The recent coronation of Charles III got me thinking about tradition. Charles became king because, somewhere in the distant past, one of his relatives climbed to the top of the greasy pole. Now, because of his family’s good fortune, he gets to become king. It has nothing to do with his talent or ability to do the job. Tradition made him king because members of his family have set on the throne and he is the oldest in his family. Tradition, for some reason, must be honored.

Even though tradition has very little bearing any longer on the monarch’s actual role in the modern UK. Traditionally, the king once held great power. It was so important that the coronation was a religious ceremony performed in a church. The king’s role came from God Almighty and not the people he ruled. This is no longer true. The King has very limited power. The government is installed through a democratic process in which the monarch can’t even participate. As for the religious aspect of the coronation, it is doubtful that in a country where over 50% of the population never attends church services that any British citizen actually believes that God has invested the new king with any power what so ever.

To summarize then, a church that has a very tenuous allegiance of UK population installs a king who has no real power in a modern democratic country because of tradition. Charles comes to church one day to have an archbishop plop a crown on his head and walks aways with billions of pounds and real estate and little else.

It connects the British people to their past. Really? Whose past? Certainly not the average UK citizen. The past for most citizens had little to do with the petty squabbles of the nobility. The history of the monarchs is all very fun and interesting but meaningless to the actual history of the British people. Indeed, the tradition that might be remembered with more relevance is the constant battles of the average citizen wresting power away from a resistant nobility.

But, tradition, it is important to keep up with the old traditions. Why? What would happen if the monarch disappeared over night? Would the lives of the average British person change much? Look I don’t actually care about Charles being King. If the British people want a king, let them have one. What bothers me is this slavish devotion to meaningless tradition. Why call a person a king when he really isn’t a King? Why say he is blessed by God when a great number of people don’t actually believe it anymore. Because of tradition?

Perhaps a better example of this is the continued celebration of Christmas and Easter for people who have long ago abandoned traditional Christianity. Don’t get me wrong, I love Christmas trees and presents and chocolate treats as much as the next person but the connection to Christianity has been severed. A lot of people, including myself, continue to celebrate these holidays because well it is traditional. Is that really a good reason to do something you no longer believe in?

When all you got is tradition, it is time to rethink what you are doing.