When a country opts for a national religion whether it is Hinduism, Islam or Christianity there is a deal to be done. In the case of an autocracy that does not involve the population as a whole. The deal is done behind closed doors. It is a top-down accord. This is how it was when Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in this country went this way or that – to Christianity or paganism -- at the behest of the current monarch or chieftain. When a population is invited to take part, as in Iceland in the year 1000, the deal involves options, selection and general agreement.
In England we have an Established Church. To put it another way, that means we are a Christian country. Components of that deal can be seen in bishops having a place in the House of Lords, the monarchy having a place at the top of the ecclesiastical pyramid and the subjects having religious entitlements at the parish level. For the most part we have forgotten how it came to be like this. We think of Henry the Eighth, the head, Elizabeth 1 the supreme governor and a subsesquent erosion of religious interest until such titles became of little consequence to the majority of citizens.
In the English experience a process of unravelling a long-standing deal is taking place. People are withdrawing from accepted practice. In terms of baptism, marriage and funeral rites the bond between being English and being Christian is becoming unfashionable. Parishioners are voting with their feet. Democratic representatives may be conforming to ceremonies involving feudal language and procedures, but when it comes to making decisions, they are likely to do so on a pragmatic basis. In law courts those involved in proceedings may possibly make undertakings before a God they don’t believe in. In all this to-ing and fro-ing there is little sense of an exit strategy, more of a catch-as-catch-can process. A piece-meal re-arrangement is taking place.
The principle of conformity requires compromise. That does not call for instant repudiation; we often have to make the best of what may be an awkward state of affairs. It is always necessary to ask: what is the alternative? And what looks more or less acceptable to an 18th century rural English landowner may look less than relevant to a 21st century urban voter.
It may help to put the C of E into the frame alongside other institutions. We are at present considering the structure of the BBC and the NHS. Both exist to provide services for the whole population. In each case we have questions to answer. The views taken by patients or audiences are important. Similar factors prevail as far as an established Church is concerned. We may find ourselves pondering the pressures that drive an Established Church towards toward something more like deism than Christianity. We are looking at the acceptable face of religion in this country. That means reviewing the terms of the deal and giving consideration to an alternative. That inevitably means a consideration of dis-establishment.
VIEWING OXFORD
St Michael at the North Gate has an Anglo-Saxon tower which is as good a vantage point as any to view the city and its environs. The tower was built a few years before the Norman take-over and was restored in 1986. It claims to be the oldest building in Oxford. The church has a full programme and a welcome for visitors.
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