Petition to Coffining Richard III in a Religious Environment
Media and the ‘fact behind fiction’ are entirely topics on their own…
So, no further comment about what they currently make out of this new petition, but rather, what this new petition by the initiators of ‘Looking for Richard‘ really is about:
(I must admit, from the media reports about it, I really had difficulties making it out.)
That the team which initiated and persisted in the search for King Richard III cares about King Richard III, can be taken without doubt. That they want to assure his dignity and honourable treatment, is the main factor defining each step of their search, but also is the essence behind this new petition:
Petition to coffin King Richard III in a holy place
(open worldwide via change.org)
Contrary to the original agreement about the treatment of the remains of King Richard III, his bones have not been sent to rest in a church, awaiting his burial ceremonies.
The reasons of the University of Leicester for this are manifold, among those are, preserving (correct temperature, water level, etc.), security (against possible fanatics), transportation to the location, hindering of further research access, …
So King Richard III at the moment is stored in a scientific vault, like a research specimen, which for the University of Leicester he certainly is.
But besides having been King of England once, King Richard III also is a human being, for which certain treatment standards should be in place to ascertain his human dignity.
One of these standards, the ‘Looking for Richard’ team tries to insist upon with this new petition:
Giving King Richard a holy and not a scientific environment for being placed in his coffin.
From what the media makes out of this request and petition, you would think, the ‘Looking for Richard’ team wants to overthrow all the planning and work from either Leicester Cathedral and the University of Leicester for the burial ceremonies. Some even make me believe, a new war between religions is imminent.
Far from it !
The supporters of this petition come from all religious and none-religious backgrounds worldwide and have the one thing in common:
They are concerned about the scientific treatment of a human being, which sets a very utilitarian precedent of how to treat human remains where the scientific interest dominates and subjugates every other consideration.
This coffining in a holy place would give the found bones a ‘human dignity’ back and would assure that King Richard III is not only seen as a scientific curiosity, but also as a very religious man and human being.
It also would uphold consent for a treatment of human remains, not only of kings, but human beings in general, which researchers seem so easily to forget that King Richard III after all still is.
In this regard, think about how you would like to be treated and for once see King Richard III not as a spectacular historical oddity, but as a human being, and take action regarding this new petition as you see fit:
Petition to coffin King Richard III in a holy place
(open worldwide via change.org)
The petition will close at midnight (GMT) on Tuesday 24 February 2015. The results will be handed over to the re-interment board in Leicester.
More information and details about the ‘Looking for Richard’ team and new petition on the Looking for Richard website.
