most votes after a week gets the entirely immaterial prize.

There's a lot of possible associations one can have with December--new years, winter, Sindhi culture no really look it up. Ultimately, it's a month that, for the Western world, centres around Christmas, which, despite sometimes being treated as secular, is the main holiday of Christianity and is generally observed as such. That's why this challenge will be themed around Christianity. Inseperable as it is from Western culture, and political as it's often been, I imagine there's plenty here to stimulate the imagination.

Good luck!

 

[Turquoise Blue]

Be warned, the write-up is supposed to be a fair bit biased towards the Christian Unionists, but this is a very very grim America.

Spoiler: Inspiration, extract from Nixonland

Since the publication of the perennial bestseller Silent Spring in 1962 (its title referred to the imminent day when birds stopped singing: “Can anyone believe it is possible to lay down such a barrage of poisons on the surface of the earth without making it unfit for all life?”), environmentalism had sometimes seemed a sort of transideological apocalypticism. Ehrlichman considered himself an environmentalist. So did General Curtis LeMay, an overpopulation obsessive.

"Be Fruitful and Multiply"

Hubert Humphrey / Edmund Muskie (Democratic) 1969-1975*
1968: def. Richard Nixon / Spiro Agnew (Republican) and George Wallace / Curtis LeMay (American Independent)
1972: def. Ronald Reagan / George Bush (Republican)
Curtis LeMay / vacant (Independent) 1975-1977
Curtis LeMay / John Ehrlichman (Green) 1977-1989
1976: unopposed
1980: unopposed
1984: unopposed
Curtis LeMay / Theodore Kaczynski (Green) 1989-1991*
1988: unopposed
Theodore Kaczynski / vacant (Green) 1991-1992
Harry Blackmun / vacant (Independent) 1992-1993
Harry Blackmun / Patrick Buchanan (Independent) 1993-1997
1992: unopposed [some write-ins for Jeane Kirkpatrick / Ron Dellums (Social Democratic) and Theodore Kaczynski / various (Green)]
Gordon Robertson / Albion Knight (Christian Unity) 1997-2002*
1996: def. Jerry Rubin / Hillary Rodham (Social Democratic) and Jack Kemp / Ron Paul (New Republican)
2000: def. W. H. Gates / Jim Jeffords (Democratic-Republican)
Albion Knight / vacant (Christian Unity) 2002-2005
Franklin Graham / Rick Santorum (Christian Unity) 2005-
2004: def. William Clinton / Skip Humphrey (Democratic-Republican)
2008: def. Gene Taylor / Rick Perry (Democratic-Republican) and John Perry Barlow / Mike Gravel (Freedom)

It is Christmas 2011 and the talk of politics is that President Graham is going to run for a third term, to continue 'Restoring America's Greatness'. That word there, restore, has been on the lips of every American politician, no matter if Christian Unionist or Democratic-Republican. Once, America was growing. Once, America was rapidly becoming the Great Power of the World. Then dark forces seized control of America, purged the liberals that were too blind to see the growing evil within America, and descended the country into the horrors of Environmentalism.

The obsessive belief of President LeMay was that the world would overpopulate and destroy the environment - 'like parasites'. His Green Party, the Green Party that read slavishly the writings of Paul Ehrlich [not to be confused with Vice-President John Ehrlichman] and sought ways to reduce global population. It is widely accepted that many of the wars the Green regime fought were with genocidal intent as LeMay believed that he alone could stop a world like that of Soylent Green [a film he regularly watched over and over again] and guarantee a 'quiet idyll' instead.

The 'one-child' and 'sponsored sterilisation' policies are the two most well-known domestic policies of the LeMay administration, and even now, President Graham regularly preaches for every American to have many children in an effort to reverse the collapsed population growth. Abortion and the birth control pill are explicitly illegal in the United States (under the Christian Amendment, they are deemed "crimes against God and Man"), with a heavy penalty on distributing the pill and abortion is regarded as murder under the law, and for many women, being housewives are their only realistic option in life, with the Christian Unionists moving to reverse the 'dangers of feminism', shutting women out of many avenues in life.

