to think we no longer live in a Christian country

[orlantina]

More than 53% of people have no faith - according to a recent survey.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41150792

That figure changes to 71% amongst 18-25 yr olds.

It surveyed 3000 adults - so it would be interesting to look behind the stats but it seems that more than half the country have no religion.

Christianity is still probably the most common religion out there.

Should this have implications for areas of national life?

Satanism is on the rise. Sort of.
"The Satanic Temple" from USA opened their first UK chapter at the beginning of this year. The tenets seem reasonable, they identify as atheist etc... but in reality they're mostly just hipster dickheads. They don't get on with Church of Satan satanists

"They don't get on with Church of Satan satanists"
SPLITTERS!

This, I think, is a step too far

I'd like a more secular society, I would, but there is no denying the influence that various religions have had in various places of the world - why not be more tolerant of peaceful expression of any faith while not having any kind of belief at the centre of state and civil society??

While I accept that the underpinnings of the UK are based on faith and the Kind/Queen being the Head of the Church, humans decided on this, so presumably humans could undecide it?
In practice, if not in law, the current monarchy is decorative and fundraising, not actually ruling. There must be a way to settle this in law also without blood-shed, chaos and instant anarchy.

Stormtreader 😂😂😂

There's plenty of non religious schools around. You're just being jealous because the best schools do not accept your kids. If you are so concerned about the place of women in religion and females bishops bein appointed I presume you're a successful woman in your field who could afford a private education for your atheist family? You're sounding very entitled.

Why is it entitled to want every child, regardless of faith, to have the same right to attend their local schools? The Church schools near me are not better than the other local schools, though in many areas church schools have a more privileged intake than other schools as they automatically exclude many of the most vulnerable children whose parents are too busy trying to feed them to make it to church for the required number of sessions.

I think it's ludicrous to segregate schools by religion when we all talk about wanting a more inclusive, tolerant society. We wouldn't think it was OK to have some hospitals that only Christians could use or some roads only Christians could drive on.

I don't have any interest in becoming a bishop, obviously, but my career choices have nothing to do with entrenched organisational sexism. It's an extraordinary leap of logic for you to imagine that I must be successful in my career in order to think it wrong for women not to have had equal rights in the church career for so long. I could be very unsuccessful and poor (neither of which are true) and still think it was wrong.

There must be a way to settle this in law also without blood-shed, chaos and instant anarchy

You'd have thought so.

Most other countries have.

I'm struggling to see why it would be so difficult to separate Church and State.

Me too. So, the Queen is the head of the CofE (not the Church of Scotland, of course, thats not episcopalian). She's the head of all sorts of things.

Orlantina I fully agree on the separation of the church and state, perhaps if that had been the case I might not have felt like I should have played the system to ensure the best future for my children. As some poster advises, I will take a DNA test to see if I have a genetic predisposition to this.
It is interesting to see that for some the debate is about the existence of God.
For others it is more about the church and society.

I come from a very Christian family and the hypocrisy of it all has determined my stance, mainly as the church is doing the opposite of what it is preaching

This is from 17 years ago

www.independent.co.uk/voices/commentators/disestablishmentarianism-is-no-longer-a-dirty-word-281146.html

Last week a report commissioned by Jack Straw challenged the ancient constitutional links between the Church and state in this country as the Government took the first tentative step along the road to the disestablishment of the Church of England. The exciting news spread quickly through Britain's factories and housing estates. "'Ere, Brian, have you heard? A Home Office report has suggested that minority faiths may be historically disadvantaged by the preservation of a Protestant hegemony.

There would be instant anarchy with all the parish priests refusing to carry out another service unless the Queen could still be their boss. All the loyal congregations would throw down their hassocks in fury and all the evil desires that non-Christians had been smoulderingly nurturing would suddenly burst forth in avenging fury once Church and State were separated.

Financially, it would be a problem for the schools, to be fair, as the Church (both CofE and Catholic) do contribute quite a bit, I understand, and I think also own quite a lot of the real estate.

