The Death of Christian Britain
The Death of Christian Britain
The Death of Christian Britain
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— <strong>The</strong> <strong>Death</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Christian</strong> <strong>Britain</strong> —<br />
exaggerated the masculinity <strong>of</strong> David, ‘the kingly man <strong>of</strong> war’, and ‘the<br />
soldier-stories <strong>of</strong> the Bible – full <strong>of</strong> life and adventure’. 113 Indeed, from the<br />
1880s to the 1930s there was an almost obsessive focus on David in evangelical<br />
literature for boys, quite relegating Christ.<br />
However, exploration <strong>of</strong> the role <strong>of</strong> femininity in piety was never far<br />
from the surface in most evangelical literature about men. Religious stories<br />
explored the discourse on the feminised nature <strong>of</strong> the born-again man. In<br />
Sydney Watson’s Disloyal <strong>of</strong> 1891, Frank Holson was converted by the<br />
<strong>Christian</strong> love <strong>of</strong> his wife, and became ‘a constant source <strong>of</strong> wonder to all<br />
who knew him’: ‘His friends in his own wide circle talked <strong>of</strong> him pityingly<br />
behind his back. <strong>The</strong> blasé men, the thoughtless women tapped<br />
their foreheads significantly when his name or his piety was quoted, and<br />
said “Poor Halson! he’s clean gone, don’t-cher know!”’ Frank was<br />
oblivious, having no thought but ‘to glorify God among his fellow-men’:<br />
‘His <strong>Christian</strong>ity was a real, robust life; there was nothing namby-pamby<br />
about it; while a more humble-minded, meek follower <strong>of</strong> Christ could not<br />
be found.’ 114 Another story <strong>of</strong> 1896 told <strong>of</strong> men who refused to help look<br />
after their babies – men who ‘would yet never relieve their poor wife <strong>of</strong> a<br />
bit <strong>of</strong> her load when they go out for the day’, and would not be seen<br />
carrying a child. It featured one father whose sense <strong>of</strong> good outweighed<br />
his concern for manly image, carrying his child and suffering being called<br />
‘a dry nurse’ by his mates. 115 Sexual impurity was delicately tackled.<br />
To become a <strong>Christian</strong>, a mother told her son in one story <strong>of</strong> 1890, a boy<br />
had to restrain his urges, his body having ‘doors on all sides leading to<br />
your inner man’. God’s command through life ‘will come to you, sharp,<br />
stern, and imperative, “Shut the door!” and only your instant, prompt<br />
obedience will save your soul from being sullied.’ 116 Stories returned repeatedly<br />
to warning the <strong>Christian</strong> boy that he would suffer by ‘not following<br />
the crowd’ and would be jeered at for his total abstinence. In short, the<br />
true <strong>Christian</strong> man had to show a restraint which others might take as<br />
effeminacy. His main sacrifice would be having to endure the ridicule <strong>of</strong><br />
his own sex.<br />
EVANGELICAL NARRATIVES ON MEN IN<br />
THE SECULAR PRESS<br />
Victorian and Edwardian secular fiction fed <strong>of</strong>f the moral polarities between<br />
men and women. Moral description was the very basis <strong>of</strong> social description.<br />
117 On the dark side, the drunken, gambling, dissolute wife-beater <strong>of</strong><br />
the ‘slums’ was one <strong>of</strong> the most familiar characters <strong>of</strong> British public<br />
consciousness, whilst just as familiar was the comic ‘t<strong>of</strong>f’ – the gentleman<br />
<strong>of</strong> independent means who spent his life in leisure. Both <strong>of</strong> these were<br />
important objects for discursive disapproval in the religious and secular<br />
108