I don't think it's just the religious aspect; when they were discussing the possible reform, the experts consulted included geneticists who were arguing that the male-line succession should continue because it's the only way to preserve the Y chromosome (which is passed pretty much intact from generation to generation of men, unlike most of the chromosomes). Other geneticists pointed out that the very intactness of the chromosome meant that it would be shared by many people who were no longer royal, and so the "imperial Y chromosome" really wasn't all that exclusive anyway.
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