It may be a thundering good tune by Hubert Parry but William Blake's words are truly a mishmash of old donkey droppings.'Jerusalem' is not and never has been a hymn. It is a testament to silly legend.
"... and did those feet in ancient times walk upon England's green and pleasant land?'
- Er... No!
- Er... No!
It is all based on a ridiculous folk tale that Joseph of Arimathea brought the boy Jesus on a package holiday to Glastonbury.
What utter tosh! And churches have sung about it? Bah humbug!
Well done to Southwark Cathedral for apparently banning it as the piece doesn't even mention God!
Unfortunately, this is not a purely Christian response but also has input from the ubiquitous PC lobby which claims that it should be banned for being militaristic. [The same mob who want to ban 'Onward Christian soldiers.'] Ah, me.
Still - I expect that even they can be right sometimes - even if only by accident!
I do not often want to see traditions rooted out - but in this case ...
LINK: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=558480&in_page_id=1770&in_a_source=
