Reflection on religions and science (see
here) was occasioned by visiting Canterbury Cathedral before seeing Hawking and
Dawkins discussing British scientists on TV. Thus, English religion and British
science.
The Church of England is our state
religion. Henry VIII, like Constantine's successors, established Christianity. Consequently,
C of E Cathedrals belong to everyone, Christian or otherwise. Even if
disestablished, it will remain our historical Church. I agree with the Anglican
refusal to accept a supremacy of the Bishop of Rome over the Archbishop of
Canterbury and with the attempt to combine different branches of Christianity
within a single Church. Canterbury Cathedral contains memorials to British
soldiers killed overseas, including one murdered by a "Mahomatan fanatic", also
described as a "foul assassin". Thus, we can contemplate this record of British
military conflict while now adopting broader attitudes of pluralism and
multiculturalism.
Britain has had the Reformation, the
Puritan Revolution, the Glorious Revolution, the scientific revolution and the
Industrial Revolution. Thus, we now have an established Church, a constitutional
monarchy and the modern capitalism that conquered the world. The world has
changed, is changing and will continue to change but we can still meditate in a
Cathedral.
On the TV programme, "Genius of Britain", Hawking discussed Darwin
and also mentioned the year 1848 though not in relation to the Communist
Manifesto which was published in that year. Marx and Engels, not British but in
Britain, founded "scientific socialism" which, with Darwinism, explains the
transition from single-celled organisms to the world economy.
No comments:
Post a Comment