A report of religious conditions in Great Britain

Puzzled People

IN THE September 1946 issue—thirteen months ago—The Dawn reviewed a book published in Great Britain under the auspices of the Church of England, which set forth the deplorable lack of faith and Christian ethics among the people of the British Isles and outlined a plan for the conversion of the nation. The main body of the book consisted of a report by a committee of fifty dignitaries of the Church of England, including five bishops.

The report of this committee appointed by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York was forthright and unbiased. It was impartial in pointing out the shortcomings of the clergy as well as the laity. Concerning the clergy, for example, the committee reported that many of them, especially the younger ones of the cloth, knew little of what was in the Bible, and did not know how to pray. The committee reported unbelief rampant in city and country alike, and said that if the condition was to be remedied church workers would have to get busy outside the churches, for the people are no longer to be found in the churches.

This report of the Church of England’s Investigating Committee, recommending an all-out campaign for the conversion of England through the use of the pulpit, the newspaper, the radio, the motion picture theatres, and by individual efforts in shops, factories, and offices, was issued three years ago. It is to be presumed that the plan has been put forward as zealously as possible, so it is interesting now to study another report on the religious conditions in Great Britain and to observe how much progress has been made, if any, to reconvert the Christian nation of Great Britain to Christianity.

Such a report is available in a book recently published in England by Mass-Observation, and entitled, “Puzzled People.” Mass-Observation in Great Britain compares with the Gallup Poll organization in America. It is an organization which devotes itself to finding out the attitudes and viewpoints of the masses. Mass-Observation was employed by the Ethical Union of Great Britain “to study religious and kindred beliefs amongst a representative sample of ordinary people.” In a preface to the report written by the general secretary of the Ethical Union, we find the following frank admission:

“None of those who will look with interest for the results of such an investigation will find any reason for satisfaction in these pages, unless he is prepared to be satisfied with the triumph of Roman Catholic indoctrination, or the ignorance and confusion of those who call themselves Christian, or the self-sufficient hedonism of crudely rationalist young men and the tendency of their views and ways to provide a model. The report reveals, at the level of opinion, a mental and moral chaos—the chaos of mass democracy.”

As the details of the report are studied it is not difficult to see why the writer of the. preface speaks of the mental and moral chaos of the people. Summing up the significance of the findings of Mass-Observation, the writer of the book, “Puzzled People,” says,

“The implicit overall moral of this report is that very many are today lost in the wilderness of free opinion; that they want extraneous standards and are at sea without them. Life, deprived of many of the ready-made aims and targets which it held for our grandparents, calls for much more original thought from ordinary people, and there are signs that many of them are standing up badly to the strain.”

These general conclusions based upon the findings of Mass-Observation indicate that, all is not well in the religious world of the British Isles. But what improvement has been made in the years since the Church of England decided to reconvert the people of the nation? Mass-Observation’s report reveals that at the most not more than one person in ten now goes to church with any degree of regularity, and that another two go at intervals ranging up to once a year.

But the fact of only one person in ten attending church regularly is not all that Mass-Observation’s report reveals. Of those who attend church regularly, or intermittently, one-quarter do not believe in an after life, the report shows. On the other hand, one-fifth of those who do not attend church do believe in an after life. The chaotic condition of the people’s minds is further revealed by the fact that of the doubters, agnostics, and atheists, over a quarter say they pray on occasions to the God whose existence they doubt. One in twelve of these went to church within the last six months, compared with one in three of those who say they believe in God. Over half the non-believers consider that there should be religious education in schools.

A further study of the report indicates that the so-called orthodoxy of the established churches is being discarded more rapidly than faith in a deity. While large proportions of the people are critical of the churches and of the priests and ministers in the churches, few of them have any real criticism of Jesus, except to say that his standards are too high to be practicable.

Mass-Observation’s survey revealed a surprising lack of knowledge concerning the supposedly well-known teachings of the Bible. Many, especially young people, were frank to confess that they didn’t know what the Ten Commandments were; and even older people admitted that they had long since forgotten them.

