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?

Can't see why anyone's shocked at this.

I went to a big Catholic school with very few students who were practising Catholic or came from Catholic families. If you can't find them in institutions which are there to gather people of a faith together, you're not going to find them in the outside world either.

jaques i never said it was the cause, but i still wouldn't be happy if Islam was the dominant religion in the UK. Are you telling me i can't think this?

Are you telling me i can't think this?

Not at all. But I think it's a bizarre thing to worry about given the small percentage of Muslims in the UK, something like 5% at the last census

It is shocking that blasphemy remains an offence and thus makes a mockery of our right to free speech in one part of the United Kingdom

Blasphemy is not an offence. The offences of blasphemy and blasphemous libel were abolished in 2008.

People do like to have a bit of a laugh in the religion bit of the census

They do and it is difficult to be sure when dealing with relatively small numbers but the evidence available suggests the figure for Satanists in the census is an underestimate. But, whatever the true figure, it is definitely a very small proportion of the population.

I think - and could well be wrong - but the people who like to have a bit of fun on the census are likely to be those with no religion, rather than practise a particular faith.

I'd be really interested to see a countrywide survey done on religion

I think those stats sound great. Future generations will mock the past for having religion. Religion is a cancer on society and as soon as everyone else cottons on the better as far as I am concerned.

The Christian culture in the uk is embedded within our tradition, tolerant to other faiths
^^ This

Religion is the root of all evil.

Religion is like a penis. It's fine to have one, it's fine to be proud of it, but don't wave it around or stick it in children's faces.

That's exactly what the state does, unfortunately, by continuing to indoctrinate children from a young age. In my primary school in the early 2000s, Christianity was taught as an absolute. You were punished for not reciting the Lord's Prayer and alienated and isolated if you dared to not believe. This wasn't a religious or church-funded school; just the only state primary in the village.

I don't care what religion people are. I've met nice Christians and absolute dickhead Christians who think their religion makes them superior, and I've met nice atheists and dickhead atheists who think their lack of religion makes them superior. I couldn't care less what people believe in; that's their right and their business. I do care that one religion is so deeply intertwined in every other aspect of our society, and I think the sooner the two are separated, the better.

I have recently moved. Every primary in a 5 mile radius is a church of england school.

Its weird how many people i've known over the years suddenly take a huge interest in religion when it comes to finding their children a decent school though. Once they are in and settled , its all dropped again and then they struggle to go along for the services.
Not all, but a lot of people do this - it does tend to become 'used' for people's ends at times. I am not remotely religious, but my mum was and it gave her a great comfort ( i didnt go to a religious school or anything though, ) she always had her faith - I admire people who really do believe without any question and she did a lot of voluntary work for the community and tried her best to help people. Thats what it should be about imho. I think it will die out over the years and churches need to move a bit more with the times - cant see it happening though.

Has anyone read the tenets of Satanism? They actually sound very reasonable...

Religion is the root of all evil
christiangoodinsociety.blogspot.ie
Not true, Christianity has given the world an awful lot, it would have been poorer without it.

There are a lot of interesting comments here ;)

Christianity as the declaration of someone's religion is decreasing as people feel less social pressure to 'be something'
Christianity as a religion (man made construct) is on the decrease (good thing)
Christianity as a faith - i.e. personal believe and way of life following Christ is on the increase
The CofE attendance has been falling
Church attendance is increasing (there has been a big increase in non-established / house churches)
There has been an increase in people taking more time to decide their personal view (for / anti) which is a good thing, and has been behind the various shifts...
There has been an increase in people stating that they are looking for purpose in life (of whatever sort)

There are also some common fallacies and issues:

• whenever anyone is anti-Christianity they roll out all the terrible things done by Christians - let us be absolutely clear, that is not Christianity - there have historically been many wrong things done in the name of the man-made religion - but not the Biblical faith - someone doing something in the name of Christianity doesn't change the Bible and what God says / instructs, so anyone with a claim to doing something in God's name which is not in line with the instructions of the Bible, from crusades to indoctrination to abuse to power battles - is not doing it as a Christian, that is not Christianity...
• Christianity as a Faith is tolerant, just, loving, peaceful, focused on following Christ
• Christianity as a Religion can often be power-based, abusive, intolerant, etc. - that is all man made additions and not Christianity - it was highlighted by Christ in the gospels with the Pharisees and all their additional rules they had created - and nothing has changed 2,000 years later, there will always be humans who claim one thing to be another for their own advantage
• there are very few people who live a totally abstract purposeless life, content in the moment - for most, there is a constant search for purpose, regardless of all the bold claims in threads like this - just analyse the usual mumsnet discussions - there is a constant seeking for value / purpose / etc. and society on its own does not give that...
• there is one Faith, lots of Religions - every religion (including man's interpretation of established Christianity) builds a set of rules - do xyz and you will achieve eternal salvation - it makes sense, we like to know where we are, to feel comfortable, to know there is a structure - but true Biblical Christianity is not that, the commandments come down to two basics - Love God / love mankind - it is that simple, and that difficult - but the reality is acceptance of Christ's death on the cross for us each individually, and then a daily walk with Christ simply meaning a conversational based relationship where you look to find out what Christ wants from you day by day - trusting in God that He has plans which are based around how He created us - that is why it is a Faith, not a religion, because there is a jump in faith to believe and live a life not based around human rules - but it is a jump based on a personal knowledge of God and based on Christ dying to save us...