Even as the President prays every night to God for salvation to come to the United States, for it to finally emerge out of its trials and tribulations, the number of Americans are at best, comparable to what it was in 1940, with the 'Population Reduction' of 1989-1992 still an indelible mark on America's soul that will take forever to recover from. This night, his Christmas Sermon touches upon family.

It talks of cherishing one's children and ensuring that the America they grow up in is one founded on Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness, one nation united under God, and united under the flag, one that seeks to move forward into the future.

"As the good Lord commanded us to do, we shall be fruitful and multiply, and make our America once again great".

When he declares "Amen", 140 million Americans declare it as well. One nation, united under God, indeed.

 

[Mumby]

Interpretatio Romana

Dear Ioannis,

Saturnalia comes earlier every year! It's become a bit of a commercialised holiday to be honest. People forget that the real reason we celebrate on the 25th December is because its the birth of Sol Invictus. Young people don't have any respect for tradition. I bet you don't even know the names of the Dii Consentes, knowing what they teach you in school these days. So I thought that in the spirit of the season, I'd run you through the 12 gods that make the Empire what it is today.

Jupiter - The REAL King of the Gods, don't listen to what everybody says. Jupiter is a proper god - he was here before humans were made, it was his idea to mould us out of the clay of the earth and give us a soul with his spittle. You can hear him rumble his anger during a storm, and he sees that real justice is done, even when the courts let us down. Unfortunately, Jove rather let's himself by having dalliances outside the bounds of marriage...

Juno - Jupiter's long suffering wife, and somewhat appropriately the patron of mothers, marriage and childbirth. Juno always hated her husband's habits, and I think she's been proven right in the long run. He fathered a lot of heroes, to be sure, but I don't think he quite expected what has come to pass. But I'll get to that.

Neptune - This one I think you must have heard of! I know your father loves taking you to the seaside, and he's basically inescapable there. And your sister loves horses as young girls do. Not so well known that Neptune is the god of horses as well as the sea! But I think a lot of people struggle to take him seriously when he used to be god of earthquakes and modern science has kind of stolen that away from him...

Vulcan - Much more important since continental drift was proven. Vulcan was always god of volcanoes, to go along with his responsibility as blacksmith to the gods. But since science has sorted earthquakes into his purview, Vulcan seems a rather more impressive fellow than he was in even my grandfather's time. I hear there are shrines to him in Nihon!

Ceres - Going from a god of the furious earth, to a goddess of the fruitful earth. Every time you get food delivered, you ought to be offering thanks to Ceres. And you probably don't know that when its winter, thats Ceres mourning for her daughter serving as Queen in the Underworld! I think you'd probably just associate her with cheap breakfast food, shame.

Mars - You want to know how the Empire became great, thank this god. He's not very fashionable any more - can't even call a barbarian a barbarian these days, someone will get offended. Sometimes the Empire needs to get its hands dirty. Rome wasn't built in a day, after all...

Minerva - I think this is where the rot set in. Very... Greek. Undermines the importance of Mars in building the Empire. The by-blow of Jupiter by a woman not his wife. Nevertheless, still very much a properly dignified goddess, and still acknowledging the importance of warfare in making the Empire.

Venus - Back to the classics, if you'll pardon my joke. You can't go wrong with Venus, no matter what some prudes will say about depictions of her being crude and 'objectifying'. I'm not objectifying anything, the only people who'll get upset about a proper statue of Venus are people who either can't appreciate or are unhappy about not having a fantastic arse.

Mercury - Even worse than Minerva. A god of tricks and thieves, I think it shows that Jupiter was starting to get silly. You probably do know all about Mercury though, he's also the god of communication, so I guess you ought to thank him for this letter reaching you. Of course it would probably get to you faster if I sent it electronically, but that's not very festive is it?

Diana - Once more, I have to remind myself that Jupiter's bad habits still had good results. One half of the divine twins, Artemis is the goddess of virginity, the wilderness and archery. Three things that people your age need to appreciate a lot more! Maybe look at the Moon tonight and consider if Diana would be pleased with your behaviour.

Apollo - The other half of the twins rather lets the side down. I think you probably have heard of him, but only in the context of the False King who has set himself up on top of everyone else these days. Apollo is the god of music, medicine, prophecy, philosophy, beauty... I could go on.

