Gobsmacked !

[muddy]

That's exactly what they did in Spain .
They built mosques on top of Christian churches .
Then when they got kicked out the Christians built churches on top of the mosque.
This has made for some stunning buildings . 
One of the most brilliant  is the Mosque Cathedral of Cordoba Spain .
The combination of architecture and cultures is astounding .

[Scrumpy]

Just checked the Mosque Cathedral out.. Beautiful building.. So ornate inside..
Guards will not allow Muslims in to pray.. Muslims have protested to the Pope.. but the Pope.. has not responded to their pleas.. Interesting..

[muddy]

The Muslims don't  allow the Jews to pray  on the Dome of the Rock which is surmounted by a mosque built on the site of the old temple of Jerusalem .

Re the Cathedral in Spain , I don't know that they could get in its a huge tourist attraction and is always heaving with people . Still the Muslims  could just go in a pray privately like anyone else .
I expect they want to shut it down five times a day .

[JBR]

That's exactly what they did in Spain .
They built mosques on top of Christian churches .
Then when they got kicked out the Christians built churches on top of the mosque.
This has made for some stunning buildings .
One of the most brilliant  is the Mosque Cathedral of Cordoba Spain .
The combination of architecture and cultures is astounding .

Good point, Muddy.
That is exactly what could happen in our country.  What a terrible thought! 
I am not religious but nevertheless our great cathedrals, many of which have stood for hundreds of years, being partially demolished and changed possibly beyond recognition would be disastrous.  
Similarly, I wouldn't want to destroy a fine mosque should their religion disappear from this country, because architecture is architecture regardless of the religion.

[muddy]

Yes, I take your point.
It is an inherent feature of monarchy, and has been for well over a thousand years.
Of course, for most of those years, belief in a god was almost universal and, consequently, the king (they were all kings in those days) used the concept to ensure that no-one would dream of disobeying them!

I reckon that this idea worked perfectly well when everyone in the kingdom believed in the same god.
Today, we have umpteen different ideas of whose god is the top dog and, of course, everyone disagrees!

On the other hand, if the country became almost uniquely occupied by atheists, the concept would have no weight.  I wonder if they'd drop the tradition then.

Muslim countries seem to have a leader who claims to have the unflinching support of their god (for exactly the same reason that our kings have done it).
I wonder how long it will be before our Christian kings will be usurped by muslim holy men (it's always men!)?

The original title 
'Defender of the Faith '
Was awarded to Henry VIII by the Pope .
Henry was quite a brainy chap before he fell off his horse and started chopping off his wives heads wrote a thesis defending the Catholic Church against the heroes of Martin Luther .
So the faith was the Roman Catholic religion .
Henry despite being the man who started the Church of England always considered himself a Catholic ( just his own private branch )