London and Religion

When you think of Britian, what immediately comes to mind? Established, refined, conservative and the like, right? Judging by our own standards, what most likely dominates a conservative and refined lifestyle? What serves as the foundation for conservative ideologies? Religion, correct? If you agree with that notion, and if your preconceived notions of Britain were among the same lines as mine, then you will be equally as shocked to learn that Britain, as far as religious practice is concerned, is extremely secular.

Yes, it it true, ladies and gentlemen, Britain's religious emphasis, as stated by Dr. Wendy Stokes (International Politics instructor and our first British Life and Culture lecturer), has been fading for the last 50 years. During this lecture (which took place approximately two weeks ago), I learned that the average, traditional Brit doesn't attend church regularly, if at all. Currently, Britian has the lowest church-going population of any country, while comparatively, the U.S. has the highest (the U.S. reference exists purely for comparative analysis, not placing a particular emphasis on one country or another).

Don't misconstrue the message, folks in Britian are definitely aware of religion, but have more of a comparative view, thus they know and may acknowledge various forms, which is a better known practice. In a sense, this ideology is beneficial in that a breadth of knowledge helps in understanding and accepting culture, which is something that other countries seem to be struggling with at the moment...

With that said, I believe that another comparison needs to be made. Religion seems to be the centerpiece of American life, but here in the U.K., it is quite the contrary. In fact, radical christian groups (for example) don't have political representation, which may be astonishing to those of us in the U.S. who would probably undergo instant convulsion if we knew that our religious PACs weren't adequately campaigning for our rights/voice. Apparently, a clear distinction between religion and politics exists, though oddly enough, there isn't necessarily a separation of church and state...a true paradoxical situation.

There are many more things that I learned in this lecture about the history of the U.K., which bears the official name of 'the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland' (just for those who didn't already know), of which I won't plague you with in this post. Take this information and think about it...post if you feel especially inspired.

Last random fact: Most Londoners don't even live in the area...they simply work there. This is comparable to a modern day Washington D.C...watch out U.S. I've seen quite the melting pot here.

Until next time,

D