Today we visited the recently renovated and expanded Churchill Cabinet War Rooms underneath the Treasury building in Whitehall. For my purposes, it was interesting to see the way in which Churchill used civil religion to engage the British people. As you all know, he was quite the orator. Famously, Churchill said:
I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat…. You ask what is our policy? I will say: It is to wage war by sea, land and air with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us: to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy. You ask what is our aim? I can answer in one word: Victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road will be; for without victory, there is no survival.
Essentially, the War Rooms were an underground facility that ran the British government during World War II. They've even left Churchill's cigar bucket (yes, an entire bucket) beside his bed. This is the site from which he was known to get a bit tipsy and go up on the roof to watch the nighttime bombing raids.
Perhaps the nicest part of the facility is that is refrains from being simply a hagiography of Churchill, a sinner like us all. Our docent was quick to point out his racism, agnosticism, and over-all hegemonic tendencies. Somehow, I tend to respect someone more after I realize that they too have their weaknesses. Does that make sense?
Pax,
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