ABSTRACT
However, this overall picture (and the churches’ longstanding preoccupation with statistics of formal religious affiliation and observance) should not blind us to the fact that, even at this later date, British society was still identifiably and self-consciously Christian. Besides the existence of established or national churches in England and Scotland, the monarchy provided the focus for a British civil religion which was expressed in the development of a national cult of remembrance in the aftermath of the First World War, by the holding of national days of prayer during the war years and by stirring radio broadcasts by King George VI during the Second World War, broadcasts that made heavy use of religious and patriotic rhetoric.4 As in the Victorian era, religious values and churchgoing habits continued to be inculcated among Britain’s governing classes in the nation’s public schools. For the middle classes, churchgoing still remained emblematic of respectability, notwithstanding declining levels of church attendance and an increase in civil marriage among them. Even in the roughest areas of urban Britain, occasional churchgoing was fairly commonplace and a strong church presence was maintained through a vast network of church and Sunday schools, welfare agencies and voluntary societies.5 Despite inter-war disquiet within the churches over the spread of artificial birth control, the liberalisation of the nation’s divorce laws and the impact of organised leisure on Sunday observance,6 the norms of Christian morality were still very much embedded in British law on questions such as abortion and homosexuality. The influence of these norms on the national consciousness was, of course, vividly demonstrated in the public debates surrounding Edward VIII’s relationship with Wallis Simpson and the whole abdication crisis of 1936.7 Finally, Christianity continued to exert a profound influence on popular culture. This influence was reflected in the teaching of scripture in non-denominational council schools, in the churches’ near monopoly of the rites of passage and in a widely shared passion for hymnody that transcended the boundaries of denomination and social class.8 In terms of the media, the influence of the churches was reflected in the wide circulation of literature ranging from the ubiquitous parish magazine to the famous Boy’s Own paper, a magazine published under the auspices of the Religious Tract Society.9 From the early years of the 1920s, the churches’ influence in the media was substantially enhanced by the advent of the BBC and by the rise of religious broadcasting
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1011 1 2 3111 4 5 6 7111 8 9 20111 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 30111 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 40111 1
and a staunch Scottish Presbyterian.10
