I am an entrepreneur, which means I am, by temperament, an optimist. I am also a Catholic, which means I do not confuse optimism with sentiment. Hope is harder than that. It looks at the facts, names them and then asks what a free people ought to do next.
Here is a fact that should embarrass a country that still lectures the world about equality before the law. A British subject may serve as Prime Minister, command troops, sit on the bench and swear allegiance to the King. He or she may even, if the latest bill before Parliament is passed and implemented, advise the Crown on appointments in the Established Church. But he may not be the King if he professes the Catholic faith. The Act of Settlement 1701 still treats that profession as a constitutional defect.
