equality (noun): necessary for nationalism

                As I sat in the choir of the York Minster, observing Evensong, I absorbed. Sometimes I try to be like a little culture sponge, taking in everything around me and then eventually squeezing it out to see what it means. In this case, I was absorbing the sights and the sounds and even the smells; the beautiful stained glass and plush seats, the choir of all different ages and the lessons read from the lectern, the incense swung by a member of the church clergy. And then, upon leaving the York Minster, my sponge brain began to think about everything I’d just witnessed and what it meant and how it fit in.

                Ironically, my biggest takeaway was not necessarily about the service itself, but about the way it was run and who ran it. The York Minster is an Anglican Cathedral- or the Church of England-, just like St. Paul’s in London, or even the Bath Abbey. In each of these places, everything seemed so structured, and hierarchical, and perfectly orchestrated.

I am by no means an expert in any religion, and especially not the Protestant religion- but I was a little confused. In our class, we've talked a lot about how the Church of England was supposed to dispel the hierarchy, thus leading to equality: but I didn't see this happening.

The Reformation was brought on by people- members of the Church of England- who opposed what was happening. They disagreed with the pope, and the unavailability of the Bible, and the incorrect doctrine being preached. These reformers wanted everybody to have a say in their religion and know what was going on; the Protestant Church stepped in and provided a way for that. It emphasized equality and dissemination of knowledge. Bibles were translated and printed with the help of Gutenberg’s invention; Henry VIII split from the Roman Catholic Church and established instead the sometimes-controversial Church of England; the people called in William of Orange to save the country from its last Catholic ruler.

I hesitate to ask, then, why the Protestant church so closely mirrors that of Catholicism; the Roman Catholic church, which is comprised of Bishops, Priests, Deacon, Cardinals, and the Pope, seems to continue in the Church of England’s use of Pastors and Elders and Deacons and Chancellors and the Supreme Head. The equality that was supposed to be so heralded by the Reformation and the rise of the Protestant Religion doesn’t seem to actually have any less of a hierarchy at all. As a Catholic country, England still felt similar to France and Spain and every other country that was part of the Roman Catholic Church: yet as soon as Protestantism began to take over England, the citizens seemed to branch off and become a more autonomous country, even though (to me) there doesn't actually seem to be much of an observable change in practice. So, for England, was the principle- and not the actual practice- of the promises of the Church of England enough to lead to equality and therefore a growth of nationalism and pride?

                This goes back to the idea of how equality is what is truly required to foster nationalism. For an increased sense of nationalism- despite the nation-, people need to feel equal; they need to feel like they can relate to each other and be comfortable, and there are many ways by which this equality can be achieved. When there is oppression and a lack of education or free thought, how is anybody supposed to start feeling unity or patriotism? This is what really led to the need for a Reformation and the Church of England. The promise of Protestantism brought many things- like a breakdown of the hierarchies, or a greater dissemination of knowledge. So even if it doesn’t seem to me like that is the case in practice, the promise of these things led to increased equality and support for the Church of England and Anglicanism, which in turn helped it to become established and Catholicism driven out. 

Additionally, the creation of the “Other”- Catholicism, Catholic countries in Europe, papal authority- brought people together against a common enemy. The fight for Protestantism and against Catholicism unified many citizens and helped them to see each other as allies and equals instead of separate peoples. Even simply being called under a new name- Protestant- helped people to see themselves differently than before, and similarly to each other. The Church of England became the vessel- like the instrumentalist theory of identity- that was needed to bring about the factors which lead to a feeling of equality and therefore nationalism in England.

                Many other countries have also seen their own rise of nationalism: for the French, the overthrow of the monarchy and establishment of more rights during the French Revolution was their instrument which created equality among the people and then allowed for nationalism. For America, the territorial and political autonomy that occurred after the separation from England led to the creation of equal, unique citizens, which in turn led to nationalism.  

Equality is necessary for nationalism, and there is a plethora of ways that lead to equality; in England, the Church of England was the instrument by which this equality- and therefore increased nationalism- occurred. So, while I sat in the York Minster and watched Evensong, I was seeing the Church of England, but it still did seem to be like the Catholic Church; however, the promises of the Protestant religion allowed for the principle of equality that is needed to form nationalism. 

The outside of the York Minster when we arrived

The Choir, where Evensong was held. (photo courtesy of Google Images)