Muslims upset at "Porking Yard"?
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Posted on 03/27/2005 5:41:38 PM PST by quidnunc
A Church of England bishop has called on churches to ban the singing of I Vow to Thee, My Country, one of the best known hymns, because he says it is heretical and has racist overtones.
The Bishop of Hulme, the Rt Rev Stephen Lowe, said the hymn's popularity was a symptom of a "dangerous" increase in English nationalism which had parallels with the rise of Nazism.
Its associations with the British empire were also questionable in a multi-faith, multi-cultural society.
The patriotic hymn, which is set to music from Gustav Holst's The Planets, is a popular choice for Remembrance Day services and other national occasions.
It was sung at the wedding of the Princess of Wales, who said it had been a favourite of hers since her schooldays. It was also sung at her funeral in 1997. A version was adapted as the anthem for the Rugby World Cup.
The bishop said the words, written by Sir Cecil Spring-Rice in 1918, were "totally heretical" because they suggested that people should pledge their allegiance to their country before God.
"My country, right or wrong is not an appropriate sentiment for Christians to uphold," he said.
He had no objection to the second verse but would not allow the first to be sung at any of his services and urged clergy to think "long and hard" before permitting it.
-snip-
"It is like American culture where there is this view that America is the land of the free when we know it is not. But there are those in America who want to maintain that it is and want to impose their understanding, their culture, their way of doing things on everybody else. That is dangerous."
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(Excerpt) Read more at news.telegraph.co.uk ...
Yes, the name "Chariots of fire" comes from a line in the hymn. By the way, it is my favorite hymn. It has the perfect combination: lyrics by an English poet (Blake), music by a Welshman (Parry), and arranged by the greatest English composer of the 20th century (Elgar).
I think the banning of "I vow to thee my country" and "Jerusalem" is outrageous. I like American patriotism and English patriotism (and also Welsh patriotism too--Wales just won the 6 nations rugby championship for the first time since 1978).
The Church of England seems neither English nore a Church.
Owner of that pub should change the name to "The Boar With Two Heads" and hang out a large graphic figural outlined sign.
I'm sure England has many such named pubs from centuries back.
Same problemo in Germany I believe - wild boar are getting into heavily populated suburbs residential areas.
They need to make sure they are also not "endangered" in France, Amsterdam, Poland, Sweden, Italy.
I'm sure PETA, ALF, Greenpeace & Ham will approve and contribute -
I am not sure about Italy and Poland. They love good food too much :) Who knows will they do if a tasty dinner enters their yard.
"said the hymn's popularity was a symptom of a "dangerous" increase in English nationalism which had parallels with the rise of Nazism."
Nationalism nothing. If he wants to see the REAL legacy of the Nazis, tell him to come to Florida and get a load of our judges. We're killing our innocent disabled here.
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Unfortunately, it lost moral authority a long time ago but has really declined in the last twenty years or so. It is a far cry from when the likes of C.S. Lewis were the spokesmen for the Church.
It's a beautiful hymn.
There is no problem with.
Methinks the Rt Rev Lowe's opinion represents a dangerous increase in cattle manure coming from certain quarters of society.
subtle shot!
haha!! Yeah, really.My ex-wife is British and so for the six years we were married,
we watched a lot of the Brit humor (humour) shows. That one
there played a fruit on Are you being served?.
Aux armes citoyens
Formez vos bataillons
Marchons, marchons
Qu'un sang impur
Abreuve nos sillons
One of my favorite hymns.
This bishop should go find something else to worry about.
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It is missing the last line which goes, if memory serves:
And her ways are ways of gentleness and all her paths are peace
Blake was a British Israelite who believed that Britons were one of the 12 Lost Tribes of Israel.
The hymn is based on a tradition that Joseph of Arimathea brought Jesus to england as a young boy when the former was in the business of importing tin. Not sure where the tradition comes from.
Ditto!
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