Anglo-Saxon Attitudes

An Englishman Weighs in on this Whole God Business

Having badly offended a British reader who proved too timid to leave a functioning email address, I was naturally cheered to receive the following comment on my post concerning this Yank's perception of British religion (""God is an Englishman. (He lives upstairs---but we don't mention him).")

Naturally I was pleased to have someone say something nice about my maligned piece, but I am posting it as an entry because it perfectly expresses the sentiments I've heard over and over from Brit friends and family, including my pal Mr Rumcove, my co-blogger (at Buck Naked Politics) Cockney Robin, and my husband Nicholas (A Gentleman's Domain).

"A slightly senile uncle,who lives in the attic." Possibly the most perfect description of the english attitude toward church and religion i have come across,bearing in mind I am one of the ninety four percent of the non-godbothering and didn`t find your article boring in the least,quite the contrary.

I think our ambivalent attitude to religion derives from "god" given plagues, religious wars that made merrie england resemble the modern day middle east and a not unreasonable belief that someone who tells you they know what god thinks is probably lying, and trousering what lands on the collection plate. God has been used against the British, papal control from Rome, monarchs after that professing god-given authority and then Cromwell's insane religious dictatorship, the equal of anything that might happen in Iran or Saudi.

We have even used god to beat ourselves up in modern times,the secular battles that have scarred Northern Ireland are only now abating and much work still needs to be done. I deplore the fact that Tyndall was burnt for printing the bible in English,but at least that allows it to be read at home, in private, out of harm's way, where it should be. Charles Darwin was voted in 4th place in a top 100 Briton's poll,creationism will have an uphill struggle in Britain.  (Chris H of Coventry)

After I wrote asking if I might quote him, he emailed the following additional qualifier.

I should have included the terrible Protestant/Catholic murders of the Henry VIII and Elizabeth 1st(my favourite monarch) periods,and also noted  the "scientific and industrial god" of Newton and the industrial revolution where god was envisioned as a "cosmic clockmaker" essentially constructing the universe but allowing us to make the best of the resources provided.

The Last Hangman: A Must-See for the Dedicated Anglophile

Cross-Posted at JUST EAT THE DAMN PEACH. | If you're not in need of light-hearted fun or something upbeat to take your mind off this, that, or the other, I would strongly recommend this film: the misleadingly titled  The Last Hangman, in which the always extraordinary Timothy Spall plays Britain's Albert Pierrepont, the most humane hangman in history.  (The trailer for the film is here).  It unlocks a certain small grey window on a certain period of British history and a certain aspect of British history and culture.  Besides:  Timothy Spall. 

No Soup for London's Homeless?

Courtesy of a bit of a push from my co-blogger (at Buck Naked Politics)  Cockney Robin, I wrote this post on a recent push by a Conservative MP to ban soup kitchens from Westminster.  Scrooging London's Homeless:  No Soup for You!

Morris Dancing & the Full Monty

(Cross-posted in The Flatland Chronicles) I always thought it was a May Day fertility dance dating back to pagan times, but Wikipedia begs to differ.   Shut up, Wikipedia. 

Brilliant. 

Note to the Brits:  there are some traditions you must NEVER allow to die out.

I don't know why my mind went there today.  This is "Essex based 'Cotswold' morris side dancing at Great Warley Spring Fayre on Headley Common, 26th May 2007 (near Brentwood, Essex, UK)."  Hurray! 

I like to imagine them practicing it.  And I like to imagine the recruiting process.   Someone should make a film of it, similar to "The Full Monty"  (my all-time favorite film).

The Sour Taste of Diplomacy? Brits "Humiliated" by Iran?

It beats the hell out of me why, when an international incident and the need for military action is averted, all the Brits join with American neocons and hawks in bemoaning the rancid aftertaste.  The biggest problem in the world today is men who STILL think that the best way to deal with a swaggering schoolyard bully is to drop bombs on civilians or engage in some sort of counter-swagger.  Why?  Why?  I mean, there is definitely a time and a place for intervention, but Iran's capture of British sailor and speedy return of them unharmed wouldn't seem to be the time OR the place. 

Who cares if he pretended to be doing Britain a favor?  Does anyone with a brain really believe that this was the case?  I mean, JESUS.  Anyway, I was pretty sheepish at having rejoiced prematurely that the whole farce had ended without blood shed, and I said so here.  Geoffrey Wheatcroft at Slate schooled me in the correct, dour view.

I felt better when I saw Mickey Kaus (also at Slate) shared my bemusement.  "Didn't Iran blink?" he asked.  Seemed so.  Seemed so.