Bacchus - I hesitate to include him in this list. Apollo, Diana, Mercury and Minerva at least had mothers of divine blood. But Bacchus was born from human blood, and worse in being coopted to the Dii Consentes, displaced poor Vesta. It says a lot that the guardian of hearth and home was replaced by a god of wine and orgies. But at least he doesn't have delusions of grandeur. Hopefully you aren't emulating him too much during your studies!

So that's it. The 12 gods of the Dii Consentes. Who doesn't rank amongst them? That's right, Jesus Asclepius! No matter what you might have been told at school, Jupiter hasn't stood aside as King of the Gods, Apollo's mortal son hasn't been elevated to divinity. But the whole empires gone mad. We've decided to let a bunch of Judaean cultists take over and dress it up like it's Roman, damn the consequences or the contradictions.

Anyway, I hope you and your sister are well, and give your mother my love.

Yours in faith,

Gaius

 

[Walpurgisnacht]

He Will Say "Who Is The Father"?
​

Supreme Patriarchs of the Lundion Mysteries of Mithras:
[I've given the dates here in the Mithraic calendar--same solar year, but 0 Anno Relevatori corresponds to ~780 Common Era]
4004AM* - 01AR: Mithras
01AR - 02AR: Joshua I (Yeshua ben Pantera)
02AR - 32AR: Paul I (Saul ben Binyamin)
32AR - 49AR: Linus I ("Linus Cornelius"[?])
49AR - 67AR: Clement I ("Flavian Clemens, freeman of Cornelius"[?])
67AR - 235AR: [unclear--the histories were traditionally transmitted orally, so these parts were believed lost after Great Raid of 1924, but I've got a lead on a few personal affects of a Cymric Mithraicist who was known for needing a lot of aide-memoires]
235AR - 244AR: Linus II (Ulpius Silvanius)

Supreme Patriarchs of the Dvin Mysteries of Mehr-El:
4004AM* - 01AR: Mehr-El
01AR - 02AR: Hessua I (Yeshua ben Pantera)
02AR - 29AR: Hakob I (Yaakob ben Yusuf)
29AR - 38?AR: Tserintus I (Cerinthus?)
38AR - 39AR: Lusavoricha I (clearly apocryphal)
39AR - 42AR: Hakob II (no fucking clue)
42AR - 54AR: Hakob III
54AR - 69AR: Hakob IV
69AR - 71AR: Hakob V (somebody please shoot me)
[existence of post-Hessua5 Patriarchs cannot be independently verified]
270?AR - 300?AR: Lusavoricha II (Khosrovidukht Arshakuni)

Ivar,
This is about as far as I've got on my end. Thanks for sending me your work.

I think we can definitely agree that the two groups started off connected to each other--there's too many similarities, and most of those similarities are based around stuff that doesn't even make them look good. Why hark on a great split from "the Romanisers" and a continued flight into exile back to your ''ancestral land' if you could just keep your revelations centred on Armenia? Why establish that a splinter group from you was led by your former leader's actual brother? Why would you lay claim to fulfilling the prophecy of the Jewish Mosiach if you can't even get him to be from the right city? None of it adds up as myth, but it all adds up as real events.

We can definitely draw a link between Joshua I and Hessua I, and based off of their backstories I'm 90% confident they're both the same as the Yeshua ben Pantera mentioned offhand by Pilatus in his memoirs as being kicked out of the army for refusing to sacrifice to Zeus--it's the same name, and it fits both the Mithraicists' ideas of a legionary who received a revelation in his lodge and the Mehr-Elists's ideas of a half-Jew returning to his mother's faith with new zeal. This then makes Hakob I, or Yaakob ben Yusuf, as indicated by the name, his half-brother, presumably by the same mother, who married after Pantera was reassigned. This contradicts what the Mehr-Elists have to say on the matter, but considering ben Yusuf is pretty well-attested to in contemporary sources about the First Jewish War, they'll have to lump it. Said sources do also make the first part of our story a doddle--thank you, Josephus, for deciding the army crushing one cult seeking martyrdom was worth writing down!

