MunkyMagikUK
Digiex Blogger
Living a Digital Existence Week 4 (a little late..)
Another week, another blog. Please do enjoy...
“Britishness”
What is it to be British? This is a rather large question being asked by the government at the moment, with Gordon Brown saying that British youngsters aren’t taught about where they come from and from whom we descend. He is saying that we should be taught about British history at school, and to a certain extent, I think he is right.
Ted Philips OBE, a black labour politician, has been quoted as saying “schools throughout the UK, especially faith schools are becoming increasingly polarised”, and I think that this is a very good point. Some people believe that faith schools are the way to go, and others firmly believe that religion and education should be kept separate. I believe that there shouldn’t be faith schools, but not for the reason that I don’t think that religion and education should not be mixed together. I don’t think there is anything wrong with this. After all, we are a very multicultural society and therefore need to learn, accept and integrate ourselves into these cultures, and religion is a big part of culture and so we need to accept that this needs to be learnt about. The reason why I think that faith schools should be abolished is that I think it unnecessarily segregates society, in the way that even if you don’t believe in religion, no matter how good the school is you are forced to be religious against your will. Now, some will say that these people have the choice of going to a conventional comprehensive school, but I don’t believe we should have to make our choices based on what we believe in, but I think we should be able to choose based on the integrity and reputation of the institution.
So back to what is it to be British. When you say Britain, people tend to associate things such as the Queen, Fish & Chips and Cockney accents with being British. Whilst these may all be quintessential British things, I think we have “lost” what it is to be British. At the moment, you are “British” if you were born in the UK or Northern Ireland, Anyone born abroad to a British passport holder, Anyone who has lived in the UK for 5 years or Anyone married to a British Citizen. But I ask you, is this right? Someone can go to Japan, marry a Japanese citizen, and then the Japanese citizen is immediately a British citizen. What are they bringing to the British society? They may be very nice people, but I don’t think it is enough to just marry someone and become a British citizen. You may think, well that’s a bit racist, but there has also been a lot of controversy in the sporting world, with football players who have lived here for 4 years now becoming eligible to play for our national squad. Now, I don’t have a problem with this, as they have lived here for at least 4 years, have contributed to society, and are obviously willing and passionate about playing for England, and so why not let them?
I bet if you went around and asked random people on the street to think of the top of their heads what makes them British they couldn’t tell you, and I know I certainly couldn’t until I thought about it today. In America you have the American constitution which everyone knows, and looks up to no matter what race you are. They can all join together and say “this is what makes me an American and I’m proud”. Over here in the UK we have nothing like this, and I think that we have now blurred the line between being British and being different races & religions. After all, there are now many Asian’s who were in fact born here in the UK, yet because they are Asian in appearance and religion, we class them as if they are not “British”. All I can say is, how bloody ignorant of us.
I think that being British means that we are able to accept people for whomever they are. We are proud, brave and classy. We are able to make sense of bad situations, and then sort them out in a sensible manner. When people say Britain, I think: The BBC, paid for by the British people for the British people. I think the British Empire. And I think of the Queen. I understand what being British is about, and I’m proud.
With all the success of the Beijing Olympics in China this summer, where they had both incredibly successful opening and closing ceremonies, which epitomized everything that is Chinese, I think it is important that in the next 4 years we figure out what it is to be British, so we too can hold a brilliant Olympic games in which we can say “Yes, this is Britain, and we’re proud to live here!”, and if we can’t do this, then I’m afraid I will have lost faith in society.
Here's a brilliant quote from a national newspaper: “Being British is about driving a German car to an Irish pub for a Belgian beer, then on the way home grabbing an Indian curry to sit on a Swedish sofa and watch American shows on a Japanese TV, and most of all being suspicious of anything foreign”.
So tell me, what do you think it is to be British? Are you proud to be British? And what could we do to make people a bit more patriotic. Maybe our American users can tell us what they think of when they hear the word “Britain”. Your feedback, as always, is greatly appreciated.
As a final note, maybe you could try your hand at this test, and see just how British you really are (FYI, I got 7
) BBC NEWS | Magazine | Can you pass a citizenship test?
Until next time...
David
(MunkyMagikUK)
Another week, another blog. Please do enjoy...
“Britishness”
What is it to be British? This is a rather large question being asked by the government at the moment, with Gordon Brown saying that British youngsters aren’t taught about where they come from and from whom we descend. He is saying that we should be taught about British history at school, and to a certain extent, I think he is right.
