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The International Context of Secularization in England: The End of Empire, Immigration, and the Decline of Christian National Identity, 1945–1970

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 January 2015

Alister Chapman
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Abstract

This article discusses the impact of declining British power and increasing Commonwealth immigration on religion in England after the Second World War. It argues that a diminishing sense of Britain's greatness undermined the belief that England was a Christian nation, a belief common among Britain's elites, especially members of the Conservative party, and one that had long undergirded Christian faith and practice in the country. The language of Christian nationhood became toxic as it became associated with unpopular white settler governments in southern Africa. Moreover, the debates over the 1962 Commonwealth Immigrants Act show how the migration of non-Christian religious groups to England had created a situation in which those who wished to continue to speak of the country as Christian would be accused of racism, a charge with fresh bite at that time. The article argues that international contexts deserve greater attention in the study of religious change.

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Articles
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Journal of British Studies , Volume 54 , Issue 1 , January 2015 , pp. 163 - 189
Copyright
Copyright © The North American Conference on British Studies 2015 

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152 Ibid., 715–28.

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154 “Commonwealth Immigrants Bill,” Hansard, House of Commons, vol. 649, 16 November 1961, 802, 777.

155 Ibid., 778–79.

156 Ibid., 777–78.

157 “Commonwealth Immigrants Bill,” Hansard, House of Commons, vol. 654, 27 February 1962, 1234.

158 “Commonwealth Immigrants Bill,” Hansard, House of Commons, vol. 649, 16 November 1961, 765.

159 Ibid., 772.

160 “Union of South Africa (Racialist Policies),” Hansard, House of Commons, vol. 621, 8 April 1960, 799.

161 Barker, “Political Ideas,” 8.

162 Margaret Thatcher, “Speech to General Assembly of the Church of Scotland,” 21 May 1988, http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/107246, accessed May 14, 2012.

163 Peter Clarke, Hope and Glory: Britain 1900–2000 (London, 2004), 380.

164 For more on the importance of the 1950s, see Green, The Passing of Protestant England, especially 264–72.

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172 Quoted in “‘Lift Up Your Hearts’ is to Go,” Daily Mirror, 1 May 1965, 11.

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175 Lord Elton, Commonwealth Youth Sunday, 1937–1962: A History (n.p., 1962), 3.

176 “Empire Youth South, May 21st, 1944: Suggestions for Observance in Great Britain and Northern Ireland,” RCSLC R11/43, Cambridge UL.

177 Robin, “Extracts from an Address.”

178 Empire Youth Sunday 1945, 5, back cover; Empire Youth Sunday 1946, 4; Empire Youth Sunday: Report on the 1955 Observance, 1; RCSLC R11/43, Cambridge UL.

179 “The Queen's Message for Commonwealth Youth Sunday, 10th May 1959,” 1, RCSLC R11/43, Cambridge UL.

180 In 1963, the organizers finally addressed the question of whether the movement should continue to use the word Sunday, given that not everyone in the Commonwealth was a Christian. See P. B. Nevill, “Foreword,” Commonwealth Youth Sunday: Report for 1963, 3, RCSLC R11/43, Cambridge UL.

181 “Almighty God, Who rulest in the kingdom of men, and hast given to our Sovereign Lady Queen Elizabeth, a great dominion in all parts of the earth; Draw together we pray Thee, in true fellowship the men of divers races, languages and customs, who dwell therein, that, bearing one another's burdens, and working together in brotherly concord, they may fulfil the purpose of Thy providence, and set forward Thy everlasting kingdom. Pardon, we beseech Thee, our sins and shortcomings: keep far from us all selfishness and pride: and give us grace to employ Thy good gifts of order and freedom to Thy glory and the welfare of mankind; Through Jesus Christ Thy Son our Lord.—Amen.” Commonwealth Youth Sunday, Report for 1959, inside front cover; RCSLC R11/43, Cambridge UL.

182 “The Reasons for the Discontinuance of the Observance,” Commonwealth Youth Sunday: Report for 1964, RCSLC R11/43, Cambridge UL.

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