The aftermath of Yusuf's death is a lot harder to untangle. You've done a great job on your end with Saul bin Benyamin and his circle, rooting through those Roman sources--I'm frankly astonished you even managed to track down those court records for Linus, let alone what you're currently working on! My work, though, was halted by an enemy even more dire than the Odinswolves--factionalism. Nearly every cult in Armenia seems to have their own list, and the best you can say about them is there's always at least 5 Hakobs, just in case they run out of the local living ones. There's an inordinate fondness for promoting their local heroes into the faith, as well--just last week my "evidence" of a charismatic ironworker in the early cult who went by Kaveh I went up in smoke when I talked to a non-Kurdish priest and a Kurdish academic--which is of a piece with their origins, but doesn't exactly help me.

What's worse is that, of the two figures who consistently appear, one of them is clearly an anachronism. It might be a more egalitarian place now, but the Judaea of Yeshua's time would have eaten alive a cult that dared to stoop to being led by a woman. The first Lusarvoricha's ludicrous range of attributes--had demons expelled from her by Hessua, witnessed the military throwing Hessua to the dogs, was the lover or wife or financial supporter of Hessua--were clearly just a way to butter up the second Lusavoricha, and portray the cult's dependence on an unhinged ex-princess as historically precedented. That leaves us with Tserintus. The only good proof for him is that it seems unlikely so many cultists would agree about where their important doctrines came from, but apart from that? I've found some references to a Judaean with a similar name kicked out by some early Platonists, which would fit the ideas about the "father of the material" that he supposedly introduced, but it doesn't explain how he acclimatised himself to Mehr-El without opposition, since everyone has a different story on that.

Honestly, the more I research these people, the more they frustrate me. I get the whole point of the book being like this--no-one'll pick up a study of the distant past of some random house faith, so you've got to make it about "The Hidden World Religion", but they're not a world religion, they're a bunch of local religions in a silk gown. You said it yourself, the legionary lodge in Lundion is exceptional only because it survived without bending the knee--everywhere else across Europa they degenerated into clubs with funny rules, or even less than that. It's practically the same down here. There was a huge community of Mehr-Elists centred around Mahoze, back when it was under Jewish rule, and do you know what I found when I went down there? Some Mazdakites with a family tradition of eating cherries for the summer solstice. Even in Armenia, the lodges are shutting up one by one as more kids and more money leaves, and not once--not once!--do they think of working together to do something about it.

There's all the ingredients for a world religion there, is the thing. You've got the patronage of a powerful ruler, like how the Sun Buddha School had Thutmose V or how the Nordic Triune had Sigurd Serpent-Eater. You've got a firey message of equality and an end to accumulation that appeals to a downtrodden population, like Mazdakism or Platonism. You've got the unification of disparate theological traditions, even, in a way that eerily imitates the work of Mani himself (blessed be), bringing together the best of Greek, Judaean, and Iranian thought. What's missing is the world. All this faith, all this philosophy, and it's trapped behind layer after layer of rituals and secret codes, as if it were a treasured heirloom no-one else should see.

I managed to get them to show me a collection of Hessua's writings, and one quote has stuck with me. "You who know the truth are the light of the world. Neither do men light a lamp, and place it under a bushel; they set it on a lampstand, to light the whole house. In the same way should your light shine". It's a shame, in some ways, that his followers chose the bushel.

Yours, in infinite light,
Petro.

 

[Walpurgisnacht]

One week to go to get in your entries!

 

[Yokai Man]

Beware of False Idols

1653-1666 Oliver Cromwell,Oliver I after 1660 (Cromwellian Dysnasty)
1653: disolution of Parliament,beginning of the First Purge
1655: Rule of the Major Generals
1661: self appointment as Emperor of England and Protector of Protestantism,beginning of the Second Purge
1662: start of the Crusade Against False Protestantism
1663: English Congregationism declared as state religion,beginning of the Third Purge and later of the Second English Civil War (Cromwellists vs Parlimentarians vs Royalists)

1666-1667 George Monck (interim Lord Protector)

1667-1677 Henry Vane the Younger (Commonwealthsmen)
1667 def: Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury (Ciceronians),John Milton (Brutians),Praise-God Barebone (Fifth Monarchist)
1672 def: Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Carlisle (Ciceronians),John Milton (Brutians),Praise-God Barebone (Fifth Monarchist)