Ultimately there are some challenges for those who don't believe:

• If Christianity is right - there is a lot at stake - if it is wrong, does it matter? i.e. even if you just based it on a gambler's approach, you couldn't lose...
• Why are so many people anti-Christianity (interestingly as a society it now seems to be acceptable to be anti-Christians and their beliefs - but racist to be anti any other religion!)? If Christianity is wrong and a bunch of made up fairy tales, let people get on with their delusions - why does it bother so many people, sure, pity them, but why the anger, the determination to attack it - and we are talking the Faith here, not the religion where it might be right to criticise it constructively... funny though how so many people put so much effort into trying to take it down - or perhaps it is because they are scared of how they would have to change if its claims were accurate - easier to try and attack it then admit that there are things to fix in their own life... when you turn the light on in a dirty dusty room - it is easier to remove the light and pretend everything is okay than to sort out the mess in the room - but how much nicer the room is sorted out, clean and well lighted!

whether people wish to accept it or not, we live in a spiritual world - there are humans and there is also a spiritual dimension - in that dimension there is a constant battle - what we see in the human world is a part of that battle - we can try to ignore it, but it won't go away - the Bible is clear though, the war was won on the cross, but there will still be battles going on until the second coming - those battles are simple, the devil wants people for his own - it is a battle because the alternative - eternity with God is easily accepted and needs people to do nothing other than accept and follow Christ - it is free and for all - what we are seeing in our society now is the desperation of the devil, trying frantically to scratch back territory... yes, people can ignore it and carry on their day to day lives, but it exists, and while folks say they are not involved / don't need to make a decision / not for them - in fact an absence of a decision is in itself still a decision...

God doesn't sustain the universe. He isn't a creative force

Heathen - HE?

I'm amazed at all these people's children who are having religion "shoved down their throats". There must be some incredibly militant or extremist schools around!

Both my kids have managed to escape totally unscathed from their entire school career at "C of E" schools, not to mention being taken to church to keep the grandparents happy. They've managed to form their own views and are non-believers, as are DH and I, but I don't think seeing it from both sides has exactly damaged any of us irreparably 🙄.

If you are bringing them up as atheists at home, what possible harm do you think will come from a few hymns and some stories?

If Christianity is wrong and a bunch of made up fairy tales, let people get on with their delusions - why does it bother so many people, sure, pity them, but why the anger, the determination to attack it - and we are talking the Faith here

As me - and countless others on the thread have said - I have no issue at all with people having a religion and practicing that religion.

I have issues with the linking of church and state and would very much welcome and support a movement towards a secular society. That doesn't mean I want to get rid of religion, just any religious impact on anything other than the individual.

The theory of evolution has been proven by scientists over and over again (a theory from a committed Christian, Darwin)

The Theory of Evolution is not irreconcilable with the Biblical story of creation. If you look at the descriptions, God created the world in the order that evolution shows things to have occurred. "Day" is a measurement of time which just represents a time period - not 24 hours. these "days" were eons in length.

Taking the Bible literally is foolish - much is mythological, and carries a greater intrinsic truth than an actual description what scientifically happened. It is a way of making creation understandable to simple people (not stupid people - simple ones).

One of the great problems is that there are idiots of all shades of all faiths who insist on the literal word being the "truth" - and they are always going to be saved themselves while everyone else goes straight to Hell, not passing "Go" and not collecting our £200.

Stupidity like this will, sadly, never be eradicated.

Creation is the "what". Evolution is the "how"

If you are bringing them up as atheists at home, what possible harm do you think will come from a few hymns and some stories

None. She has a bible as a book of stories.

However their is impact when schools around you are selective on a religious basis. If my daughter were at a school with daily acts of worship I would remove her therefrom.

I am not bringing her up to be an atheist. I am bringing her up to have a choice. If she decides she would like to follow a religion, I will facilitate and support that for her

*there.

You'd have to rebuild the structure of the state, and in history, that often occurs in conjunction with revolution, massacre and genocide

I am pretty sure that's a slight over exageration there

No Orlantina - Oakum is right. The legal ramifications are massive, and in view of the fact that we are such a diverse culture now, many extremist groups would take the opportunity to achieve supremacy.

It's pretty much like democracy - far from perfect, but better than the alternatives.

If you are bringing them up as atheists at home, what possible harm do you think will come from a few hymns and some stories?

What educational value do those hymns and stories have? What will they learn from these hymns and stories that they couldn't learn from plenty of secular stories?

I have no issue with children being taught hymns, as long as they're taught alongside secular songs. I also have no issue with them being read stories, as long as it's made clear that's what they are - stories, that some people believe in, but no-one knows if they're true or not.

I also take issue with the fact that Christian stories are taught year-round, but there's no expectation on schools to have assemblies with stories from Islam, Judaism, Hinduism etc.

I am not bringing her up to be an atheist. I am bringing her up to have a choice. If she decides she would like to follow a religion, I will facilitate and support that for her

Oh, and this.

These threads remind me of a roomful of bichon frises all yapping their heads off

That's very "breedist" of you Rivers

(There's at least one yorkshire terrier in there)

I am not religious and support a separation of church and state. In fact I think as we now face the choice of removing the CofE privileges or giving the same privileges to all other religions, most people would support the former. I don't think respect is a privilege, but a right, so I mean tax breaks, schools etc.

However, I watched Broken with Sean Bean as a priest, it has really stayed with me. I, sadly, think our society now doesn't really have a safety net for desperate people and removing the role the church provides would do more harm than good. I'd love us to be in a place where it wasn't necessary to have a church but at the moment the Archbishop of Canterbury is doing more for poor people than the Westminster government.