Finally, my husband (also a Brit) weighed in with his own opinion (and dour view).  In addition to feeling humiliated because Blair didn't engage in a more "robust" display of swagger, he was also disappointed at the deportment of the hostages.  Colditz, John McCain, duty to escape, a sense of dignity:  his disappointment, and my continuing efforts to understand, are all discussed here.

More Lessons in British Culture from an American in England. Instructive!

More funny if rather unkind observations on English culture by Jon Tillman....

As a follow-up to his previous note, "Thirteen Things I Have Learned About America from the British," Jon Tillman has now posted "Thirteen Things I Thought I Knew About England."  Brits and Anglophiles should check it out.  Two of the things he has noted particularly matched my own experience, so I have quoted them here.  (Just because I love the English in general doesn't mean I don't notice things about them I don't like).  But most of the experiences he has had are not the same as the ones I have had.

[quote begins from Jon Tillman, "Thirteen Things I Thought I Knew About England"]

• 2.  Multiculturalism: As an American there is a special type of shame we carry for our recent openly racist past and the lingering inequalities in our society. I expected the UK to be something of a model for racial/cultural integration and harmony, especially given how much the British press seems to go on about being the first to abolish the slave trade and how many languages are spoken in London. What I wasn’t prepared for was that in all of those 300 or so languages, the most oft-uttered phrase in London is “Fuck off back home, then!”...

• 4.  Anti-Americanism: ...I expected quite a bit of overt anti-American sentiment, and all I have encountered is bemusement and disbelief at the idea that someone would voluntarily move out of the States and into the UK, and London at that! Of course, there could be tons of anti-Americanism thrown my way by cultured Brits that I, as an American, am too daft to notice, British disapproval consisting mostly of thinking nasty thoughts about someone while not looking at them or changing one’s facial expression.

[quote ends]

One American's British Education: 13 Valuable Lessons (at Jon Tillman.Com).

This is the most interesting entry I read in last week's meme game, the Thursday 13.  It's called "Thirteen Things I Have Learned About America from the British," and it's posted at Jon Tillman.Com ("Part of the Problem Since 1976"). 

Jon Tillman is living in London and many of his notes address his culture shock.  As he's hanging out with Essex people, he's probably getting a bit of a warped view, particularly about the accent.  (PS.  This is straight from Mr Rumcove, who is from Essex).   Cf. his item 8:

[quote begins from "13 Things I Have Learned About America from the British" at Jon Tillman.com]

8.  Americans Butcher “The Queen’s English”: For instance, did you know that there is no hard ‘A’ sound in the English language. Well, there certainly isn’t in the UK. Nor is the ‘TH’ sound pronounced as you do. It is more of a ‘VV’ sound, as in “I can’t be bovvered to learn to enunciate.

[quote]

As I'm on record as saying I prefer an estuary accent to any accent on the planet (to my husband's disgust, since he speaks only the finest Public School).   And I have to differ with Mr. Tillman about the  hard "A" sound;  just ask one of them to pronounce "taco." 

I have enjoyed reading his politely restrained exasperation with the British in their homeland.  As I'm in a mixed marriage with a Brit, and have a British stepdaughter in her twenties, I have long since adapted to the ways in which they are not at all---AT ALL---like you and me.  We are divided by more than a common language.

The Mil Millington Website and Related Millington-Based Goodness.

If you call yourself an Anglophile, test out your understanding of the English and your tolerance for the British love of light-hearted irony even in the most sacred relationships by reading what remains of columnist/author Mil Millington's  webpage, Things My Girlfriend and I Have Argued About.  But first, to keep from making yourself look foolish by firing off an angry response or a lengthy screed of relationship advice, read my comments in "The Flatland Chronicles" here. 

An update on the Cirencester problem.

If the Cirencester town council thinks they can shut down the debate over the correct pronunciation of their town name with this, they have another think coming.  I will never give in.

I get far more hits at my Salon weblog from queries as to "Cirencester pronunciation"  than I do my other topics.  Almost every day some poor soul ends up at my site trying to find out the right way to pronounce the name of this beautiful and historic city.  Doesn't that tell you something, people of Cirencester?

Wandering Scribe?

[published on July 24, 2006 in "The Flatland Oracles"]

In a posting on 15 July, I talked a bit about homeless bloggers who had used blogging as a means to re-connect with the world. 

One of the bloggers I discussed was "Wandering Scribe," an Englishwoman whose account of her life on the street has led to the sort of success story that an American loves.  I found her blog particularly painful to read poignant reading because of its gentility, restraint, and quiet despair.   You know:  stiff upper lip, "hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way," and so forth.  But the real appeal of the blog to me was the writing.  "Wandering Scribe," whoever she is,  is clearly an educated person with a gift for encapsulating an immense span of experience in a few words.