1677-16xx David Locke (Ciceronians)
1677 def: Edmund Ludlow (Commonwealthsmen),Andrew Marvell (Brutians),John Carew (Fifth Monarchist)

In the beginning,when Christians were still humble and untainted by power,Evagrius Ponticus warned the faithful of the dangers of vain glory and anger caused by blind fanatism. He warned them that vain glory “encompasses almost everyone and opens the doors to all the devils, acting as a kind of sly traitor to the city” and that they should learn to be calm and reasonable so that the devil of anger doesn’t enter their souls and destroy everything around them. But most of all he warned them of the dangers of zealots,who view themselves as the arm of God but are in fact madmen,who want to rule as tyrants over their brethren and pervert the teachings of Jesus Christ in a sea of anger.

If Oliver Cromwell had listened to these words,maybe things would have been different.

But it ain’t likely. Cromwell was never one to be reasonable. He viewed himself as the second Moses,ordained by God to save England of its enemies and have the Cromwell bloodline rule over the land. Despite leading the Parliamentarians,he never cared about them-he viewed them as an easily disposable ramble,mere ants to someone chosen by God. He never even truly cared about the Republic-the main reason he rebelled against Charles was because he viewed him as a bloody Papist. If anything he matched him in conservatorism and acting like a tyrant. He started wars with Netherlands because he viewed them as traitors to Protestantism,who refused his call to a Crusade against Papism,but also did treaties with France. Oliver however never thought this was hypocrisy. The treaties with the French were merely a temporary thing,void to him after he’d dealt with the Spaniards and the traitors to Protestantism.

The only true reason why he rejected being crowned as King when Parliament proposed it was because he didn’t get a sign for God to do so. In his mind,the Lord and only the Lord would tell him when the time is right and how it will be executed. Not some fools who aren’t privy to the glory of God like he is.

And soon Cromwell got his sign.

And all came to rue the day he was born.

To say that the events of Chipping Campden are heavily disputed to this day is an understatement. The abduction and later reappearance of John Perry and others from near by villages by mysterious men in white is nowadays seen by some cranks as proof that UFO kidnappings but back then other cranks thought they were angels,sent to Earth to deliver a divine message.

Oliver Cromwell was among one of said cranks. And he viewed as enough of a big sign to be crowned.

He thus started preparing for his coronation-one that went the way he wanted,not Parliament. Thurloe and his spies went ahead to hunt out and eliminate any republicans who would object. Many would run away in exile to America and take part in the war between Colonies. Those who didn’t died along with their families in the Tower of London,executed by mass hanging. After getting yet another one of his “signs” for God,Cromwell decided crowning himself not as King but as Emperor,the only one who deserved reviving the title,not the Papists of olden days. It was simply necessary in order to protect true Protestantism and the children of new Jerusalem.

After all,all children need a father,no matter how harsh.

And many more would have learned of his harshness.

Copenhagen,Oslo and Hague were set aflame in his grand Crusade. Hangings became a regular occurrence across the land,with at least 20 thousand people being hanged during the Imperial Terror. The last drop that filled the glass for many was his declaration of English Congregationalism as state religion and the only true form of Christianity,as the Yeomen of the Empire became more akin to the Inquisition and hunted down Jews,Presbyterians and anyone who refused to convert willingly and follow Cromwell’s new Commandments,”dictated” to him by God as the new Moses of Albion.

Enough was enough. Someone had to fight back.

And thus the nation was once more swept in a bloody civil war because of an idiot.

***
Everyone betrayed him. Monck,Lambert-even his own sons. Oh,he expected Henry to do it,he was never a true believer and a damn disapointment.

But Richard? That hurt.

Oh,he still believed in the righteousness of his battle-he was still the Moses of the English after all. But he started feeling-even just for the smallest of moments at times-something he never felt before.

Regret.

And he hated it. He hated it and he hated Richard for making him feel that. How dare he sow doubt in his soul about what the Almighty Creator brought him,Oliver Cromwell,on this Earth to accomplish?!

How dare he side with the heretics and heathens?!

No,it was clear. The Devil was fighting back against him and sending everything he got-Parliament,the Papists,the Stuarts,even his own flesh and blood against him. John and Charles did everything they could but not even the most loyal Protestant could fight on so many fronts.

