Jonathan
Swift's Voice in "Abolishing of Christianity in England"
In "Abolishing
Christianity in England," Jonathan Swift demonstrates a wonderful capacity
to articulate his feelings concerning the current state of the church in relation
to English culture and society by making the speaker in this piece a non-religious
man who seeks to invoke any option that will promote England financial state.
While the narrator in this piece maintains that he is not a religious man, but
a rational man, the positive aspects of promoting the Christianity in England
are made clear. Throughout this piece it is apparent that Swift believes in Christianity
but does not support the negative political ramifications of the fashion in which
Christianity is (or was) being invoked, implicating politics rather than Christianity
as the reason the Church comes into play in ways that are detrimental to the overall
good of England.
The speaker cites the greatest reason for abolishing Christianity to be that the
divisive political aspects of the church will be eliminated, saying, "it
will utterly extinguish parties among us by removing those factious distinctions
of High and Low Church, of Whig and Tory, of Presbyterian and Church of England,"
(2035). Swift's irony in this statement is evident. The speaker's greatest supporting
theory as to why Christianity should be abolished in England derives from how
the church is used as a vehicle to separate or even create various factions of
society. This idea does not connect at all to Christianity, but to how the Church
(Churches) are constructed.
Further, Swift uses the speaker of this essay to illustrate the importance of
Christianity as a truth and to divorce problematic aspects of Churches from aspects
of Christianity. Where the speaker identifies reasons for ending Christianity,
the reader can see clearly that it is the Church that is at fault. Another difference
between Swift and his speaker is that the speaker puts forth ideas concerning
how archaic practices of Christianity are. However, the manner in which these
practices are named antiquated articulates instead that these practices are integral
to tradition as well as very functional.
In one passage, where Swift's voice comes out strongly, the speaker trails off
on how abolishing Christianity would give way to an extra workday. However, the
speaker quickly dives into how practical it is to keep Sundays holy. He says,
"Are fewer claps got on Sunday than other days? Is not that the chief day
for traders to sum up the accounts of the week and for lawyers to prepare their
briefs?...And where so many conveniences or incitements to sleep?" (2035).
Here Swift dives into reasons that Sundays benefit all and advances his argument
to a severely practical level. He notes that "fewer claps" are acquired
on Sundays (I believe that he is referring to the STD...but in any case...) which
is good for unquestionably, that it is a day not used to shut down the world anyhow,
but to create time when people can tend to very necessary tasks, such as the traders
and nappers (if you will--those sleeping). Once again, Swift is working from the
logical speaker to illustrate the logic of keeping Christianity as an institution
in England.
Overall, "Abolishing Christianity in England" is grounded in a very
practical analysis of Christianity, which is drawn by the logical, levelheaded
non-religious speaker. Although, Swift is religious, by defending Christianity
in this fashion, the practical desires of the audience are served while the sum
of Swift's argument is preserved. That is, Swift successfully demonstrates the
importance of maintaining the institutional aspects of Christianity in England
as well as Christianity as a whole and criticizes the use of Christianity as a
political vehicle, while revering it as a social, cultural and religious vehicle.
