Antidisestablishmentarianism by Dylan Mazzella

Antidisestablishmentarianism

Antidisestablishmentarianism was a political position developed in the 19th century England, opposing liberals who wanted the Anglican church to withdraw. Withdrawal in this case simply means to remove the Anglican church as the official state church of the regions England, Wales, and Ireland. The supporters of antidisestablishmentarianism didn’t achieve their goal in England, as the Anglican church did remain the official Church of England. They most certainly did achieve their goal in Ireland, as the Anglican church of Ireland was disestablished, or withdrew, in 1871. In Wales, the goal of the movement was also not achieved.

Beyond this, the term antidisestablishmentarianism has been used in an analogous manner to describe opposition to those who are against the establishment, or government. The term could be used to describe any person today who opposes protesters of Donald Trump. Not only is the word still usable today, but the fact that individuals behind the movement got what they wanted still has it’s effects in England today. To this day, the monarch of England is still the Supreme governor of the Church of England, which of course means the Church of England never did withdraw, and no separation exists between the church and state, as the supporters of antidisestablishmentarianism had intended.

The word itself is interesting because of its length. The word has twelve syllables, and twenty-eight letters. The word was created after disestablishmentarianism had become popular. As one could imagine, it was the movement that intended for the withdrawal of the Anglican church, and antidisestablishmentarianism opposed that. Many argue that antidisestablishmentarianism is not even a real word, due to the fact it contains two negative prefixes, and the term that should have been used is establishmentarianism. If one were to look at the two words, he or she would realize that they do mean the same thing. The history behind the word makes the term antidisestablishmentarianism appear to be logical, because disestablishmentarianism existed first, and antidisestablishmentarianism was an antonym created in opposition to the word.