Faith and Fighting

Unfortunately, I didn't take this picture. But you can imagine what it'd be like if I did.

Something I noticed while visiting St. Paul’s cathedral was the military memorials and graves that had been placed there. To me and (I’m assuming) viewers like you, this is a foreign concept, because church and state are separated in America. In class, we’ve been talking about how national identity is created. There are lots of factors that can go into this, but what I’ve noticed while walking around historic sites here is that religion and military are often linked. Religion especially seems to be very important to the British, and the fact that they bury a lot of their generals and statesmen in their cathedrals or on sacred ground draws attention to this connection.

I remember learning about the revolutionary war and being so proud of my forefathers for having fought off the British- Britain was the man back then. They made their mark on every single continent, and had tons of influence on the rest of the world throughout history. In any sense, Britain is known for having an awesome military, which is something that Brits have incorporated into their identity. I guess if I was known as a world-dominator, I’d be pretty proud of that too (oh wait...).

Another thing that backed up this religion and military theory is the layout of Carisbrooke castle, which is on the Isle of Wight. This castle was built as a military establishment, to show power and keep people protected. Right at the entrance of the castle is a small chapel - it doesn’t look like much on the outside, but the inside is gorgeous. It’s obvious that a lot of time and thought went into this little chapel, and you can clearly see that the people who built it were devoted to Christ. Not only does the interior decorating reflect that, but the fact that they made sure to build a castle in the fortress seems to drive home the point. AND they have a military memorial inside, further proving that Brits seem to often link military and religion together as part of their identity.  This may be a subconscious link, but it’s there nonetheless.

This aspect of British identity could stem from the belief that England has a divine right to rule. I found this idea reflected in Rule, Britannia!, a patriotic hymn that is sung by the people of Britain today. Within this song, military and religion are tied together in the idea of having a god-given right to expand the British empire.

When Britain first, at heaven's command,
Arose from out the azure main,
This was the charter of the land,
And Guardian Angels sang this strain:

Rule, Britannia! Britannia, rule the waves!
Britons never, never, never shall be slaves.

It is easy to think that British identify with the themes in this hymn if they have been singing it for many years. They see themselves as military giants, with heaven granting them this divine right; as reflected in symbols and structures throughout the country. It is not to say that these two things are not part of British identity when on their own, but enough evidence of them being paired together gives me the idea that the two hold much of what it means to be a Briton.

Overall, I find this an interesting concept because, like I said, church and state aren’t linked in America. And, in my opinion, I don’t know that they should be. It seems to me like one could easily blur the lines of religion, and perhaps do things in the name of religion that aren’t necessarily moral. However, using this link to create a stronger identity and unite the country could potentially be beneficial, and seems to have worked for England so far.