‘Lord's Prayer better recognised than national anthem, Churchill or Shakespeare'
An extract from the Lord's Prayer was more recognisable to people than part of the British national anthem and one of Shakespeare's most famous works, polling has suggested.
The prayer, also known as the Our Father, also appeared better known than a famous line from Star Wars, the words of wartime prime minister Winston Churchill and Liverpool football anthem You'll Never Walk Alone, according to the survey.
Of just over 2,000 people across the UK asked last month – in polling commissioned by the Church of England – 80.3% correctly recognised the line 'Give us this day our daily bread' was from the ancient prayer.
This came just ahead of Star Wars, with 79.9% recognising the line 'May the force be with you' came from the films.
Of all those polled, 89% said they had heard of the Lord's Prayer or the Our Father, with 88% of those who identified themselves as having no religion still having heard of the prayer.
When it came to other famous lines from history, 'To be or not to be' from Shakespeare's Hamlet play was recognised by just under three-quarters (73%) of respondents, while fewer than two thirds (63%) correctly matched the lines 'happy and glorious, long to reign over us' as being from Britain's national anthem, God Save The King.
Around six in 10 (61%) respondents recognised the line 'Never in the field of human conflict, was so much owed by so many to so few' from Churchill's 1940 speech to MPs in Parliament.
More than half (58%) recognised 'You'll never walk alone' as being from the song by Gerry and the Pacemakers, and is the adopted anthem for Liverpool football club.
Least well-known of the seven extracts from famous works given were the lines 'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times' from Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities, matched correctly by just 39% of people.
The findings also showed that 16% of those surveyed said they had not heard of the national anthem lines, while 14% said they had not heard of the line 'You'll never walk alone'.
The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, said the findings suggest the prayer remains a 'steady guide' and something which continues to 'resonate with people of all faiths and none'.
Mr Cottrell is leading a 'tour' of events at churches and cathedrals across the north of England as part of his Faith In The North initiative, with a focus on the prayer.
He said: 'These results reflect what we've been hearing across the north of England through our Faith In The North initiative, which invites people to explore the Lord's Prayer.
'Though ancient, its words continue to resonate with people of all faiths and none.
'In a world of shifting cultures and changing circumstances, the Lord's Prayer remains a steady guide – perhaps never more so than now.
'Lines like 'Give us this day our daily bread' speak powerfully to today's challenges, reminding us to seek sufficiency, not excess, and to consider what 'enough' truly means.'
The polling comes ahead of the Thy Kingdom Come prayer movement finishing this Pentecost Sunday, with events taking place in churches across the globe.
– Pollster Savanta interviewed 2,035 UK respondents online between May 23 and 26 and said data was weighted to be representative of the general public by age, gender, region and ethnicity.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Yahoo
‘Lord's Prayer better recognised than national anthem, Churchill or Shakespeare'
An extract from the Lord's Prayer was more recognisable to people than part of the British national anthem and one of Shakespeare's most famous works, polling has suggested. The prayer, also known as the Our Father, also appeared better known than a famous line from Star Wars, the words of wartime prime minister Winston Churchill and Liverpool football anthem You'll Never Walk Alone, according to the survey. Of just over 2,000 people across the UK asked last month – in polling commissioned by the Church of England – 80.3% correctly recognised the line 'Give us this day our daily bread' was from the ancient prayer. This came just ahead of Star Wars, with 79.9% recognising the line 'May the force be with you' came from the films. Of all those polled, 89% said they had heard of the Lord's Prayer or the Our Father, with 88% of those who identified themselves as having no religion still having heard of the prayer. When it came to other famous lines from history, 'To be or not to be' from Shakespeare's Hamlet play was recognised by just under three-quarters (73%) of respondents, while fewer than two thirds (63%) correctly matched the lines 'happy and glorious, long to reign over us' as being from Britain's national anthem, God Save The King. Around six in 10 (61%) respondents recognised the line 'Never in the field of human conflict, was so much owed by so many to so few' from Churchill's 1940 speech to MPs in Parliament. More than half (58%) recognised 'You'll never walk alone' as being from the song by Gerry and the Pacemakers, and is the adopted anthem for Liverpool football club. Least well-known of the seven extracts from famous works given were the lines 'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times' from Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities, matched correctly by just 39% of people. The findings also showed that 16% of those surveyed said they had not heard of the national anthem lines, while 14% said they had not heard of the line 'You'll never walk alone'. The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, said the findings suggest the prayer remains a 'steady guide' and something which continues to 'resonate with people of all faiths and none'. Mr Cottrell is leading a 'tour' of events at churches and cathedrals across the north of England as part of his Faith In The North initiative, with a focus on the prayer. He said: 'These results reflect what we've been hearing across the north of England through our Faith In The North initiative, which invites people to explore the Lord's Prayer. 'Though ancient, its words continue to resonate with people of all faiths and none. 'In a world of shifting cultures and changing circumstances, the Lord's Prayer remains a steady guide – perhaps never more so than now. 'Lines like 'Give us this day our daily bread' speak powerfully to today's challenges, reminding us to seek sufficiency, not excess, and to consider what 'enough' truly means.' The polling comes ahead of the Thy Kingdom Come prayer movement finishing this Pentecost Sunday, with events taking place in churches across the globe. – Pollster Savanta interviewed 2,035 UK respondents online between May 23 and 26 and said data was weighted to be representative of the general public by age, gender, region and ethnicity.
