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 />
<strong>The</strong> widespread penetration <strong>of</strong> the events into the print and broadcasting<br />
media, and the demographic density <strong>of</strong> participation, could not have<br />
happened if the discursive power <strong>of</strong> the evangelical narrative had been<br />
seriously diminished. This was especially true <strong>of</strong> young women and girls<br />
who made up nearly three-quarters <strong>of</strong> those who came forward. <strong>The</strong>ir<br />
discursive environment made them highly responsive to the Graham<br />
crusades. Girls growing up in the fifties recall: ‘Christmas is cribs and paintings<br />
<strong>of</strong> baby Jesus all over the school corridors and the inevitable daily<br />
prayers with “Onward <strong>Christian</strong> soldiers”.’ 19 Not believing in God was<br />
unpopular: a girl who proclaimed her unbelief in the school playground<br />
recalled being taunted and called ‘a heathen’ by her classmates. 20 More<br />
broadly, discourses on sexual morality were the commonest currency <strong>of</strong><br />
community policing and wounded the young. John Lennon’s mother ‘lived<br />
in sin’, making him the object <strong>of</strong> persistent jibes and moralistic name-calling<br />
(contributing, some have said, to his defensive and caustic personality),<br />
whilst Carolyn Steedman’s mother hid her unmarried state and prevented<br />
her daughter from proceeding from Sunday school to confirmation class<br />
because <strong>of</strong> the absence <strong>of</strong> a baptismal certificate. 21<br />
<strong>The</strong> ‘<strong>of</strong>ficial’ culture <strong>of</strong> the decade has been described by one writer as<br />
a ‘psychic dam’ 22 imposed by a stolid establishment through the Lord<br />
Chamberlain’s censorship <strong>of</strong> the theatre, the courts’ censorship <strong>of</strong> literature,<br />
and the Reithian ethos <strong>of</strong> intellectual elitism in radio and the new<br />
medium <strong>of</strong> television. It was the generation <strong>of</strong> ‘conservative and respectable<br />
ordinariness’: ‘<strong>The</strong> ordinariness <strong>of</strong> manners, or please-and-thank-you’d<br />
politeness, <strong>of</strong> being a nice girl, who went to the Brownies and Guides, and<br />
for whom the competitions in the annual Produce Association show<br />
provided one <strong>of</strong> the most exciting occasions <strong>of</strong> the year.’ 23 Suburban<br />
ordinariness reached its apogee, enjoyed by older generations as the prize<br />
for enduring two wars and a prolonged economic depression. <strong>The</strong> values<br />
remained the same – order, duty, thrift and respectability – endured by the<br />
young in Sunday school respectability, the Cubs’ ‘Bob-a-job-week’ and the<br />
Brownies’ ‘Purpose Day’. 24 <strong>The</strong> 1950s sought to recreate in the young<br />
not just these values but the evangelical state <strong>of</strong> anxiety about worthiness:<br />
‘I see now,’ wrote Carolyn Steedman three decades later, ‘the relentless<br />
laying down <strong>of</strong> guilt.’ 25<br />
At the same time there was an alternative discursive world in the making<br />
in the 1950s. It was being manufactured by a bohemian and ‘delinquent’<br />
minority, based around Elvis Presley and rock-and-roll from 1956, and<br />
skiffle music in 1958–60, and centred on underground cafes, town hall<br />
dances and art colleges. 26 <strong>The</strong> musical idiom, rather than the lyrics, became<br />
signature tunes or symbols <strong>of</strong> rebelliousness in dress (notably black leather),<br />
sexual activity and illegal drugs. To be such a ‘rebel’ implied important<br />
things about religion. Paul McCartney recalled: ‘It was during that time,<br />
A-levels time, I remember thinking, in many ways I wish I was a lorry<br />
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