WHEN CHURCH BELLS RANG

"Ask not for whom the bell tolls;
it tolls for thee."

To Orwell Today,

Hi Jackie,

Just like ORWELL warned us, it seems BIG BROTHER is intent on destroying all things British. Things that denote our nationalist identity are being phased out. Not only is our modern dictionary changed to remove such British words, we now are told that the British Bulldog will be phased out from dog breeding in the future. Even our soaps such as Coronation Street are too embarrassed to show the Christian Cross. At the altar in the church at a recent wedding they covered it with flowers. We as a nation seem too embarrased to admit we are a Christian country with our Queen as the head of the Christian Church of England.

The big news is that Prince Harry referred to a member of his army team as being a Paki, (strange that it took 3 years for this story to emerge). I always thought Paki was an abbreviation for Pakistani, like Brit is for British and Ozzie is for Australian. Seems everyone is becoming so politically correct and scared to offend.

Regards from a Brit limey,
Ray Wills

Greetings Ray,

The doublethink about goodthink is that it's thoughtcrime for a Brit or Ozzie to say "Paki" but not for a Paki to say "Brit" or "Ozzie". See other examples at DOUBLETHINK BLACKWHITE RACISM

Regarding the political incorrectness of the Church of England, recall that in "1984" all that remained of the churches were the buildings (used for other purposes) and the old nursery rhyme "Oranges and lemons, say the Bells of St Clement's...".

Here's the passage from Risking Renting The Room theme:

"...There was a small bookcase in the other corner, and Winston had already gravitated towards it. It contained nothing but rubbish. The old man was standing in front of a picture in a rosewood frame which hung on the other side of the fireplace, opposite the bed. Winston came across to examine the picture. It was steel engraving of an oval building with rectangular windows, and small tower in front. It seemed vaguely familiar.

"The frame's fixed to the wall," said the old man, "but I could unscrew it for you, I dare say."

"I know that building," said Winston finally. "It's a ruin now. It's in the middle of the street outside the Palace of Justice."

"That's right. Outside the Law Courts. It was bombed in - oh many years ago. It was a church at one time. St Clement Danes, its name was. "Oranges and lemons, say the bells of St Clement's!"

"What's that?" said Winston.

"Oh, that was a rhyme we had when I was a little boy. How it goes on I don't remember, but I do know it ended up, 'Here comes a candle to light you to bed, Here comes a chopper to chop off your head.' It was a kind of a dance. They held out their arms for you to pass under, and when they came to 'Here comes a chopper to chop off you head' they brought their arms down and caught you. It was just names of churches. All the London churchers were in it - all the principal ones, that is."

Winston wondered vaguely to what century the church belonged. It was always difficult to determine the age of a London building.

"I never knew it had been a church," he said.

"There's a lot of them left, really," said the old man, "though they've been put to other uses. Now, how did that rhyme go? Ah! I've got it! 'Oranges and lemons, say the bells of St Clement's, You owe me three farthings, say the bells of St Martin's--' There, now, that's as far as I can get. A farthing, that was a small copper coin, looked something like a cent."

"Where was St Martin's?" said Winston.

"St Martin's? That's still standing. It's in VICTORY SQUARE, alongside the picture gallery. A building with a kind of a triangular porch and pillars in front, and a big flight of steps.

Winston lingered for some minutes more, talking to the old man, whose name was Charrington. All the while they were talking the half-remembered rhyme kept running through Winston's head. 'Oranges and lemons say the bells of St Clement's, You owe me three farthings, say the bells of St Martin's!' It was curious, but when you said it to yourself you had the illusion of actually hearing bells, the bells of a lost London that still existed somewhere or other, disguised and forgotten...yet so far as he could remember he had never in real life heard church bells ringing...." [end quoting from "1984"]

The next time I go to England I plan to stand on the steps of St Martin's Church (while it's still standing) and say a prayer for Orwell and Princess Diana. See DIANA ST MARTIN'S BELLE

That's something I've always loved about England and Germany when I lived there, ie waking up to the sound of church bells ringing. Instead of "gather ye rosebuds while ye may" we should 'listen to church bells while we can'.

All the best from a crazy Canuck,
Jackie Jura

22.Doublethink and 27.Goodthink and 20.Thought Police & Snitches

Jackie Jura
~ an independent researcher monitoring local, national and international events ~

email: orwelltoday@gmail.com
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