Editing George Orwell (section)

===Religion===
[[File:Graves of Astor and Orwell, All Saints, Sutton Courtenay - geograph.org.uk - 362296.jpg|alt=A small row of gravestones|thumb|Orwell was an atheist and a robust critic of Christianity. Nevertheless, he was sentimentally attached to church services, and was buried in All Saints' parish churchyard in [[Sutton Courtenay]], Oxfordshire.]]
Orwell was an [[Atheism|atheist]] who identified himself with the [[humanism|humanist]] outlook on life.<ref>{{cite web
 |last = Gray
 |first =Robert
 |title = Orwell vs God – A very Christian atheist
 |work=The Spectator |location=UK |date=11 June 2011
|url = https://www.spectator.co.uk/2011/06/orwell-vs-god/
 |access-date =2 November 2017}}</ref> Despite this, and despite his criticisms of both religious doctrine and religious organisations, he nevertheless regularly participated in the social and civic life of the church, including by attending [[Church of England]] Holy Communion.<ref>Cushman, Thomas and John Rodden (eds.), ''George Orwell: Into the Twenty-first Century'' (2004), p. 98.</ref> Acknowledging this contradiction, he once said: "It seems rather mean to go to HC [Holy Communion] when one doesn't believe, but I have passed myself off for pious & there is nothing for it but to keep up with the deception."<ref>"Letter to Eleanor Jaques, 19 October 1932" in ''The Collected Essays, Journalism, and Letters of George Orwell: An Age Like This'', ed. Sonia Orwell and Ian Angus. Harcourt, Brace & World Inc. New York, 1968. p. 102</ref> He had two Anglican marriages and left instructions for an Anglican funeral.<ref>Why Orwell Matters (2003), p. 123</ref> Orwell was also well-read in Biblical literature and could quote lengthy passages from the [[Book of Common Prayer]] from memory.<ref>''A Patriot After All, 1940–1941'', p. xxvi, Secker & Warburg 1998 {{ISBN|0436205408}}</ref>

His extensive knowledge of the [[Bible]] came coupled with unsparing criticism of its philosophy, and as an adult he could not bring himself to believe in its tenets. He said in part V of his essay, "[[Such, Such Were the Joys]]", that "Till about the age of fourteen I believed in God, and believed that the accounts given of him were true. But I was well aware that I did not love him."<ref>{{cite web|last=Orwell|first=George|title=Such, Such Were the Joys|url=http://georgeorwellnovels.com/essays/such-such-were-the-joys/|access-date=23 November 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140203141422/http://georgeorwellnovels.com/essays/such-such-were-the-joys/|archive-date=3 February 2014}}</ref> Orwell directly contrasted Christianity with [[secular humanism]] in his essay "[[Lear, Tolstoy and the Fool]]", finding the latter philosophy more palatable and less "self-interested". The literary critic [[James Wood (critic)|James Wood]] wrote that in the struggle, as he saw it, between Christianity and [[humanism]], "Orwell was on the humanist side, of course".<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/04/13/a-fine-rage|last=Wood|first=James|author-link=James Wood (critic)|title=A Fine Rage|magazine=[[The New Yorker]]|access-date=8 February 2017|date=13 April 2009}}</ref>

Orwell's writing was often explicitly critical of religion, and Christianity in particular. He found the church to be a "selfish&nbsp;[...] church of the [[landed gentry]]" with its establishment "out of touch" with the majority of its communicants and altogether a pernicious influence on public life.<ref name="Voorhees1986">{{cite book|last=Voorhees|first=Richard A.|title=The paradox of George Orwell|year=1986|publisher=Purdue University Press|location=West Lafayette, Ind|isbn=978-0911198805|pages=18–19}}</ref> His contradictory and sometimes ambiguous views about the social benefits of religious affiliation mirrored the dichotomies between his public and private lives: Stephen Ingle wrote that it was as if the writer George Orwell "vaunted" his unbelief while Eric Blair the individual retained "a deeply ingrained religiosity".<ref name=autogenerated5>{{cite book|last=Ingle|first=Stephen|title=George Orwell: a political life|year=1993|publisher=Manchester University Press|location=Manchester, England|isbn=978-0719032332|page=110}}</ref>