As the blasted son of the Tyrant Charles and the army of Papists approached London,Oliver knew what had to be done. The signs were clear. He ordered his son-in-law to take his family and some of the fleet to America to continue the fight there.

Meanwhile,he and John Thurloe shall go down as martyrs.

London must burn like Sodom and Gomorrah.

***
When the war ended in 1666,a new Republic arose from the ashes of a pointless war started by another mad tyrant. The Stuarts,along with the Cromwell loyalists,all died during the Burning of London. What remained of their leaderless armies were scared men and wannabe highwaymen that were easily defeated. After being horrified by what Cromwell had become,Monck was determined never to let another Caesar emerge. He refused becoming the new ruler of England for life. Never again shall they repeat the mistakes of the Romans without learning anything from them. As interim Lord Protector,he made sure that a new system was put in place.

The office of First Consul was created to replace his title. Elected by Parliament,the First Consul only had a few veto powers and has basically a figure head. The events of the Cromwell Years have shown that Parliament must have more power,not fewer,to decide over the laws of the nation. And,more importantly,progress was made in making voting suffrage larger.

Henry Vane the Younger knew not everyone approved of the new status quo. But quite frankly he did not care. Let the Irish or the Colonists in America do whatever they liked.The people of England could,at least for awhile,finally live in peace,not only with their neighbours but with themselves.

Christianity should be a religion of peace,not of war.

 

[Walpurgisnacht]

Four more days left for entries! I hope everyone has had a very merry Yom St Nicholas Ha’Kadosh.

 

[rpryor03]

God Save: A Different Archbishop

1935-1936: Stanley Baldwin (Conservative)
1936-1939: Winston Churchill (Conservative)
1939-1940: Neville Chamberlain (Conservative)
1940-1949: Clement Attlee (Labour)
1940: def. Neville Chamberlain (Conservative), Archibald Sinclair (Liberal)
1945: def. Anthony Eden (Conservative), Archibald Sinclair (Liberal)
1949-1950: Harold Wilson (Labour)
1950-1957: Anthony Eden (Conservative)
1950: def. Harold Wilson (Labour), Clement Davies (Liberal)
1955: def. Alf Robens (Labour), Clement Davies (Liberal)
1957-1960: Harold Macmillan (Conservative)
1960-1960: Aneurin Bevan† (Labour)
1960: def. Harold Macmillan (Conservative), Megan Lloyd George (Liberal)
1960-1973: Tony Benn (Labour)
1965: def. Rab Butler (Conservative), Megan Lloyd George (Liberal)
1969 (minority): def. Reginald Maudling (Conservative), Jo Grimond (Liberal)
1970: def. Ian Macleod (Conservative), Jo Grimond (Liberal)
1973-1975: Barbara Castle (Labour)
1975-1982: William Whitelaw (Conservative)
1975: def. Barbara Castle (Labour), Jeremy Thorpe (Liberal)
1980: def. Douglas Jay (Labour), David Steel (Liberal)
1982-1992: Michael Heseltine (Conservative)
1985: def. Neil Kinnock (Labour), David Steel (Liberal)
1990: def. Neil Kinnock (Labour), Paddy Ashdown (Liberal)
1992-1995: Chris Patten (Conservative)
1995-2000: John Prescott (Labour)
1995: def. Chris Patten (Conservative), Paddy Ashdown (Liberal)
2000-2007: Francis Maude (Conservative)
2000: def. John Prescott (Labour), Don Foster (Liberal)
2005: def. Tony Blair (Labour), Don Foster (Liberal)
2007-2010: John Redwood (Conservative)
2010-2016: John McDonnell (Labour)
2010: def. John Redwood (Conservative), Jeremy Browne (Liberal), Alan Duncan (For the Union)
2015: def. Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative), Jeremy Browne/Nick Boles (Liberal/Union)
2016-2021: Hilary Benn (Labour)
2017: def. Kwasi Kwarteng (Conservative), Norman Lamb (Liberal Union)
2021-????: Rory Stewart (Conservative)
2021: def. Hilary Benn (Labour), Norman Lamb (Liberal Union)
2024: def. Lisa Nandy (Labour), Ed Davey (Liberal Union)

In 1936, an enterprising courtier suggested that Westminster Abbey be set up with connection for the BBC to televise the funeral of George V live. Perhaps if it hadn't happened, Archbishop Cosmo Lang wouldn't have died of heart failure in May, probably caused by his severe anxiety about presiding over a funeral on live television. But that was the way the biscuit crumbled, and as The Times mourned for "the loss of this nation's great spiritual father," Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin had to appoint the man who would crown Edward VIII.