It was found that very few people prayed with any degree of regularity. Six, in ten of unbelievers who claimed that they prayed indicated that their incentives to prayer were times of danger when they sensed the need of protection. Ninety-eight per cent of Catholics interviewed claimed that they prayed at other times than in the church.

Still another very interesting phase of the report indicates that among the small minority who still have faith in religion it has come to mean little more than being kind and neighborly, doing good when opportunity arises. The Golden Rule, which the port explains is the common factor of numerous religious and ethical systems, persists, “but without the sanction of faith, or any other sanction than habit and vague memories of childhood teachings.”

“Broadly speaking,” the report states, “criticism of religion comes most from those groups who are the least interested, least informed. Criticism and disillusion centres chiefly on organized religion, on the churches and their dignitaries, and on the ostentatious practice of religion, rather than on religion itself.” With these and related facts before him, the writer of the report based upon the findings of Mass-Observation concludes:

“Established leadership is becoming increasingly remote from ordinary people. If it does not re-establish contact soon, unattached loyalties and desires may well find a focus in some new leadership, uncritically accepted because it succeeds in establishing direct contact with immediate, long-felt human needs. The decline in religious faith is but one symptom of an all-round decline of faith in the future, accelerated by war, accentuated by the inevitable anxieties of peace. The need for faith, whether religious or secular, is shown to be acute, though only partially articulate as yet.

“Whether pre-existing faiths re-establish themselves or new faiths arise, is a matter which seems likely to settle itself within the next few years—for people cannot carry on for long in the profoundly negative frame of mind which characterizes the short-term outlook of so many today.

“And if our analysis is correct, the search for a basic faith sanctioning accepted standards of conduct makes the immediate future actions of the Established Church of equally vital importance to future stabilities. The persistence of the Christian ethic today rests on extremely flimsy foundations. Majority good will remains in the current attitude of benevolent neutrality. But, at present, good will persists largely for want of alternative. If an alternative offers it may be seized on hungrily, uncritically and irrevocably. ‘The Conversion of England,’ if it is to be accomplished by the Established Church, will have to be accomplished soon.”

The statement in the foregoing quotation, “The Conversion of England,” is an allusion to the suggested program of the Church of England’s Investigating Committee as to how the people of Great Britain might be brought back to the fold of the “Established Church.” It would appear that in the years since the program was adopted exactly nothing has been accomplished toward this end; that the people are as atheistic and ungodly now as before, and probably more so.

To students of prophecy who are acquainted with the divine plan of the ages this condition of things is not surprising, for it is what we have been expecting. And when we say this, it is with a consciousness of the fact that what is true in Great Britain is likewise true throughout the remainder of the professed Christian world. Certainly the people of America are no better off religiously than those of England. And why is this so? It is because the so-called Christian world has been Christian in name only, and now that the sham and hypocrisy is being brought to light by the compelling logic of events, the people are rapidly losing faith in those things which once they took for granted and revered.

Naturally the first result of this is chaos, a chaos which forms part of a “time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation.” One of the prophecies which describes this states that “the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.” (Matt. 24:29) The “heavens” of this prophecy are the same as mentioned by the Apostle Peter when he wrote of “the heavens and earth which are now,” and tells us that they shall “pass away with a great noise.” (II Peter 3:7,10) These heavens are the religious ruling powers of the order of things which is now disintegrating, the powers which helped to keep the people under restraint in the belief that their obedience to the established customs and laws of the Church and State was their sacred duty toward God.

In this way the “heavens” of the present cosmos exercised a tremendous power over the people, but now these powers are being shaken. No longer do any considerable number of the people pay blind homage to ecclesiasticism and its dogmas, except Catholics, and even among these doubts are increasing, especially in European countries. But as the report of Mass-Observation reveals, the loss of faith in established religion has not only left the people in a state of chaos with respect to standards of right and wrong, but it has left a vacuum in their lives which sooner or later will have to be filled, for the mere fact of rejecting the wrong does not in itself fill its place with the right.

