To find it interesting how the UK is apparently having a 'Christian revival'?

[BonxBonx]

I was watching the news the other day and they were talking about how there has been a big increase in church attendance over the past couple of years, particularly among Gen Z. Anecdotally, I have seen a few friends (in our mid-to-late 20s) 'find God' and start going to church over the past couple of years. Not just passively attending either; actively engaging in Bible classes and retreats. My TikTok is also showing me a lot of this - British 20-somethings talking about their Christianity.

I find it really interesting, especially the timing of it. With the advances in science and us having been a pretty atheist society for a while now, I am surprised. Is it a consequence of being on the back end of the pandemic followed by a cost-of-living crisis that people are looking for answers outside of themselves? I know when things get hard I find myself praying, even when I don't believe in God. Is this an example of that kind of thinking but on a bigger scale?

Is this a localised thing to certain regions? Our church attendance is way down and the average age of the congregation just goes up and up. I'm not seeing any of these young newcomers, I wish they'd come to my CofE church!

Churches are usually very supportive of SEN dc ime

The catholic church put dead babies in septic tanks. No one even knows what happened to a lot of the babies, there are unmarked sites in Ireland and Scotland. There may be some in England too, they had institutional residential bases for children in England as well. This happened up until sixty years ago. So not ancient history, but long enough ago that innocent young people looking for direction may consider it to be a benign organisation. It is not. It is a monstrous institution. I have kept my children away from it. I feel real sorrow that others are not being protected from it now.

Whilst the monarch is Supreme Governor of the Church of England (and his ancestor invented it), I think that's unlikely.

Sorry I should say more. I was affected by one of those things, I knew exactly how the church worked and it was an unspoken thing, just like the ‘funny uncle’ that you don’t want to be on your own with. People started thinking for themselves and realising that you don’t have to put up with this stuff, they were often ostracized by the followers of the church for trying to speak up. Listen to / read some of the witness statements from trials if you’re interested in understanding how people were affected.

I would imagine if you add up all the other Christian denominations, the followers of other religions and atheists they already far outnumber C of E, but the religion of the country is still C of E, despite this. The number of Catholics going to church is unlikely to make this a Catholic country. However, I don't think William has much interest in the Church so the C of E could just become tokenistic. Especially if C of E bishops are not automatically sitting in the House of Lords and the head of the Church of England cant be bothered to go to Church regularly.

Ok, @PishPish , our experiences are really different. I was in England and Wales, and it was all about success, making money, the car you drove… barely anyone went to church, we stupidly thought feminism had been won.

I have observed this and I see it as part of a wider return to traditonal values due to the failed experiment of far-left politics, a rebellion against 'woke' and all that goes with it, a weariness of a hard-faced and cynical modern life.
We rejected the principles that our ancestors built thier lives and this country on, and we filled the void with hollow, empty and meaningless ways of being that crush the sprit and sap the soul.

All religions are monstrous and should not form any part of law.
A religion is a belief, a bit like Santa or unicorns. It has no place in uk politics.
Respect another person’s beliefs obviously but you can’t dictate people to adhere to it.
No religion is superior to another. No religion should be given preferential treatment.
There are far too many people being killed or ostracised in the name of a phoney god.
Live and let live should be the only thing that matters.
Criticism of a particular religion will ultimately lead to shit kicking off and it’s not even a real life thing. Why do people think it’s okay to persecute anybody because they believe in a different ‘god’
Pray to who you think will make your life better but don’t expect others to hold the same religious values you have.
This is the UK, let’s keep it peaceful, respectful and fair.

Religion is a personal choice not something that should ever be taken as a priority in law making.
We should be more worried about the loss of real freedom of speech rather than whether a particular religion is growing.
Fuck all religions because ‘god’ doesn’t exist in real life. It’s just books of fairy tales made up to justify the killing or destruction of others. Fairy tales to pacify people who fear death.
The UK has not been religion centric for decades. Let’s not return to that time.

@Madcatdudette

"All religions are monstrous"

I suppose it depends on how one defines monstrous, but I'm not sure that's a complete accurate statement. There's Modern Druidry, the numerous branches of Modern Paganism and the Indigenous Fairy Faith (indigenous here meaning indigenous to Ireland and Britain.)

I don't think any of these religions have demonstrated any monstrosity so far.

All religions. Unless you can name a religion that isn’t?

@Madcatdudette

I just named some.

Modern Druidry. Modern Paganism. The Indigenous Fairy Faith.

Unless you have examples of how these particular religions are monstrous?

@SorcererGaherisI don’t think Druidism is any better than any of the others, frankly!

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Christians target children with SEN and single parents with their ‘good deeds’. Lots of people on social media say things like, oh isn’t it lovely that you’re helping these poor people. But their so called help is very much on the church’s terms.

Sorry, but I disagree. Lots of UK churches are intolerant of LGBTQ+ people, divorcees, single parents, unmarried couples, the list goes on. Maybe not you or your church, but lots nonetheless.

That's cool, you don't have to. Is there any particular reason why, though?

Modern Druidry doesn't have the associations of intolerance and bigotry that some other religions do.

Let me see, did growing up in a devoutly religious household in a devoutly religious society give me a pattern of hollow, empty and meaningless rituals aimed at placating a curiously incompetent but supposedly benevolent and omnipotent deity, crush my spirit and sap my soul?

That would be a yes.

And lets not pretend there was ever a time when religion wasn’t ’hard-faced and cynical’ and profoundly bound up with political power in Britain.

Yes and they can spout crap as much as they want, just like all religions can.
Doesn’t mean the majority will cave in and start to give a crap about the shite they say.
They can hate as much as they want but we also have a right to call out bullsit

Another thing that I think is down to Welby. Religion without mystery.

It sounds like you had a terrible time in the name of religion. It should never have or be something that causes suffering but it’s apparent it does.
This is the exact reason why religion should not have any power when it comes to government.
I sincerely hope you are recovering from the trauma you experienced.

I agree. Or challenge. If you make something too easy, it becomes vacuous and worthless.

This isn't my experience either. And I'm a ND single Mum of ND/SEN adult DC. Not all heterosexual either. My church has been nothing but supportive.

I think it might be true - our neighbouring church had to bring more chairs in so that people would have somewhere to sit, but it’s still not enough so a lot of them stand. That’s a Catholic church.

It must be localised as it is not my experience.