Philip Turner: The Achilles Heel of Anglicanism (In North America and the United Kingdom)

by: Rev. Dr. Philip Turner
Friday, April 15th, 2011

For many years I studied in England or worked within the British sphere of influence; and during that time I learned to look forward to Alastair Cooke’s, “Letter from America.” I enjoyed his broadcasts immensely because of their positive presentation of American life. I was surrounded by the British media that portrayed America as a cautionary tale warning the British people that, if they were not careful, they might become like their American cousins. A positive word about my “homeland” provided a welcome antidote to compliments from my English friends that were in truth insults. “You’re so nice,” they would say. “You don’t seem like an American at all”

I am tempted to entitle this essay also “A Letter from America.” This time, however, the letter would comment on how these fears have been realized. From afar, Britons look increasingly like their American cousins, and the change in appearance has not been for the better. How is this so? The difference in English usage remains and increases daily. Public manners remain (marginally) more civil in England, and the English Bobby still provides a welcome alternative to “The Wire.”

However, these differences are superficial. Under the surface the two societies grow increasingly similar. Both peoples seem fixated on the same things–birth, death and sex. Read the English tabloids and then take a look at the magazine stands in America’s supermarkets. No real difference! The important matter for present purposes, however, is that the change in the character of social relations typical of both societies to one degree or another has begun to migrate into the life of the church. As a result, the same issues have come to dominate relations both within and between the churches, with the result that the culture wars have migrated into the very heart of church life.  the rest