Religion, the Reformation, and Not Shaking off the Past
I’ve been watching a Channel 4 series ‘The History of Christianity’. Each programme is presented by a different person and focuses on a particular time of importance in the history of Christendom (it’s more or less about western European Christianity and it impacts). The latest episode was presented by Ann Widdecombe and covers the reformation - with a somewhat natural emphasis on the English experience.
It reminded me why I still identify with a religion that I no longer believe in. I am a baptised Catholic and was educated as such, although clearly now I’m not exactly a member in good standing. I disagree strongly with many of the pronouncements of the pope, the restrictions of Catholicism and the attitudes of the church hierarchy. I also strongly dislike the politics, opinions and religious views of Ann Widdecombe, a right wing Conservative politician who converted to Catholicism when the Church of England allowed the ordination of women priests.
The reason that I still identify - when Widdecombe converted to Catholicism she received hate mail describing her as a traitor. Similarly when the Queen became the first monarch to visit Westminster Cathedral (RC) members of the crowd cried out that she was a ‘betrayer’. In commemorative events in the West Country, they still burn the Pope in effigy because of something that happened nearly 500 years ago.
I might no longer be a believer, and I have never experienced overt anti-Catholicism, but it would feel like I was somehow condoning the attitudes of people who think that being Catholic and being British are incompatible. Because they aren’t, at all. I’ve always been English and British, and I’ve nearly always been Catholic and I’ve never had a problem. Somehow, being atheist doesn’t give me a free pass.
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3 Responses to “Religion, the Reformation, and Not Shaking off the Past”
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Yes, I fully agree with you. I was brought up in a part of England where there were few Catholics. It was a bit like belonging to a tribe. It was nice. However, I am now an aetheist, but nevertheless, I still feel a sense of disloyalty to the faith, and I still identify with many Catholic issues. Ann Widdicombe’s programme reminded me of that. I think it is to do with the fact that the reformation, the English Martyrs, and all that happened, is part of our culture and heritage, and that is not something we can escape, or wish to deny.
English and British?
Living on this side of the Atlantic and being Latin American, I have always had a hard time understanding how the UK, British, English, Scotland, and others work.
I learned through Andy Murray, the tennis player, that he hates being called English. He is a proud Scottish. Yet he was a proud representative of the UK at the summer Olympics.
I think I have started to get it. So, are Britain and the UK the same thing?
Thank you for your clear response about the UK, Britain, and the other nationalities. It is complicated. I feel better about myself now. I had good reasons to be confused!
As for the topic of your post, I think all religious persecution should be stopped. Persecution gives its receivers fuel for their cause. It creates martyrs. It gives the movement a reason to unite against the enemy.
Personally, I am against religion, which you seem not to be. But I do not believe in atheist militancy. I think a discussion in the real of ideas is more adequate for gaining territory against dogma.