Losing Religion: More than Half of Britons Say They Have 'No Religion'

[Fishrrman]

http://www.breitbart.com/london/2017/09/04/britain-loses-religion-half-britons-describe-no-religion/

Losing Religion: More than Half of Britons Say They Have 'No Religion'



by VICTORIA FRIEDMAN
4 Sep 2017

For the first time, more than half of Britons describe themselves as having “no religion”, with just 15 per cent of respondents considering themselves a member of the Church of England.

From a study conducted in 2016, data from the British Social Attitudes Survey suggests that 53 per cent of the British public describes themselves as having “no religion” – up from 48 per cent in 2015, reports Christian Today.

When the survey began in 1983, the proportion of those who had no religion stood at just 31 per cent.

Anglicans have halved in number since the year 2000 when 30 per cent claimed to align themselves with the nation’s church, and just three per cent of those aged 18-24 described themselves as Anglican, compared to 40 per cent of those aged 75 and over.

In 2015, former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey warned that the Church of England is only “one generation away from extinction”.

However, the number of those identifying as Catholic – around one in 10 – has remained stable.

It is believed that the fall in religious affiliation has been driven by the growing number of young people, aged 18-24, saying they have no religion – up from 62 per cent in 2015: young people are not replacing baby boomers and the older generations in churches’ pews.

In January, Breitbart London reported that less than a third of millennials believe Britain is a Christian country, whilst more than 40 per cent say the UK has no specific religious identity.

Implying that to mitigate against a falling congregation, the Church of England should abandon core Biblical teachings and liberalise, Roger Harding, head of public attitudes at the National Centre for Social Research, said:

“We know from the British Social Attitudes survey that religious people are becoming more socially liberal on issues like same sex relationships and abortion. With falling numbers, some faith leaders might wonder whether they should be doing more to take their congregation’s lead on adapting to how society is changing.”

Last year, a study by the Pew Research Center estimates that as the fastest growing religion in the world, Islam is expected to pass Christianity by the end of the century.

[Fishrrman]

"More than Half of Britons Say They Have 'No Religion'"

40-50 years from now, that percentage is going to shrink greatly.

But... the "religion" that Brits will have will be... islam.

[TomSea]

And atheism/agnosticism is strong over there. Guess what? Atheists don't reproduce well, I believe that's an established fact. We could end up following them in this country if we are not careful.

[dfwgator]

Like Bobby sang, "You gotta serve somebody."

[Free Vulcan]

Yes they do. It's called Liberalism.

Which is ultimately going to lose to Islam.

[bigheadfred]

"More than Half of Britons Say They Have 'No Religion'"

40-50 years from now, that percentage is going to shrink greatly.

But... the "religion" that Brits will have will be... islam.

In less time there won't be any Brits.

[mountaineer]

Related: Here’s The Answer Rob Bell Won’t Give Aaron Rodgers About Salvation For People ‘In A Remote Rainforest’, by Peter Burfeind in The Federalist:

... Where to begin? First off, ohhhh, how ESPN must have loved this. Another millennial ditching that mean, nasty Christianity? Such stuff is the catnip of the media and coastal elites.

Second, c’mon Aaron! Don’t be a cultural cliché! Of all the cultural clichés out there, millennials growing up in a Christian household and abandoning “organized religion” after “questioning things” is probably the biggest of our era. As a campus pastor and Army chaplain dealing with young people all the time, I constantly hear some variation of “I grew up X, but…” That’s our national religion!

Another phrase for that is “I’m spiritual but not religious.” These are the “nones” we hear so much about. Another word for that is Gnosticism, America’s fastest-growing religion.

That leads to the third. The article says Rodgers grew up in a typical evangelical household, dubbed “non-denominational” in the article. Note to “non-denominationals” and evangelicals: in the Rodgers-Bell-BFF narrative arc, you see why evangelicalism historically always devolves into Unitarianism. Their attempt to eschew denominational labels and think they’re just a-followin’ Jesus just fails.

I’m trying to hold back a “naa na-naa na boo boo” here, but guess what, the world still is calling evangelicals “organized religion” and lumping them with all the organized religions they believed they were rarefying their faith from in an attempt to be ecumenical, broad-minded, and more “authentic,” but which in the end was simply a works-heavy, doctrinally light expression of Christianity that, yeah, will always end up exactly where Rodgers did.

Because here’s the thing: an ethos is still a label. An ethos by its very nature denominates itself from “other.” Americans, perhaps especially since the advent of Internet globalism, have been trying to find that universal spirituality transcending the particulars of “organized” religion, as Rodgers is. But there’s a label even for that, and it’s Gnosticism, which always ends up with some organizational structure with its own standard of doctrines and heresies.   ...

[Suppressed]

I think it would be very wise for conservatives to plan to the time when this is the case here, too.  Can we make a case for personal liberties and a conservative moral framework without leaning on religion as an argument?

[Suppressed]

[LateForLunch]

I think it would be very wise for conservatives to plan to the time when this is the case here, too.  Can we make a case for personal liberties and a conservative moral framework without leaning on religion as an argument?

Well, I agree in one sense (the raw strategic, Machiavellian sense). The fact that most people, even those who say that they are "not religious" also believe in God, but simply don't go to church or practice "conventional" forms of worship, is buried in the article beyond perception.

The United States is a culture that is deeply and fundamentally theistic, even though many (most) do not generally realize this to be true. Judeo-Christian ethos permeates our culture in a good sense.

Rather than embark on notions that we must now construct an entirely new strategy to deal with the future (which really hasn't fundamentally changed except in the aspect of participating in religious meetings) it might be better to simply reinforce the principles of Classical Liberalism which underlie our culture/government (and which are represented almost wholly by conservatism, not leftism) then let the People catch up and realize how and why those principles are connected to reverence and appreciation for God.

[Gefn]

I don't know how many atheists I saw praying right before they had to go in and defend their dissertations when I was in school

Yes, right

[TomSea]

Sep 6, 6:46 AM EDT
Survey: White Christians are now a minority of US population
By RACHEL ZOLL
AP Religion Writer 

NEW YORK (AP) -- The share of Americans who identify as white and Christian has dropped below 50 percent, a transformation fueled by immigration and by growing numbers of people who reject organized religion altogether, according to a new survey released Wednesday.

Christians overall remain a large majority in the U.S., at nearly 70 percent of Americans. However, white Christians, once predominant in the country's religious life, now comprise only 43 percent of the population, according to the Public Religion Research Institute, or PRRI, a polling organization based in Washington. Four decades ago, about eight in 10 Americans were white Christians.

Continued: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_REL_SURVEY_WHITE_CHRISTIANS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2017-09-06-06-46-35