Religious Views of Enid

[zaidi]

As i was seeing the topic labour or Conservative, the newspaper "Daily Mail" which i heard first time to find about the same thing i searched on it but i found these line about Enid Blyton which astonished me and i thought it would be good to discuss something that we are not aware of .These are the lines:While considered Britain's moral guardian at the height of her fame, privately Enid was wrestling with her religious beliefs and also divorced her first husband Major Hugh Pollock (Matthew MacFadyen) in 1942 and married surgeon Kenneth Waters (Denis Lawson) the following year"
I wanted to ask that from those who think they know about it, what was the confusion that she was having with her religious beliefs i wrote her biography but i never thought she was religious or she had a problem of religion.
I think she may have belief problem but she was a cheerful writer who did not discriminate between people's appearance or religion.

[Anita Bensoussane]

In her Biography, Barabara Stoney prints extracts from letters from Enid Blyton to her friend, Dorothy Richards. In those letters, Enid Blyton says she wants to serve God but finds it hard to see Him as a personal God she can talk to. Nevertheless some of her stories have religious elements, especially the ones written for Lutterworth Press (formerly the Religious Tract Society). Lutterworth asked specifically for books with Christian content, although the religious element is more evident in some titles than in others, but Enid's heart appears to have been in these stories just as much as in her more secular novels. I believe Imogen Smallwood has said that Enid Blyton wasn't very religious. Personally, though, I think the emphasis that religion places on purposefulness and on accountability for one's actions would have appealed to Blyton and she'd have considered it a good thing to pass on such ideals to children. Some of her Lutterworth books, such as The Children at Green Meadows, The Six Bad Boys and The Family at Red-Roofs, focus on ethics rather than religion, while others, notably Those Dreadful Children, focus more on Christianity. There are also references to the peace and comfort of faith in books like The Secret Island. It seems that Enid Blyton viewed religion as a force for good and was happy to promote general Christian values, even though she didn't subscribe to any particular church (she admired her friend Dorothy's commitment to Catholicism, was brought up a Baptist and had her daughters Christened in the Anglican Church).

[Ming]

If memory serves me right Enid was baptised, but I don't think she was very religious, but later on, after forming a close friendship with Imogen's nurse Dorothy Richards (who was convert) she developed some interest in Roman Catholicism. She definitely did admire Dorothy.

From pg 94, Enid Blyton - The Biography by Barbara Stoney, Enid writes to Dorothy:

I feel I want to discuss this spiritual business with you at great length. I can't tolerate you thinking that I am materialistic. I am not as materialistic as I may appear - the things I think about, the deeper side of life I have not very much discussed with anyone, because I have met very few people who either bother to think for themselves or, alternatively, can only think in terms of the Church in which they have been brought up. Now you must be different - because you actually chose your religion when adult, and you are serious about it - though you don't try to force it on anyone. I do believe in God, though perhaps not your idea of God. I do trust him in that I believe there is a real purpose and love behind everything and I do want to serve and love the highest - whatever or whoever that may be.

I would like a personal God like yours, but I find it difficult to believe in one that you can talk to as you do..I am not entirely without belief as you see. I do truly want to be as decent as I can and would like help to be, if it's possible... it is because you get it, I do want to know and I don't mind learning from you.

[zaidi]

What were her basic beliefs and why was she confused with them i got to know she was baptised but what does this mean and was she influenced by Dorothy's beliefs. Was Enid catholic or protestant and was this her confusion between these two sects. Enid was attacked by dementia was this because of her confusion between religion.

[Anita Bensoussane]

I don't think we need to read too much into it. Enid Blyton didn't always find it easy to relate to God on a personal level and she didn't commit to any particular church or attend church regularly as an adult. Perhaps she envied Dorothy a little for having been able to make a clear commitment that brought her security and contentment. However, from what we read in her books it seems that Enid Blyton retained an awareness of God in her life, and of His being the creator of the natural world around her. Maybe that was enough for her.

[Katharine]

I don't think we need to read too much into it. Enid Blyton didn't always find it easy to relate to God on a personal level and she didn't commit to any particular church or attend church regularly as an adult. Perhaps she envied Dorothy a little for having been able to make a clear commitment that brought her security and contentment. However, from what we read in her books it seems that Enid Blyton retained an awareness of God in her life, and of His being the creator of the natural world around her. Maybe that was enough for her.

I doubt she was alone in feeling that way.

[zaidi]

Katharine said
"I doubt she was alone in feeling that way"
I think Katharine said write this really makes a person confused and feel alone where there is know one to discuss who is your own and sometimes it makes you fear that which way shall i take thinking to much on the creation of the world and the God makes you confused what am i thinking this does make you confused when there know one who loves you much, Enid was not having any motherly, brotherly or sisterly love& care but still in her books she shows love affection where as she had none i feel a person like that is never imaginative and does not show or know the meaning of relations like mother, brother, cousins and sisters i would say Enid still took her life positively and we see this in her books i would say "Enid hp-hp Hurray"

[zaidi]

I want to know what others think about Enid's religious views this why i chose just to know please do tell.

[Daisy]

I think others have tried to reply to your question Zaidi. She believed in God. We know that because she said so. There are many people in the world who believe in God, but wouldn't say they belonged to any particular religion and Enid was someone who did not worship in any particular church, either Catholic or Protestant, but nevertheless would have called herself Christian I think. As a writer of books for children she would not want to put too much emphasis on religion, but she did take it seriously, I believe. If you can find a copy of 'The Land of Far Beyond' you may find in there much of what Enid thought herself. It is based on a book written many years ago called 'A Pilgrim's Progress' by John Bunyan.
Enid's own family life was not always very happy, although as a young girl she was very close to her father who taught her such a lot about nature and respect for living things, so we can see she knew what a parent's love was, and although things went wrong for her family she was able to use her experiences to help her to understand the problems of others.

[Moonraker]

As most of the world's terrorism and inhibitions seem connected to the world's religions, I think we should be grateful that Enid kept her religious views mainly to herself!

[zaidi]

Moon raker you are Quite right

[Enikyoga]

I don't think we need to read too much into it. Enid Blyton didn't always find it easy to relate to God on a personal level and she didn't commit to any particular church or attend church regularly as an adult. Perhaps she envied Dorothy a little for having been able to make a clear commitment that brought her security and contentment. However, from what we read in her books it seems that Enid Blyton retained an awareness of God in her life, and of His being the creator of the natural world around her. Maybe that was enough for her.

It seems that according to Barbara Stoney's biography, Enid Blyton almost became a Catholic, but at the last minute chose not to do so. Initially, she was raised as a Baptist. However, there is no indication in Stoney's biography nor elsewhere that she renounced her Baptist faith. Anyway, it is this Baptist association that I convinced Baylor University, the largest Baptist university in the world as well as its being one of my alma mater institutions, to list my book on Enid Blyton in their alumni online magazine (http://www.bayloralumniassociation.com/ ... _under.asp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;).
Stephen Isabirye