Essay on Religion and British Society

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4.
Great Britain was a sovereign protestant nation in which the King was the head of state as well as defender of faith. The British believed that any control by the Pope over British society must be rejected. Yet the British society believed that citizens had the right to a personal relationship with God or any other religion without priest or church involvement. Citizens were not forced to worship any god or religion either. The British society accepted that it was their duty to remain a monarchy because they had a variety of supporting institutions including aristocracy, army, gentry and church. They considered these institutions as best traditions for a guiding society. Even with the monarchy sitting in a high level of authority they are obligated to accept guidance from an elected assembly. The Parliament must always be supreme in British society and cannot have its power limited in any way by any institution. The British society believed that all behavior of individuals and institutions, even the King must abide to the law. The British middle class respected the government and believed that they should be accountable to an elected assembly in the raising and spending of taxes. British government policies were mainly based on mercantilistic beliefs. They believed that an imperial system of trade and political power would increase Britain’s power and prestige throughout the world. They also believed that colonies should serve the interest of the mother country and they should be taxed for their own defense. Many British businessmen had come to accept the new belief underlying a market controlled economy. They established more private entrepreneurships that had less government interference. They also knew that competition and profit are better guides for economic success than government control.
Great Britain was a very proud nation and had a very strict worldview. If a British citizen with a British worldview would probably not accept the French’ worldview because of the major differences between the two countries. In Britain, citizens were not forced to believe in any religion. The British citizen may think that the French are a radical religious group. The French believe that those who do not know the teachings of Christ live their lives in error and this may cause the British citizen to think negatively of them. Coming from a society where churches have a little power in the community, I would think that the British citizen would probably see the religion as more of a cult. He/she would also think that the people of France are weak and misled but the leader of the country is a Pope. France’s economic belief system would be the only worldview that may impress that British citizen. He/she may see France as a country with a very dominant economy being controlled by resources. Yet he/she may think that France is foolish not to trade resources with other countries because from his worldview, Britain is a country that trades constantly with neighbor and other colonies. He/she may acknowledge France’s belief that a nation’s power is through accumulation of gold because it is similar to his own where an imperial system of trade would increase their nation’s power.
The same can be said when the British worldview meets the Iroquoian worldview. The British will see the Iroquois as a very spiritual nation with many aspects regarding spirits and sacred symbols. This may cause the British them to think negatively of the Iroquois. Politically, the British may laugh at the Iroquois because in an Iroquoian society, the women are the head of the house and expected to provide leadership in a society. In a British society, men were always the dominating gender because they have greater physical capabilities. The Iroquoian belief that power should be diffused throughout the community may cause the British to think foolishly of them because the British believe that ordinary citizens should not be granted power, only the parliament
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