September 8th, 2011
Five Things that have changed Britain utterly
The country has changed for precise, definable reasons, and for the worse, writes the journalist Ed West.
Several Sundays ago, two sweet-looking, middle-aged women appeared at our front door in quick succession.
The first handed me a colourful brochure promising an end to all suffering and, so long as we stuck by the tenets of her faith, eternal joy.
A few minutes later, a second, wearing a red rosette, handed me leaflets promising an end to child poverty, inequality, the gender gap and racial division.
Soon after, the failure of the end of the world to materialise - as predicted by an obscure Christian group in the United States - led to much self-applause on this side of the Atlantic.
Yet, for all their supposed atheist superiority, many Britons have merely replaced the Christian God with a new idol – the state. The callers at our front door made for a good analogy for that transfer of faith.
1. Statism
The last half-century has seen British society transformed like never before. But perhaps the most striking is the state’s takeover of the role of the church, so that the state does not just run services, but also provides moral leadership, salvation and happiness.
Priests are thin on the ground, but social and youth workers are in abundance. Church schools are frowned upon for indoctrinating pupils, yet the state’s core principles of equality and diversity, not to mention “sex and human relationships”, are enforced on every child. The various equality and anti-discrimination laws passed since the 1950s have grown from tackling blatant, open racial discrimination to making a window of men’s souls. Those who refuse to accept the new articles of faith – equality in particular - can be excluded from public service; thrown out of communion, as it were.
The state has replaced the church in other areas, too. In the days when the Church supported art, artists gave glory to God in their work. Where the state now takes that role, television, radio, theatre and cinema praise the wonders of the state. No wonder that so many actors and artists are firm believers.
Five Things that have changed Britain utterly
Several Sundays ago, two sweet-looking, middle-aged women appeared at our front door in quick succession.
The first handed me a colourful brochure promising an end to all suffering and, so long as we stuck by the tenets of her faith, eternal joy.
A few minutes later, a second, wearing a red rosette, handed me leaflets promising an end to child poverty, inequality, the gender gap and racial division.
Soon after, the failure of the end of the world to materialise - as predicted by an obscure Christian group in the United States - led to much self-applause on this side of the Atlantic.
Yet, for all their supposed atheist superiority, many Britons have merely replaced the Christian God with a new idol – the state. The callers at our front door made for a good analogy for that transfer of faith.
1. Statism
The last half-century has seen British society transformed like never before. But perhaps the most striking is the state’s takeover of the role of the church, so that the state does not just run services, but also provides moral leadership, salvation and happiness.
Priests are thin on the ground, but social and youth workers are in abundance. Church schools are frowned upon for indoctrinating pupils, yet the state’s core principles of equality and diversity, not to mention “sex and human relationships”, are enforced on every child. The various equality and anti-discrimination laws passed since the 1950s have grown from tackling blatant, open racial discrimination to making a window of men’s souls. Those who refuse to accept the new articles of faith – equality in particular - can be excluded from public service; thrown out of communion, as it were.
The state has replaced the church in other areas, too. In the days when the Church supported art, artists gave glory to God in their work. Where the state now takes that role, television, radio, theatre and cinema praise the wonders of the state. No wonder that so many actors and artists are firm believers.
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