Looking back at 60 years removed, we can say several things about the poem [from Matthew Arnold]. Yes, mainstream churches have indeed suffered a collapse in loyalties in Europe, and especially in Britain itself. Bodies like the Church of England are struggling to find solutions for thousands of unneeded buildings. Having said that, there are any number of new and rising churches across the continent ”” many immigrant, others native. Not, of course, that Larkin was trying to write any kind of social science, but that does provide a needed perspective.
I think, though, that the point in the last stanza demands our attention. Even when people abandon churches and religious institutions, those basic needs and hungers remain, and surprisingly often, they try to satisfy them in explicitly religious ways. That is why it is not ridiculous still to count as Christian the millions of Europeans who label themselves in that way, but whose actual participation in religious activities is close to nil. They still seek and need the “serious,” and where else to find it but in places linked to the dead, and to bygone traditions?
When assessing the appeal of religion, in any era, never ever forget that need for connection to the “serious” past.
Good article. But I found an article that was linked to the page even more fascinating. I thought the final scenes in ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ looked familiar and I mentioned this to my son as we were leaving the theatre. I’ve never visited Skellig Michael except through books and the internet but maybe someday…
http://aleteia.org/2016/01/04/star-wars-and-the-isle-named-for-st-michael-the-archangel/