New York Times
19 hours ago
- New York Times
The Surprising Joy of Lego's $5 Mini Builds
Early on the morning of my 34th birthday, I found myself at Target in search of shampoo to get through a weeklong trip visiting a friend. There I was, standing in the checkout line, when something small caught my eye. Without hesitation, I grabbed it. It was a $5 Lego Mini Build of a Star Wars TIE Interceptor. This was no ordinary impulse purchase. It was a bell tolling me back to a long string of elementary school birthdays, when Lego sets always made their way into my hands — an occupational hazard of having two grandfathers who were engineers. I couldn't pinpoint the last time I'd bought myself a Lego set, but the year certainly began with 19. As soon as I got back, I spilled the mere 48 pieces of the TIE Interceptor set across the desk in my friend's guest room. Hour by hour, I'd return to it over the course of the day, snapping together a few more pieces, following one more half step in the instruction booklet, until finally, just before midnight, the build sat completed in the palm of my hand. These small sets — known in the Lego community as polybags — have since become a checkout-aisle purchase on every Target trip I make. For the low price of $5, I can briefly go back in time and enter the meditative trance of clicking bricks. Before that fateful Target run, I hadn't consciously decided to stop buying Lego. It was a thing that just kind of happened. First, people stopped buying sets for me, assuming I'd grown out of them. Then I stopped spending what little money I managed to make as a kid on Lego. And gradually the habit left my life entirely. It certainly didn't help that, as an adult, I've almost always lived in small New York apartments, which offer relatively little space for me to spread out and assemble massive sets and even less space to store them once completed. The other issue is that most of the sets I might want — the sprawling Rivendell set from The Lord of the Rings, or the mammoth Titanic, or a Millennium Falcon the size of a large pizza — cost several hundred dollars. An X-Wing Starfighter in pursuit of a TIE Interceptor. Rebecca Hartje Polybag sets represent, for me, the perfect balance of everything I loved about Lego without any of the obstacles that made me stop buying sets in the first place. They are so small that I can effectively build them on my lap. Once completed, they take up virtually no space, fitting neatly in a drawer or discreetly on a shelf. I don't mind looking at them, and their diminutive size makes them oddly adorable as I stash them away in surprising corners of my apartment. Most importantly, they are $5 — a sum of money just below the threshold where I begin to mentally account for my spending. Considering the cost of some big sets, you might think that $5 wouldn't get you very far in the world of Lego, but these are some of the most rewarding dollars I've spent. These sets are the perfect impulse purchase. I never finish one and ask myself, 'Did I really need this?' Rarely do quick, little treats deliver so thoroughly on their promise. Polybags usually have anywhere from 50 to 100 pieces. Some include a minifigure. And almost all of them are from big, banner Lego themes, like Star Wars or the Lego Creator line. They often include an ingenious repurposing of pieces from other sets: The thrusts on an X-Wing Starfighter, for example, seem to be lightsaber hilts from larger Star Wars sets. This season, I'm particularly fond of the Botanicals Mini Build, Field Flowers, four stalks from different plants that now live in a tiki cocktail glass in my living room. And as a bird nerd, I also like the Lego Creator Tropical Toucan and the bed of flowers sitting at its feet (which has crept up in price to roughly $10). A tropical toucan with a bed of flowers is one of three builds possible in this set. Alexander Aciman/NYT Wirecutter And I am not alone in my love of these little sets. 'I do often grab a Lego polybag in the checkout aisle if the theme catches my eye,' says Wirecutter writer and resident AFOL (Adult Fan of Lego) Joshua Lyon. 'The bag tends to sit unopened on my desk. Months, sometimes years later, I'll find the little treasure buried under office detritus, and that's what delights me — Lego polybags are small and inexpensive enough to become a surprise treat at some point down the line.' Something about the constraints of the size, and the need for polybags to be both satisfying to build and satisfying to behold when completed, traces along the edges of minimalism. They're like the haiku of Lego sets. They always feel very thoughtfully designed. As a result, polybag sets rarely seem incomplete, too small, or dissatisfying. A polybag set is exactly what it is supposed to be, no more, no less. They certainly never feel like tawdry, corporate money grabs. Some fanfare surrounds polybag releases, too. According to Joshua, many of the most sought-after polybags are Star Wars –themed. The downside of their popularity is that some polybags tend to sell out quickly. (I had to visit three different Targets before I finally found a mini Millennium Falcon. ) This set is surprisingly complex and rewarding to build for how few pieces it uses, and it yields a colorful and adorably small display piece. What I like most about a polybag is that putting one together is a bit like a mindfulness exercise. If I go slowly, building one can last for an entire hour-long episode of TV. If I am away on a trip, something about sitting in