However:

Cameron rejected the idea

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/david-cameron-rejects-nick-cleggs-call-for-separation-of-church-and-state-9284008.html

Mr Cameron said: “I think our arrangements work well in this country. We are a Christian country, we have an established church,” adding that disestablishment was “a long term Liberal idea but it is not a Conservative one.”

He argued that leaders of other faiths believed the church-state link made the country more tolerant.

Really......

Well I'm sure parents with good archivment kids would not like to have your kids around them as you despise religion

I don't despise religion. A little comprehension is a wonderful thing.

There's plenty of non religious schools around. You're just being jealous because the best schools do not accept your kids

You surely must appreciate this isn't the same for every area? Out of 7 schools as the crow flies, 6 are either CofE or Catholic.

And church school doesn't equal better. 2 have been in special measures in the last year

I really am struggling to see what the difficulties are There aren't any.

I'd love to know why Christians are so upset at the thought of a secular society There is a fear that if you dont indoctrinate children at school when they are young then no one is going to believe when they grow up and Christianity will die (which is happening already). aka deep down inside they are afraid of the truth.

I grew up in a country with selective state schooling beyond age 10.
There was no praying in school, religious education was offered and was compulsory unless one opted out and attend ethics or philosophy classes instead.
As one would expect, there are good, middling and bad schools, even without religion.

Just take it out of the equation - it's only an issue here because it's not a level playing field.

If you do NOT celebrate CHRISTmas, then refer to it as ? I suppose that Easter is Chocolate Rabbit holiday?

At least show Christians the respect of creating your own holidays or titles. I am very certain that you do not say things like that about other religions. Ramadan isn't celebrated by non-Muslims is it?

Ramadan isn't celebrated by non-Muslims is it?

Ramadan isn't a celebration as such.

If you mean Eid then absolutely non-Muslims celebrate it. I've been to some amazing Eid parties

Celebrations are part of our history. And so is Christianity.
In fact Christian celebrations are based on Pagan rituals and customs.
This is our cultural heritage, which we can all celebrate.

Good.

Religion is nothing more than threatening people with ghost stories.

I'm a passionate atheist and would see all of this dark ages nonsense consigned to history.

They don't get on with Church of Satan satanists

Is this like Protestants and Catholics?

There would be instant anarchy with all the parish priests

I for one would like to see anarchy with all the parish priests. We could chase the around & catch em all like in Pokémon Go.

All the loyal congregations would throw down their hassocks in fury

What is a hassock and where do I get one so I can join in?

to be fair, as the Church (both CofE and Catholic) do contribute quite a bit,

Huh they dont contribute a penny to running a school, they get the same funding from the state as every other school. As for the land, well the government could just sequestrate it.

At least show Christians the respect of creating your own holidays or titles

We have always had a mid -winter feast in this country because the weather and the darkness is miserable, ditto a celebration of spring.

Christianity colonised these celebrations but yeah, I'll call it anything so long as I can mainline mince pies.

I'd see the royal family consigned to history but hey we're stuck with em.

Is there any country in this world that you all atheists could go? The airport door is open so maybe you should just buy a ticket and leave if you're that bothered. People can respect you but they will not change theirs rules and believes because you guys

"You atheists"?
Really?

As usual Christianity, probably the most tolerant out of all the worlds leading religions takes a bashing. Lot of Christianphobes on here. Other religions wouldn't stand for it.

They don't get on with Church of Satan satanists

Is this like Protestants and Catholics?

Well, from what I gather, the TST lot think they're "cooler" that the CoS lot. It's all very juvenile and silly.
Not sure about CoS, but TST interview their members and decide who gets to be in their club, then make them sign contracts saying they won't reveal the identity of members or tell anyone the aims of the group (I think they see themselves as political activists in a way). I don't think anyone will take them seriously, so I doubt they'll achieve much in the UK