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?

I've got to laugh about people talking about how Christian values are good for people.

I think there are things that Jesus said that are fantastic. Look out for others, treat everyone as you want to be treated etc etc.

Unfortunately, the Old Testament rules seem to still heavily influence Christian thought - moral behaviour. The way women are treated, LGBT people, unmarried families etc - how much of that's derived from the Old Testament.

I can imagine there are many people on here who would have suffered under the Christian view of morality in the past in the UK.

There are still people today who suffer under the religious view of morality in the West (such as the USA) and also in other countries - some countries in Africa have a view on morality and the role of women, LGBT people that is not talked about much.

I think Jesus said a lot of positive things. I think that the Church still takes too much belief and attitude from the Old Testament.

do unto others as you would have them do unto you
This is the kind of ethical dilemma I was talking about. How do religious people practically mange this. a) develop an independent moral understand to work out how to treat people or b) do what god says. The two can be contradictory.

For example I want people to recognize my marriage as legal and treated as equal in every way. I will do the same for others. C of E want their marriages to be treated as legal and equal but they refuse to accept homosexual or humanist marriages as equal and legal.

Do you want a JW to come into your house and try to convert you. Yet Christians go over to African countries all the time to try and convert them.

So god or personal morality? How do you decide?

No they aren't, and they have EVERYTHING to do with Christianity.

Statement, no evidence presented - well, that sets the standard of debate.

When I referred to "we" I was talking about the Human Race overall. I know not everyone likes to kill people

Human's have been fighting over something since way way way before any of the current Abrahamic religions came into existence and will continue to fight long after they crumble into dust. Unless something fundamentally changes anyway.

"That's my cave!" /hit on head with a stick

For all the people talking about child abuse in the chuch- this is not Christianity, it's not in the bible which teaches the opposite. there have been cover ups in lots of institutions- care homes, the BBC, it's a wide scale problem nothing to do with Christianity itself.
Before Christianity the romans and Greeks widely practiced pedophilia with young boys- it was seen as normal. Gladiator fighting to the death as entertainment

Humans are not innately good, they are generally led by what is acceptable at the time, If you remove religion you remove a long standing moral guide and morals will be decided by whatever is acceptable at the time.

I know the post isn't about removing religion, but I think there is an anti Christian feeling across the western world. Only yesterday following the comments by Rees mog

... guardian article stating no place for Catholic views in today's society. Lidl removing the cross from a cathedral pictured on one of its products.
Across the pond in USA, basket ball coach joe Kennedy sacked for the act of praying on the field.
There has been talk in media about removal of faith schools.
It's like there's a deliberate attempt to phase it out.

It's like there's a deliberate attempt to phase it out.

Fine with me.

Christians have churches to pray in.

"Across the pond in USA, basket ball coach joe Kennedy sacked for the act of praying on the field."

• He was forcing his students to pray with him. He refused to do it in his own time after the match when that was offered to him. He was evangelising, using his authority over his team to make them do as he wished whether they were Christian or not.

Do you really not see anything wrong with that?

guardian article stating no place for Catholic views in today's society

Anti-gay, anti-abortion?

The Guardian is right

He forced no one, some voluntarily joined in.
What is the harm in a prayer? What is so heinous about it?
So much for a tolerant society

there are plenty of pro life people, religious or not- I hate how pro choice think they have it right and no one else can have a voice.
So basically society can tolerate most things, but no place for Catholics. Talk about bigotry.

I hate how pro choice think they have it right

So you are anti choice?

somewhere in between, without derailing the post. Both sides of the debate make some valid points. I don't think one is right, one is wrong. It annoys me when only one side is represented and no one else can have a say. What makes pro choice people think that prolife people are not entitled to a say. Anyway theres another thread covering this exact topic.

Somewhere over the rainbow - I completely agree with you.

Catholics being prolife isn't a reason to say they have no place in society- again that's incredibly bigoted

I think this is only a good thing, let's hope it increases too

Why do you think your religion has any place in other people's life?

guardian article stating no place for Catholic views in today's society

Anti-gay, anti-abortion?

The Guardian is right

What about Islam, aren't they anti gay, also anti women? much so than Catholics.

There's no prayer in schools in the US. They are quite hot on that. So in that context he should have known he was on a hiding to nowhere. But I actually don't have a problem with it, provided he was not exerting any pressure for people who did not want to join in to do so.

Thing is, freedom of religion also means freedom from religion. So if someone there had expressed that they were uncomfortable with the prayer, they would have had every right to express that and to have their wishes respected by having the prayers done elsewhere. One person's faith does not trump another's wish not to be exposed to expressions of faith in public. There isn't necessarily an easy solution.

Personally I find street evangelists acceptable - as long as they respect my wishes not to speak with them, take their leaflets or engage with them in anyway. Not all of them do. When one of them pushes on after a polite 'no, thank you', I may then become slightly less polite.

"He forced no one, some voluntarily joined in."

Wrong! A) it was during school time. B) Students, including atheists and other religions felt pressured to join in.

The school was quite willing to let him pray on his own, or with anyone who wanted to join him after the game was finished, but he refused. He wanted a conspicuous demonstration and made his students uncomfortable.

But hey, other Christians think that was all fine!

spaniels note the article talks about Catholic views, not catholicism. To my mind hardline Islam is indeed just as bad. As are the Haredi Jews with their sexist repressive culture.

Any faith that professes and promulgates such views deserves to have their views and the expressions of those views challenged at every turn. Legally, obviously.

Missymoo I have no problem with people being pro-life. I have a massive problem with people who aggressively picket outside clinics, shouting at vulnerable women, shoving images of aborted foetuses in their faces and claiming that the 7 months foetus they are showing is what someone 6 weeks pregnant is carrying. I also vehemently object to non-neutral organisations like SPUC being allowed to speak in schools without someone offering the opposing view being present at the same time to challenge their misinformation.

Catholics being prolife isn't a reason to say they have no place in society- again that's incredibly bigoted

You appear to be confusing people with certain views.

There is a difference.

And as other people have stated, I have no problem with anyone being anti-abortion, they don't have to have one. I have a problem with people telling other people how they should behave because of something that was invented to increase the number of Catholics in the world to pay into the coffers of the church and isn't mentioned anywhere in the bible anyway...

Missymoo100 to lump child abuse in the church into a its 'just what a few bad people have done' category is very dismissive. That so many priests were engaged in it for so long and the hierarchy right up to the Pope was and still is so involved in covering it up and allowing them to continue abusing and evade the law. Is it significant that Jimmy Savile was a Catholic and knighted by the Pope?

What didn't god step in and do something. If the priests literally believe in god how could they commit these acts, surly they would know god would see. How can the church be a source of morality when it is so corrupt. Its just to much to believe it was a few bad people. It was the whole institution, its the culture, its the belief that children are sinful and need to be punished.

The bible says none of the above, "children need to be punished"- that is not the bible.
Like I said it'said child abuse stems all across society.
And as in my earlier post Christianity was one of the main reasons the ancient Romans and Greeks gave up pedastry- sex with prepubescent boys. You seem only focused on the negative.