Atheists Now Outnumber Christians in England and Wales as Sharp Religious Decline Continues

[SirLinksALot]

SOURCE: CHRISTIAN POST

http://m.christianpost.com/news/atheists-outnumber-christians-england-wales-sharp-religious-decline-continues-164497/?m=1

by: Stoyan Zaimov

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New research into the religious beliefs of people in the U.K. has found that for the first time ever, those without a religion outnumber Christians, at least when it comes to the countries of England and Wales.

"The striking thing is the clear sense of the growth of 'no religion' as a proportion of the population," said Stephen Bullivant, senior lecturer in theology and ethics at St Mary's Catholic University in Twickenham.

"The main driver is people who were brought up with some religion now saying they have no religion. What we're seeing is an acceleration in the numbers of people not only not practising their faith on a regular basis, but not even ticking the box. The reason for that is the big question in the sociology of religion," added Bullivant, who analyzed data collected through British Social Attitudes surveys over three decades.

The Guardian pointed out that while the statement does not hold true for the entirety of the U.K. when Scotland and Northern Ireland are added in, when looking at England and Wales specifically, as many as 48.5 percent of the population stated they have no religion back in 2014. Those who belonged to Christian denominations, on the other hand, made up only 43.8 percent of the share.

Bullivant's report stated that Anglicans and Catholics who have been brought up in their respective religions are most likely to leave the church, with four out of 10 adults raised as Anglicans deciding to abandon their faith.

"Churches need to take this kind of data very seriously," Bullivant said. "When analysing data you see patterns that you might not necessarily notice otherwise. This can flag up areas for further research or groups that need particular pastoral attention."

A spokesperson for the Church of England who responded to the report said that many of those who identify with having no faith are being drawn to secularism and or humanism.

"In a global context, adherence to religion is growing rather than decreasing. Christianity remains the world's largest religion with over 2 billion adherents. In the U.K. the latest census found the overwhelming majority of people to have a faith," the spokesman added.

Rising trends of secularism have been reported across Europe in the past decade, with a study in March finding that the majority of Norwegians also no longer believe in God.

The Norwegian Monitor/Ipsos Norway found that 39 percent of respondents do not believe in God, and only 37 percent do, with another 23 percent undecided on the question.

[TomSea]

I would think, anyone who has talked to Brits notes this, they have a lot of atheists, a lot of people who think, "yeah, Christianity caused a bunch of wars" type of attitude or similar. And it is not just England and Wales but other parts of Europe too.

At the same time, I think charity is a very important value in Christianity.

There is the "World Giving Index", a ranking of the most charitable countries.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Giving_Index

For some reason, Myanmar,  a highly Buddhist nation I believe has been #1 for the last 2 years; but after that,  the USA, Canada, UK, Netherlands and Ireland are all in the top 10 and I think that tells one something.

Per the UK, one sure wonders about what role the number of Muslims will play.

So, this is a loaded topic I have dealt with before in discussions. All food for thought.

[Wingnut]

They are just gonna have a ball with the new majority religion moving on in.

[EC]

I'm not convinced for a couple of reasons.

First one - screwing with pollsters is something of a national past-time. 66 million people crammed into a fairly small island and part of another, with a third of them in a 40 mile radius? You learn to both mind your own business and aggressively protect your own privacy, or you go nuts.

Second, related, and far more important - religion here is considered a VERY private matter and not for public display. This is partially a remainder of the fallout from Whoring Henry. Wasn't so long since that Catholics were barred from public office. They are still barred, both legally and by custom, from marrying into the Royal family to the third degree. Partially it's also a residue of the Empire - they had a fixed rule that as long as they aren't killing each other or damaging the Empire, you leave people's religion alone.

[TomSea]

I think I saw some recent poll on Brits or those from England and Wales that believed in God and that was a good positive figure for the most part. 

So polls come out but it's not necessarily gospel, etched in stone.

[alicewonders]

I think I saw some recent poll on Brits or those from England and Wales that believed in God and that was a good positive figure for the most part. 

So polls come out but it's not necessarily gospel, etched in stone.

Polls are driven by who is paying to have the poll done. 

[Suppressed]

I'm not convinced for a couple of reasons.

But don't you think that Millennial Britons have grown very anti-religion??

[EC]

You got me thinking now.

The pattern seems to be - and I'm generalizing from the various neighborhoods I know and a few years as a high school teacher here -

Church on Sunday - the mainstream denominations aren't full, by any stretch of the imagination. Say a third full - mostly the older people with a smattering of other ages. The Evangelist Churches and the African Churches - they're busy. Fun places, too, and a huge age range attend.

Church group and Sunday School - we have the Catholic, Baptist and Methodist ones within a 3 minute walk from our front door, and every one of the Sunday Schools is packed. Kids from 4 to about 10 or 11 are coming out of the woodwork. So either every woman of childbearing age at the actual service has an average of 17 kids, or there's a lot of parents don't attend much themselves, but value their kids getting a religious education.

The real missing group is from about 11 to 25 years old. See them in Church for weddings, funerals and other obligatory things only. So it seems like the Millennials are less religious. Yet, thinking back, it was exactly the same when I were that age. Sundays were for working, playing, or fighting the previous night's hangover. Not church.

What I will be interested to see is if, as the missing age, settle, have kids - will they then send their kids to Sunday school, as was done for them?

[Fishrrman]

Title:
"Atheists Now Outnumber Christians in England and Wales as Sharp Religious Decline Continues"

Christianity may be in decline, but islam is ascendant and rising fast.

Within 40 more years -- two generations -- the U.K. is going to declare itself a muslim nation:
Britanistan.

Probably not much that can be done to halt that "decline", either.