A few days ago now, a report came out indicating that today only 50% of children know the Lord’s Prayer off by heart whereas in 1972 the rate was 90%. Shock horror!
Before worrying about whether this matters or not, does this survey actually say what we think it does ? In 1972, there was a far greater expectation for children to memorise things and that is less so now. Ignoring whether this is good or bad, it may well be that children in 1972 would claim to know the Lord’s Prayer when they didn’t quite. And children today are perhaps less likely to exaggerate their knowledge.
As an example (although I’m long past the age where I can claim to be a child), I’m not likely to claim I know the Lord’s Prayer off by heart, but if I find myself in the sort of surroundings where the Lord’s Prayer is solemnly chanted, the words are likely to come back to me.
And does it matter ?
Well, a child who goes to church to plead with their god is going to pick it up pretty quickly anyway (at least if it’s a christian church of the persuasion that believes in the Lord’s Prayer), so there is no worry about that point.
As to establishing the cultural tradition of the UK, it seems to me that knowing the Lord’s Prayer is less important than knowing Beowulf or Gray’s Elegy yet how many people know either off by heart ? Or have even read it ? Being aware of (and having read) all three is much more important than having memorised any.