AIBU to think that people should stop claiming we are a Christian country.

[Ohbehave1]

Church attendances are at a very low level. How can we claim to be Christian when virtually no one goes to church any more. It seems people are when it suits them ( births, deaths and marriages or to be anti non Christian )

[AgentZigzag]

It's more about the foundations of the country isn't it?

It's OK, you won't catch christianity just by living here

[PoundingTheStreets]

I think most people are probably referring to the fact that traditional UK culture owes its biggest influence to Christianity. We have a Christian-tradition culture, regardless of the religious piety of its members.

I am an atheist. I still think of myself as living in a Christian culture. I love what other cultures have to offer and I dislike the level of religion in schools, which I feel should be secular, but I still consider myself as living in a Christian culture.

[GonzoFlyingProducts]

Strange but true, more people go to church on Sunday than to Football on Saturday. Gary Linnekar, Service of the day, BBC1 10:30 - "and that one's really hit the pack of the pulpit".

[DPotter]

Church attendance may be falling, however the UK is a country with a Christian heritage and there's no escaping from that. Our laws and traditions are based upon that Christianity.

[Mypubesarestraight]

I'm a Christian and I don't attend church.
I worship my own way.

[ilovelamp82]

But we are in a Christian country. I am an atheist myself but we collectively take our holidays around Christian holidays for example.

[AndNowItsSeven]

Yabu

[Ohbehave1]

But are we really a Christian country? I agree our laws are based on Christian mythology ideology but the number of people that are practicing Christians is small.

[WhereYouLeftIt]

YABU; we are a Christian country and I say that as an atheist. It has next to nothing to do with church attendance, but is to do with the structure of our society.

The Queen is head of the Church of England. Bishops sit in the House of Lords. Sunday is our day of rest (it's Saturday for Judaism). Public Holidays are Christian festivals such as Easter and Christmas. Even the word 'holiday' derives from 'holy day'. And in swearing, a common oath is 'For Christ's sake'. Christianity is woven into the fabric of our history, obviously in the Tudor era and more subtly in others, but always influencing the direction the country took.

If the entire country declared themselves (and were) atheist, and nobody at all went to church ever, this would still be a Christian country.

[BBQueen]

Where are you getting your figures from? What is"small" to you?

[ilovesooty]

Practising Christianity is different from whether the country has a Christian heritage.

[IguanaTail]

Plus the whole of the education system was built around the church.

[Whatsinaname2011]

Yabu we are a Christian country. I'm an atheist though.

[awfullyproper]

...but we are!!

Another atheist.

[mimishimmi]

We felt abandoned by the church after WW2 and a lot of family members left... especially on my mum's side. It seemed to be run by people who had absolutely no problems blaming us for our poverty and treated us like dirt when we knew it was their wars that made us that way. Lots of mistrust and very, very upset about what happened in Europe and here (clamping down on dissent, oppression of minorities). My parents are still very religious but in a wounded , isolated kind of way ... not in a " the only people who deserve to be here are Christian" because that didn't turn out very well for so many people. I think a lot of what is going on today are the repercussions of that.

[PeasOnEarth]

I'm a Christian, and don't feel like I live in a Christian country - most of my family and colleagues have no faith, and it is on the periphery of most people's lives that I know.
There's a phenomenon where around 60% of people tick the "Christian" box on a census but around 10% attend a Christian fellowship regularly (>2 Sundays a months).

[Ohbehave1]

Exactly peasonearth. I would not deny we are a country built on Christian values, but we are far from a country were everyone that ticks a box on the census form as Christian is actually a practicing Christian.

[CreepingDogFart]

Ohbehave would you refer to other religious ideologies as being mythological or just Christianity? There's a difference between being an atheist and being condescending about people's beliefs. One is what YOU believe, that there is nothing to believe IN. That's still a belief system. The other is you being arrogant.

[Sirzy]

You don't need to go to church though to be a Christian. People can identify as Christian without feeling the need to attend church weekly to do so.

[Hurr1cane]

I think we do, and this is from someone who was raised Christian, but converted to Buddhism.

Honestly I don't mind it. Christian values, when I've seen them, are lovely.

For example, when I visited my old town with my DS who is disabled, my old (very Catholic) school friend who knew I was no longer a part of her faith, invited me and DS to the convent attached to the school to watch the fireworks. DS struggled, so the leading nun of the convent let him watch from one of the convents bedrooms. All while being completely aware of my different faith. These are hard core Christians as well.

We celebrate 'Christian' holidays (although I'm very much aware of the way these started)

I think it's lovely that a religious country can accept so many other religions inside it. It's a lovely way of inclusion. I'm proud to be able to be a different religion in a country which identifies as Christian. Especially when you wouldn't be allowed to do this in so many other countries in this world.

[Rosa]

But it is .... And it welcomes other religons.

[BMW6]

YABU. We are a Christian country irrespective of declining Church attendances.

[londonrach]

Yabu. Christarity is more than just sitting in a church for x amount of time. Its about values, treatment of others, accepting other religions, history etc. the uk is about to celebrate christmas. I take it op you dont celebrate christmas.

[lighteningirl]

Yabvu we are a Christian country our schools churches and population are fundamentally Christian, our laws and culture are fundamentally Christian and we should fight to preserve our heritage. More people practice privately and occasionally (weddings funeral and christening) than you are taking account of.

[BertrandRussell]

The majority of people in this country do not identify as Christian. But Christianity is so rooted in our institutions that I think we should continue continue to refer to Britain as a Christian country. If only to remind us of the privileges Christianity gets, and that we need to change that.