Will the concerted efforts of the churches throughout the professed Christian world result in the recapture of the people’s affections and homage? We believe not, and for the reason that the churches have nothing different to offer than that which the people have already rejected. The Scriptures show that the real remedy for this increasing chaos in the world will come only through the channels of the kingdom of Christ. God has not been pleased with the dogmas of the established churches—their doctrines of eternal torture, the trinity, the burning up of the earth, and other unreasonable doctrines which have blasphemed his name. Now the fire of his jealousy is causing them to disintegrate. But later, when the entire social structure has thus been consumed, he will “turn to the people a pure language,” and because of the enlightenment of mind and heart resulting therefrom, they “will serve him with one consent.”—Zeph. 3:8,9

While we look forward with joy to this ultimate outcome of present world chaos and distress, we should not be oblivious to the opportunities which this condition of things offers of bearing witness to the truth. Mass-Observation’s report shows that although the people are losing faith in orthodoxy, in organized religion, in the clergy, and in established ritualism, they are at the same time reaching out for something to fill the void in their lives which has resulted from their disillusionment. Among the masses in this frame of mind there are sure to be some who will find in the truth that which will satisfy their longings, that to which both their reason and their faith can assent.

It is, then, a golden opportunity for those who know the truth to proclaim it far and wide. It will not do for us to say that all these people will be enlightened in the Millennium, therefore we have no responsibility now, for God is testing our worthiness of sharing with Jesus in the future kingdom work by the measure of self-sacrificing interest we manifest in sounding forth his praises now by telling the distressed people of the earth about the near-establishment of his kingdom. May we not shirk our responsibility.

Another interesting fact which comes to light in Mass-Observation’s findings is that as religious dogmas of the Dark Ages are discarded, about all that is left of religion is the idea of kindliness as expressed in the Golden Rule. This is quite understandable in the light of the unreasonable and unscriptural theories of the creeds, but it is well to be on guard against the development of such an attitude among us who are enlightened by present truth.

Too great a freedom of thought on the part of those not prepared to use such freedom wisely and scripturally might easily lead to the discarding of precious doctrines of the truth. If we adopt the slogan of freedom and liberty as a creed we too, even as those of the nominal church, might easily reach the point where the only important consideration in our religious lives would be the practice of the Golden Rule. This alone would not constitute us Christians at all, for as the report of Mass-Observation reminds us, this concept of right is adhered to by other religions also, and is practiced even by ethical groups which do not claim to be religious:

There is no, excuse for a real Christian discarding, or losing faith in the doctrines of the divine plan, all of which are firmly established in the Word of God, simply because others in the exercise of their liberty of thought have discovered that the crude teachings of the Dark Ages are not worthy of acceptation in this enlightened day. It is well that the people are rejecting the God dishonoring teachings of the Dark Ages, but it is no evidence of religious bigotry to adhere tenaciously to the doctrines of the divine plan, those glorious doctrines which satisfy our heads as well as our hearts, furnish us with the meaning of the world-disturbing events of our day, and give us a definite assurance of a happy world of tomorrow.

—Work together or perish

Scientists Renew Warning

ON NOVEMBER 17, 1946, the Emergency Committee of Atomic Scientists at Princeton, New Jersey, issued the following six-point warning to the world concerning the dangers which lie ahead if the nations do not find a way to live together in peace:

“1. Atomic bombs can now be made cheaply and in large numbers. They will become more destructive.

“2. There is no military defense against atomic bombs and none is to be expected.

“3. Other nations can rediscover our secret processes by themselves.

“4. Preparedness against atomic war is futile, and if attempted will ruin the structure of our social order.

“5. If war breaks out, atomic bombs will be used, and they will surely destroy our civilization.

“6. There is no solution to this problem except international control of atomic energy and ultimately, the elimination of war.”

Now this warning has been republished by the same committee, together with a stark acknowledgment that today the threat of the atomic bomb is more ominous than ever, and that no progress whatever has been made toward international, understanding and world co-operation. In republishing its six-point warning the committee of scientists observed:

“A year has passed since the founding of this committee and the publication of our first appeal to reason in the face of the overwhelming threat presented to civilization by the atomic bomb. During this year our hopes for international agreement on control of atomic energy have come to nothing. It is imperative that the American people understand this failure if any constructive solutions are to be arrived at in time.

