Is God Still an Englishman? Cole Moreton

Book Review.
Moreton, Cole. Is God Still An Englishman? How we lost our faith (but found new soul). Little,Brown. 2010.
Comment. Henry.
In this resource Cole Moreton, an author, broadcaster and journalist, sets out his answers to the questions, Who are we?, What do we believe?, Where are we going?. He declares that the English have completely lost faith in Christianity, the Church has died, and a uniquely English spirituality has evolved that he identifies as a ‘new soul’. He is also presenting his own personal journey from being a teen-age fundamentalist to becoming a cynical atheist and subscribing to a pagan religion that predated the Christian era of Great Britain. He gives some interesting, accurate, explanations of movements and influencers who have been part of the spiritual scene in G.B. in this past century.
Cole begins his ‘story’ with a presentation of the fairy tale wedding of Charles and Diana which sets the stage for a broader assessment of English society that demonstrated a real lack of integrity and being out of touch with reality. Margaret Thatcher is presented as a supposed champion of “the English God” (56) concept but ended up doing more harm than any other person to kill that concept.
The British religious environment experienced a significant impact through the crusades of Billy Graham in the mid 80’s. Cole actually responded to the ‘altar calls’ at one of the services. He goes on to share his personal experiences as a fundamentalist who experienced it all; in your face evangelism, tongues, healings, etc.
Issues are raised that had national consequences. The British monarchy became an object of criticism and even disgust because of the (mis)behaviour of certain royals. On the Anglican Church scene homosexuality became a very divisive issue. Less controversial changes happened such as the introduction of Sunday shopping.
An imported version of the Toronto Blessing had quite an impact on a number of Anglican congregations. Alpha was something new and an effective method of introducing Christianity to ‘seekers’. The program spread world- wide. American ‘healers’ like Morris Cerullo and Benny Hinn created quite a stir.
Princess Diana’s tragic death became an event that shook the nation. Y2K marked the end of “the Decade of Evangelism”. (269) It was during this time that Cole went through an “anti-conversion experience”. (270)
In the closing chapters the author develops the process of exactly what followed when the nation lost its faith. There was a return to paganism “the ancestral religion of the whole of humanity”. (336) “We may have lost our faith in the old-fashioned God, but we have also found new soul.” (346)