After a nice little holiday, I'm now back in England and will soon be back home. But I haven't yet decided whether I want my holidays to be over or not.
Picture the scene. An operation, moving house and a trip abroad - all in the space of about 3 weeks. Not quite what I had in mind for this summer originally, but great experience for writing.
Canada is the place I didn't really think it would be - clean, friendly, almost America but not quite, yet a strange sense of social responsibility. I couldn't believe how many opportunities there are for recycling and how welcoming the Canadians are. In some ways, it’s not something we British are used to. In the countryside, where I live in the north particularly, it’s very friendly. But in the cities like London and Manchester, it’s easy to be sucked into the “no eye contact” mode as everyone else pushes each other out of the way in their quest to reach their final destination.
Something else that struck me in Canada was how proud people are to be religious. Not proud in the sense of shouting it from the rooftops, but people aren’t afraid to mention it. And it’s a different kind of religious belief to that in Britain, where people declare themselves to be religious but never attend a place of worship, don’t pray and don’t actually believe in a God (if that’s possible when they say they’re religious).
It’s started me wondering whether religion is such a big part of life in Canada as it in for Americans. If anyone lets knows, drop me an email. It’d be nice to hear.
In Britain, religion and life are almost separated as though they’re two different lives, but other countries are proud of their links with religion and see them as interwoven with ordinary life.
This week’s article is about religion and politics. Click here to read it.
