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bsp;British Society and Culture, a textbook designed for English majors
in four-year colleges and universities, is one of the set of textbooks on
British and American Culture. The book covers a wide range of topics on
early and modern British society and culture, including British geography,
political system, constitutional monarchy, government, economy, social
welfare, education, people, entertainment and literature. The contents of
the book are carefully designed, aiming to provide students with an overall
view of the social and cultural life of Great Britain, and in so doing,
broadening the vision of students in the acquisition of the basic skills of
English language at college.
     Different from other introductory textbooks on Great Britain, British
Society and Culture attempts to provide students with the latest
information on British society and culture. The book covers a wide range
of materials selected from the latest publications. In order to let students
have some fresh readings, the format of the book has been changed
somewhat with each chapter beginning with an introduction followed by
one or two pieces of selected reading from reliable sources. The contents
of the book are so designed to let students have more access to the latest
information on the discussed issues through different perspectives.
      British Society and Culture consists of twelve chapters, each of which
contains an introduction and one or two pieces of selected readings
concerning the topic in the chapter.
      New words, expressions and cultural notes are provided for the
introductory part in each chapter and are also listed for the selected
reading. In addition, to assist students in their comprehension of the-
complexity of British society and culture, topics for discussions are also
provided after the introductory part of each chapter. They are by no means
a complete coverage of the topics discussed in each chapter. Students are
encouraged to join the discussions and air their own views on the subject.
     The book can serve as a text for a course on British Society and
Culture for English majors, and can also be used as a reading course book
for students of non-English majors at the college level.
     The completion of this book was the co-effort of many people. Our
gratitude goes firstly to those scholars whose works we have had the honor
of consulting in the process of compiling this book. We owe our debts also
to the editors from the English Section of Nankai University Press,
particularly Zhang Tong and Song Lijun whose valuable suggestions and
careful proofreading have greatly improved the quality of the book. Errors
and mistakes in the book are unavoidable, and we sincerely invite all
readers to offer us their comments, advice and criticism.

  Chapter 4  Religion in Great Britain
      Religious freedom works in contemporary. Britain. A person may
belong to any religion or none, and religious discrimination is unlawful.
There is no religious bar to the holding of public office, except that the
monarch must be a member of the Church of England. None of the
churches is tied specifically to a political party and there are no religious
parties as such in Parliament.
Religious History
     British religious history, which has been characterized by conflict
between Roman Catholics and Protestants, is predominantly Christian.
     There is little evidence of organized religion in very early British
hist