OUR NATIONAL LIFE: A Christian Perspective on the State of the Nation
Edited by Allister Vale
Monarch Books. 250 pages. £12.99
ISBN 1 85424 391 8
This book was published to mark the 150th anniversary of the National Club, which was founded in the mid-19th century to bring a Christian perspective to bear on our national life.
The book is a series of essays which attempts a Christian assessment of our national life today. The contributors are drawn from the Christian 'great and the good', not so much the theologians and preachers, but those with secular careers particularly in science, medicine and business.
Like most compilations, the contributions vary, not so much in quality but some are quite lengthy, like Professor Berry's on the environment, while others are relatively brief. Nonetheless, with 15 contributions, there is a bold attempt to cover a wide spectrum of issues; the monarchy, the ethics of business, education, the family, our personal finances, the Lottery, health, genetics, euthanasia, drugs, pornography, and the environment, as well as some reflections on how to influence our national life generally.
Since reviewers are never less than human, I must confess that my 'first glance' impression of the book as I opened its parcel was along the lines of 'worthy and waffly', but as I actually began to read through the essays, I began to find myself pleasantly surprised. The contributions are from thoughtful and experienced people who have useful things to say. The tenor is informative rather than critical but you learn something, in fact, quite a lot.
Having said this, I felt there were two main weaknesses. One was the omission of some crucial issues like the European Union, and multi-culturalism, which are having a huge impact on our society and on which some careful comment would have been welcome. The other weakness was the sense that the big picture of where our post-modern secular culture is actually going - rapidly downhill - was just not sufficiently appreciated. Some of us wonder what our 'national life' will be like, if it exists at all, in not many decades hence.
