to think the census data on religion should mean some changes to how we view the Church of England in this country

[cakeorwine]

ONS data on religion released today

For the first time in a census of England and Wales, less than half of the population (46.2%, 27.5 million people) described themselves as “Christian”, a 13.1 percentage point decrease from 59.3% (33.3 million) in 2011; despite this decrease, “Christian” remained the most common response to the religion question.

“No religion” was the second most common response, increasing by 12.0 percentage points to 37.2% (22.2 million) from 25.2% (14.1 million) in 2011.

You can find out about your area here

www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/religion/bulletins/religionenglandandwales/census2021

An interesting map is available - you can zoom in to local areas
The number of Christians is falling. Still a high percentage but less than half the population of England and Wales say they are Christian.

Christianity could mean Catholicism, C of E and other Christian faiths.

So should this mean we look at 'the State Religion', having Bishops in the House of Lords and the link between the Monarch being the Head of the Church of England. Basically - look at distestablishing the Church of England from the State.

Yeah, I'm sure it's all going to descend into anarchy at any moment. 🙄

Utter nonsense

Yeah i thought this. Shop workers should have to work on a Sunday do you can pop in for a bar of chocolate? There's six other days in the week, where shops are also open late

If it won’t descend into anarchy it’ll be ruled by tyranny. There needs to be a middle ground.

@thehorsehasnowbolted You’re right. This is not good news. But it’s what the people want…

I’m worried in case God gets angry

This really made me laugh 🤣

Along with the "prove god doesn't exist" remark. Which god are you referring to? Ra? Thor? Krishna? Dionysius? Or are we to believe that your god exists and all the 1000s of others don't? Laughable.

Again, power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

That would explain a lot about the 'god' described in 1 chronicles 21.
(I'd not come across that gem before. Is there an earlier reference where god bans censuses, is there any reason for this excessive dislike of statistics?)

If it won’t descend into anarchy it’ll be ruled by tyranny. There needs to be a middle ground.

Yeah, it's called a 'secular democracy'.

God’s existence is self-evident in the complexity of the planet and life. Do you really think it’s all by chance?

Essentially, yes. But I'm not going to attempt a science lesson on this thread.

Would you be laughing if any of the gods you listed were getting angry? What if it’s all the same one god?

And the name of god is so sacred we don’t know what it is. That’s why sometimes it’s G-d.

Do you think it’s coincidence that all these different cultures from all corners of the world had an experience of god?

Why was I cheered by the news? Because it reflects the society, the country, the world that I know and live in. It’s possible I know a few closet Christians, of course, but religion is not a subject that ever comes up in conversation.

Do you think it’s coincidence that all these different cultures from all corners of the world had an experience of god?

It's really quite simple. Ancient peoples had little understanding of the world. They didn't know that humans are literal primates. They didn't understand the sun and the stars. They made up gods to explain these things. Those ancient beliefs persist because life is hard and people like to believe there's something after. When people let go of their silly belief in stories from 1000s of years ago then humanity will start to progress. But until then we have...well...people like you getting irate on the internet because we don't believe in your imaginary evil pal.

How about a link?

I thought Charles Darwin thought it was improbable to be all by chance.

And I don’t think science helps in questions of morality, law and justice per se. It’s a different department.

For most of the history of the world, Christians have been a persecuted minority. Christendom was very much an anomaly. So I wouldn't be surprised if we soon revert back to Christianity being seen as some kind of a whacky sect - we're already headed that way, sadly.

Within 300 years of Christianity starting, it was the official religion of the Roman Empire and most subsequent empires, culminating in the largest ever empire, the wonderful British version. The notion that Christians have been persecuted for most of history is nonsense. Since 313 AD it has been responsible for a good deal of the persecution.

...and it's no less of a wacky sect than any other.

How about a link?

Just one link?!
I watched a lecture series on Abiogenesis a few years back, impossible to summarise - it's complicated by the fact there are lots of plausible theories but the research is very much a work in progress. I've not read the wiki page on the subject but it might be a reasonable place to start though whether it's comprehensible may depend on your scientific literacy. (This is an unavoidable issue with science communication, there isn't a one size fits all level)

The UK has already left one major institution this decade.

Let's give it a while before we separate ourselves from another one.

I don't think there's any valid comparison between brexit and the purely internal matter of disestablishment of the CofE . Which is, of course, only the Church of England, not the U.K.

I don't need to prove that God doesn't exist.

The default position for the existance of anything is that it doesn't exist until shown otherwise.

You need to prove that God does exist, I'm afraid. Until someone does that then yes, my position is that all those billions of people are completely and utterly wrong.

Life existing on this planet is completely by chance.

The reason for life existing as it currently does is because of evolution, not chance and certainly not because a bored deity designed it.

And, it has to be said, if life was designed he made a shit job of it in so many ways.

It wasn't a coincidence but a necessity. When humans moved towards an agrarian society there needed to be a way of controlling a population...enter organised religion.

Prior to agriculture, human religious behaviour consisted of a loose collection supernatural beliefs (pray to the forest god for a good hunt, the river god not drown you as you cross, or the sky god to not send a storm tonight). Those beliefs however, didn't justify a central authority figure, the transfer of goods and wealth, or peace amongst unrelated tribes, all things an agrarian society needed to thrive.

Organised religion has only ever been about control and that's all it ever will be about. Why do you think the teachings of the world's remaining gods change so frequently? To make sure religion stays somewhat relevant and able to exert control over it's followers. Hell (pun intended), a few hundred years ago violating the sabbath was worthy of death and eating shellfish was an abomination. Now? Not so much. Strange an immortal, all-powerful being would change their mind about those sort of things just when it was convenient for humans eh?

@HardRock

Have you read the God Experiment? They proved God didn’t exist in it.

What do you think the effect would be?

Also ancient people invented their Gods for superstitious and spiritual purposes, as they didn’t know any better or understand how the world worked. So they invented them also as solutions.

No problem if people want to believe in a God.
No problem with people following the teachings of Jesus.
No problem with the C of E

Just a separation of church and State.