For many in Baldwin's circle, they pushed for the appointment of William Temple, the current Archbishop of York. But Baldwin could not be fully comfortable with appointing a cleric who was so opposed to the Conservative Party's policy, so the appointment was instead bestowed upon the third-most senior cleric, a man older than his predecessor, Bishop Arthur Winnington-Ingram of London. For the new Archbishop, before he could even get to coronating, he had to deal with the "Wallis problem."

As the new King considered just how it would look for him to be having a relatively public affair while remaining unmarried, he sought out guidance from Winnington-Ingram. Winnington-Ingram and his good friend, former Chancellor Winston Churchill suggested that Edward might, after the period of a few years, go through with a morganatic marriage with Simpson, which they eventually did in 1939, one of Winnington-Ingram’s last official acts as Archbishop. But Baldwin, who could not countenance this idea, chose to quietly resign rather than serve as Edward's Prime Minister. Winnington-Ingram's friend, Winston Churchill, would succeed him before losing support in the wake of the German invasion of Poland. The world would never be the same.

 

[Wendell]

Bojinka, or the Bridge to the Twenty-First Century.

A fire fails to break out in a Manila apartment during the first week of January 1995. As a result, a terror plot partially organized in the Philippines is not foiled until it's already underway. John Paul II is assassinated via bombing during a trip to the Philippines for World Youth Day. The same day, several U.S.-bound aircraft are blown up over the Pacific, but in at least one instance, the explosive never detonates. Regardless, virtually all air travel worldwide is grounded to a halt. The Americans are able to foil part three of the plot and this ultimately leads to the earlier destruction of Al Qaeda before 2001.

The Vatican is suddenly left without a pope, and the 1995 Papal Conclave, once it can be organized, settles on the Dean of the College of Cardinals as the new pontiff after considerable deadlock between Joseph Ratzinger and Carlo Maria Martini. Bernardin Gantin reigns as Pope Gelasius III. The list of Popes since John Paul I becomes thus:

263. Alberto Luciani, who reigns as John Paul I, 1978
264. Karol Józef Wojtyła, who reigns as John Paul II, 1978-1995
265. Bernardin Gantin, who reigns as Gelasius III, 1995-2008
266. Angelo Scola, who reigns as Lawrence. 2008-present

The first pope elevated from sub-Saharan Africa, Gelasius III takes partial inspiration in his regnal name from the last pope born in Africa, Gelasius I, who was of Berber extraction. Gelasius III is succeeded by a cardinal he once consecrated as a bishop. A conservative like his predecessor, who made him a cardinal, Scola nonetheless focuses on ecumenism as the world faces new challenges in the 21st century.

 

[Walpurgisnacht]

Just one more day to enter!

Bojinka, or the Bridge to the Twenty-First Century.

This is a very interesting list, but would you mind making the title a bit clearer? Move it to a seperate line at least. It makes the poll a bit easier to do.

 

[Wendell]

Just one more day to enter!



This is a very interesting list, but would you mind making the title a bit clearer? Move it to a seperate line at least. It makes the poll a bit easier to do.

Sorry about that.

 

[Walpurgisnacht]

Six more hours to get your entries in!

 

[Walpurgisnacht]

The deadline has officially been closed, much like heaven is closed to the sinful! The poll should be up soon, so vote early and vote often!

 

[Dom]

Polls up.

 

[Walpurgisnacht]

One more day left to vote!

 

[Walpurgisnacht]

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts! In His immortal threefold name, he names @Turquoise Blue and her list "Be Fruitful and Multiply" as the sanctified winner of this month's list contest! Condolences to the losers, who are to be cast into the lake of fire that is the second death.

The next challenge will be up tomorrow.