Ted Philips OBE, a black labour politician, has been quoted as saying “schools throughout the UK, especially faith schools are becoming increasingly polarised”, and I think that this is a very good point. Some people believe that faith schools are the way to go, and others firmly believe that religion and education should be kept separate. I believe that there shouldn’t be faith schools, but not for the reason that I don’t think that religion and education should not be mixed together. I don’t think there is anything wrong with this. After all, we are a very multicultural society and therefore need to learn, accept and integrate ourselves into these cultures, and religion is a big part of culture and so we need to accept that this needs to be learnt about. The reason why I think that faith schools should be abolished is that I think it unnecessarily segregates society, in the way that even if you don’t believe in religion, no matter how good the school is you are forced to be religious against your will. Now, some will say that these people have the choice of going to a conventional comprehensive school, but I don’t believe we should have to make our choices based on what we believe in, but I think we should be able to choose based on the integrity and reputation of the institution.
So back to what is it to be British. When you say Britain, people tend to associate things such as the Queen, Fish & Chips and Cockney accents with being British. Whilst these may all be quintessential British things, I think we have “lost” what it is to be British. At the moment, you are “British” if you were born in the UK or Northern Ireland, Anyone born abroad to a British passport holder, Anyone who has lived in the UK for 5 years or Anyone married to a British Citizen. But I ask you, is this right? Someone can go to Japan, marry a Japanese citizen, and then the Japanese citizen is immediately a British citizen. What are they bringing to the British society? They may be very nice people, but I don’t think it is enough to just marry someone and become a British citizen. You may think, well that’s a bit racist, but there has also been a lot of controversy in the sporting world, with football players who have lived here for 4 years now becoming eligible to play for our national squad. Now, I don’t have a problem with this, as they have lived here for at least 4 years, have contributed to society, and are obviously willing and passionate about playing for England, and so why not let them?
I bet if you went around and asked random people on the street to think of the top of their heads what makes them British they couldn’t tell you, and I know I certainly couldn’t until I thought about it today. In America you have the American constitution which everyone knows, and looks up to no matter what race you are. They can all join together and say “this is what makes me an American and I’m proud”. Over here in the UK we have nothing like this, and I think that we have now blurred the line between being British and being different races & religions. After all, there are now many Asian’s who were in fact born here in the UK, yet because they are Asian in appearance and religion, we class them as if they are not “British”. All I can say is, how bloody ignorant of us.
I think that being British means that we are able to accept people for whomever they are. We are proud, brave and classy. We are able to make sense of bad situations, and then sort them out in a sensible manner. When people say Britain, I think: The BBC, paid for by the British people for the British people. I think the British Empire. And I think of the Queen. I understand what being British is about, and I’m proud.
With all the success of the Beijing Olympics in China this summer, where they had both incredibly successful opening and closing ceremonies, which epitomized everything that is Chinese, I think it is important that in the next 4 years we figure out what it is to be British, so we too can hold a brilliant Olympic games in which we can say “Yes, this is Britain, and we’re proud to live here!”, and if we can’t do this, then I’m afraid I will have lost faith in society.
Here's a brilliant quote from a national newspaper: “Being British is about driving a German car to an Irish pub for a Belgian beer, then on the way home grabbing an Indian curry to sit on a Swedish sofa and watch American shows on a Japanese TV, and most of all being suspicious of anything foreign”.
So tell me, what do you think it is to be British? Are you proud to be British? And what could we do to make people a bit more patriotic. Maybe our American users can tell us what they think of when they hear the word “Britain”. Your feedback, as always, is greatly appreciated.
As a final note, maybe you could try your hand at this test, and see just how British you really are (FYI, I got 7
) BBC NEWS | Magazine | Can you pass a citizenship test?Until next time...
David
(MunkyMagikUK)
) but seriously good article dave, cant wait for you to do little articles for mine when I actually finish it !!!
, some pretty weird qestions they ask, for example the father christmas one i got wrong becasue the myth origionally came from turkey. i do think its about time they added these tests becasue if ur going to move somewhere, doesn't mater if its the UK or any other country, you should make the effort to learn about it. As for what is it to be british..would be a very easy question to answer 100 years ago in the early 20th century, but now we large numbers of people moving to the UK, we are now a heavily multicultured country, so in a way you can say to be british is to live and respect all the various cultures that exist in our nation.