a hotel room alone and snapping bricks together over the course of an hour can feel grounding. I am always present when working on a polybag set, even when I am physically elsewhere. Although I usually find mine at Target, they're also available for purchase at Walmart and Barnes & Noble. If there's a particular set I'm after that is either sold out in stores or from a previous season, I can usually find it on eBay for slightly more than the $5 retail price. All 77 pieces of the Field Flowers polybag prior to assembly. Alexander Aciman/NYT Wirecutter The botanicals don't look quite like real flowers, but they are also impossible to overwater. Rebecca Hartje All 77 pieces of the Field Flowers polybag prior to assembly. Alexander Aciman/NYT Wirecutter At times, these smaller sets can feel like a gateway to more aggressive investment in larger Lego sets. I certainly feel a greater magnetic pull toward the Lego aisle in stores now, whereas previously I would have absentmindedly passed it by altogether. The fact that Lego officially calls polybags Recruitment Bags only reaffirms that their true purpose is to reel in lapsed Lego fans and still-uninitiated children. But larger sets will always lack the ephemerality of polybags — the fleeting, paper-crane-like nature of a Mini Build, which is the reason I love them so much to begin with. They enter my life almost as quickly and as easily as they come together. Fortunately for me, the constraints of real estate and square footage also help keep me in check. But if you ever come over to my apartment and dare to open my medicine cabinet, you might just find a TIE Interceptor pointed right at you. This article was edited by Hannah Rimm and Megan Beauchamp. From a van Gogh piece to a retro radio, these are our favorite Lego sets for adults. Our kid testers, and their parents, loved these Lego sets. Our resident Lego obsessive tested nine sets of the flashy, fake flora. Here's what to know before you make (or give) your own garden of earthly delights.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Opinion: The world can never afford to forget D-Day
Less than 1% of the 16.4 million soldiers who fought in World War II are alive today, according to the World War II Museum. That translates into about 66,000 veterans. But those figures are a year old, so the numbers are certainly much fewer today. The museum says 131 World War II veterans die each day, on average. As the world prepares to commemorate the 81st anniversary of the remarkable military victory known as Operation Overlord, or D-Day, which took place on June 6, 1944, it's worth pondering what will happen when no participant in that remarkable day is alive. How long will the world remember what heroes did to preserve freedom and liberty at a time when the forces of tyranny, fascism and bondage were so strong and formidable? The question is impossible to answer unless today's generation resolves to keep the stories alive. The war was captured in more video and audio recordings than any war preceding it. Many of today's new crop of senior citizens were raised on stories told by parents and other relatives who fought, or by immigrants who came here after being liberated by U.S. soldiers. It will be up to each new generation to keep the remarkable deeds of that day alive, and to pray that a similar sacrifice will not be required in the future. The U.S. Holocaust Museum estimates between 180,000 and 220,000 European refugees came to the United States between 1933 and 1945. Nazi persecution was the largest motivator for this migration, at least for those who were lucky enough to make it here. The world cannot afford to forget the lessons of tyranny and its many warning signs. Unfortunately, tyranny and oppression, with its typical progression toward expansionism through war, never seem to go out of style. Today, the free world faces new threats from nations that seem to be consolidating power. A war is underway once more in Europe. The NATO alliance is facing pressure and threats. Unity is more important than it has been at any time since 1945. Four years before D-Day, when Britain faced its darkest days under German aggression, Prime Minister Winston Churchill famously told the House of Commons: 'We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.' Ultimately, that promise and the victory over tyranny required the united efforts of many allied nations, led by the United States. The war's outcome would have been different if not for the daring and deadly invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe on D-Day. On that first day, 4,414 Allied soldiers died. Thousands more were to give their lives before Adolf Hitler's forces were crushed. Before that happened, Churchill's words turned prophetic. The allies did indeed fight on the streets in France, and on the sea and in the air, liberating suffering people as far north as Norway. The word 'hero' gets overused in modern society. However, its application is never more appropriate than when used on the soldiers who fought on D-Day. As one veteran from that day told the Deseret News years ago, he and his fellow soldiers had been told, in stark terms, that half the men in the group were going to die on that mission. 'They told us that. But everybody went anyway,' he said. That is stunning to contemplate. That character, that love of freedom more than love of their own lives, is what the world honors each June 6. It is something the world must continue to honor, to study, to ponder and to absorb forever.
