To ask why religion is declining in Britain

[Jackieweaver2024]

Just that really I would be interested to hear everyone’s opinions?

Because the church is no longer powerful enough to coerce the population to attend.

Cos the concept of religion is outdated when most things can be described by rational means

Because rules that are right for a 2000+ year old society arent necessarily right for now

Because none of it makes any sense.

Because nobody believes in the supernatural anymore?

Because it’s all bollocks and people are increasingly more well informed?

I'd like to think it's because critical thinking skills are improving, but I don't see much other evidence for that.

Because people grow out of fairy stories after a while.

Because it's nonsense.
People can be good and have morals without it.

I don’t think religion - or at least Christianity - has kept up with the moral development of the nation. People are so much more tolerant and accepting these days, and the message of many (albeit not all) churches does not cater to that. It makes the sermons feel very outdated and irrelevant.

I think lots of people actually would enjoy and benefit from the social / community aspect of church membership, if the teaching aspect was more accepting and relevant.

Because a huge number of people went, “just because” they were expected to, and everyone else did, and never even questioned if they believed. And for some who did question, they still did because everyone did.

The more free for individual beliefs that society has become, the more people have chosen not to.

A lot of Christianity makes no sense.

Your title is interesting in itself, because there you go saying “religion” when I really think you mean Christianity - I don’t think other major world religions in the UK have attendances declining at the same rate. So you’re part of this old school default of “Britain is Christian” - when it isn’t.

Church attendance is dropping in the mainstream churches but rising in the new, evangelical style churches, which doesn’t get counted in the official figures. In the karat census I think it was around 78% said they affiliate with a religion. Research also suggests that people may be becoming less religious, but more spiritual. It’s very complex to measure. I teach about this!

Because religion has no place in politics or education anymore the way it used to. This is a very good thing in my opinion

Because the innate hierarchies - usually placing women at the bottom - do not fit with modern notions of social mobility, equal opportunities and a desire to be classless.

Too much other stuff to do. I can see why you might go to church when there was no telly, for a bit of a sing song and some story telling. But it’s unnecessary now that we have Netflix.

I suppose people don't feel the need for it anymore. Society is more individualistic now and there's no sense of duty or obligation towards the church. People trust science more than God because science is based on truths which can be proven and don't rely on supernatural belief. There is no more community pressure to attend church.

I don't know whether non Christian religious are declining.

Didn't attendance at church (virtually) go up last year?

For women, especially, and the CofE, I think many find it hard to relate to an organisation that ordained its first female bishop only as recently as 2014. Pathetic. Why would I want to be a part of that?

It was nice for a while
Suited the menz
I don’t think even they really believed it

@Mamagotskills

Because it’s all bollocks and people are increasingly more well informed?

This basically.

People tend to grow out of imaginary friends as they become more enquiring. There are so many contradictions in the Bible that it's incredible anybody can take any of it seriously. There's people who pick and choose bits to suit them and discard the rest, or say it's allegorical or metaphorical because it's been proven as nonsense, but apparently hating gays is still god's will.
Of course then there's the absolutely despicable practices that have gone on, historically, recently and currently, in the name of religion. War, hideous abuse, money hoarding, control, judging of others, preying on the weak and vulnerable, claiming that it's a sin to use contraception, anti - choice views, sexism, homophobia...genuinely, what is there to like about it?

GCSE essay or journo article, OP?

its true about the critical thinking
Which raises the question of why people are happy to believe in all kinds of bollocks-
astrology
tarot
homeopathy
re incarnation
being born in the wrong body
yet they reject organised religion, when for all the justified criticism of the church in this country, it has and does do a lot of good things

Because we now have science and medicine to answer questions

Cos it's a load of old twaddle?

@PatriciaHolm

GCSE essay or journo article, OP?

Indeeed, @PatriciaHolm

Would be better if you gave your own opinion too, @Jackieweaver2024 ?