“Can thoughtful and well-informed men any longer expect fruitful agreements to come out of the discussions now going on in the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission? Are the American proposals for the international control of atomic energy fair? Are the Russians to blame that any agreement is farther away than at the initiation of the discussions?

“These are questions of varying degrees of importance, but the imperative question, the answer to which is a matter of historic necessity, is: ‘How can we reach a world consensus to abolish in the near future the threat of atomic war, and ultimately the possibility of war itself?’ If we fail to find the answer to this question, the answer to any other question is irrelevant.

“All signs indicate that we are failing to meet the challenge. Peoples throughout the world want peace as never before, yet nations prepare feverishly for war. Preparation goes on day and night on both the material and psychological planes. Instead of the ‘One World,’ which men proclaimed a few short years ago, we have come even to the partition of existing nations.

“… Militarism is rampant throughout the world. In all history, never in any period of ‘peace’ have so many men been under arms. Even in Great Britain and America, with their great anti-militarist traditions, liberal-thinking men, considering the necessities of the situation, turn to the ‘realistic’ solution. The Prussian disease of which the German and Japanese state have died is beginning to infest the conquerors. Events during the past year have emphasized the pertinence of our six-point statement published on November 17, 1946.”

This committee of scientists admit that what they thought a year ago would be a workable solution of the problem posed by the threat of atomic destruction, namely, international control of this dreadful element of destruction, is futile. “To foster this hope today,” they say, “as we move into a world divided into two armed camps, would be a betrayal of our responsibility.” Explaining why the nations are failing to arrive at a peaceful solution of their problems, the scientists say:

“The representatives of the great states, while striving to safeguard the peace, have fulfilled their traditional duty to place their own nations in the most advantageous position to win the next war. It is useless to proceed further along this path; one cannot prepare for war and expect peace.”

How true! But this is a truth that the nations seemingly have not yet learned. The absurd philosophy that in order to have peace you must prepare for war still governs the policy makers in all the great nations, including America. Now our leading scientists recognize how foolish it is. The nations will not have peace until they prepare for peace; and they will not do this until they are taught the futility of their own self-seeking philosophy by the agencies of Christ’s kingdom. Only then will they “beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks.” (Isa. 2:4; Micah 4:3) Only then will they use atomic energy solely to help supply the needs of the people instead of to destroy them.

“America must be prepared to mobilize her vast resources on an adequate scale to help the peoples of the world lift the levels of their economic life,” say the scientists. Here is a statement which strikes right at the heart of the whole international problem, for it highlights the stark truth that up to now international diplomacy has been predicated on the selfish idea that it is necessary for one nation to compete with another, both in peace and in war, in order to obtain for itself the necessities of life. In this pattern of self-interest the people of strong nations have always had more to eat and better clothes to wear and better homes in which to live, than the weak nations.

This scheme of things will no longer work. The bright shining of the Master’s presence—the prophetic increase of knowledge—has enlightened the world sufficiently to make the people restless and dissatisfied unless they can be assured equality. The spirit of jubilee is abroad in the earth, and civilization will be wrecked by it, for the reason that national selfishness in every country will continue to dictate.

Even here in America, the people as a whole would rebel against any administration in Washington which would initiate measures to lower the standard of living here in order that the standard of living in China might be raised. In this respect nations are like individuals. The family that lives in a mansion and can afford all the luxuries of life—and still have millions of dollars to leave to relatives at death—would consider it an injustice if compelled by law to share that wealth and comfort with their neighbors. They would be glad at Christmas to send a turkey to their less fortunate neighbors as an act of charity, but to share their wealth by governmental decree would be cause for rebellion.

So it is among nations, and because of this, there will be no way found to prevent destruction by atomic bombs until present civilization has been destroyed and the nations reduced to such dire straits by their own selfishness and foolishness that the people who remain will begin to say, “Let us go up to the mountain [kingdom] of the Lord, … and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths.” (Micah 4:1-4; Isa. 2:3) The imminence of atomic destruction is evidence that man has nearly reached his extremity, and we are glad that all the problems of human selfishness will soon be solved by the kingdom of the Lord.

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