For the first time ever, Britain is a majority non-religious nation:
Every year, researchers from the British Social Attitudes survey ask a representative sample of British people whether they regard themselves as belonging to any particular religion and, if so, to which one? When the survey first asked these questions in 1985, 63% of the respondents answered that they were Christians, compared with 34% who said they had no religion (the rest belonged to non-Christian religions).
Today, a quarter of a century on, there has been a steady and remarkable turnaround. In the latest 2010 BSA report, published earlier this month, only 42% said they were Christians while 51% now say they have no religion.
December 27th, 2010 | 10:30 am
Oh no! The promiscuous apostrophe has now inserted itself in a First Things headline, totally ignoring the difference between the possessive and a contraction.
Where will it end?
December 27th, 2010 | 3:30 pm
Where will it end? Typo’s? Should we be concerned about this?
To the article: This particular marker of Christian decline is imprecise, but likely captures the increasingly post-Christian culture of the UK. Naming oneself Christian or nonchristian had different social and pychological costs and benefits in 1985. It is those calculations, not actual faith or belief, that is measured by these questions. Yet those calculations are affected indirectly by the actual amount of Christianity in the air in one’s neighborhood. A not-unexpected report.
December 27th, 2010 | 4:09 pm
The UK has been a Godless dead zone for some time. (For evidence of this look no further than the reaction of the British elites to the Pope’s recent visit) The UK is not as bad as Denmark and the Netherlands, but as the outpouring in the wake of the demise of that vapid arm candy Princess Diana demonstrated, the once great British Empire has become the land of the superficial. No wonder the Queen was late to pick up on the sobfest for the “People’s Princess” – - the woman had done nothing of any substance and yet she was given a better send-off than Winston Churchill.
December 27th, 2010 | 10:57 pm
Last men, baby. Last men.
December 29th, 2010 | 1:41 pm
England, to be sure, was never that pious a nation in the first place. While certain parts of England were indeed devoted to the cults of their local saints, and some regions (like Yorkshire) more religious than others, foreigners took note of English impiety and penchant for blasphemy, from the French in the Hundred Years War referring to the English as “les Goddams”, right down through the Spanish observing the English army in the Peninsular war.
English religious revival begins with Wesley in the latter half of the 18th century, and reaches its fulfillment in the early part of the 19th century. it’s been eroding ever since, with the two World Wars serving as punctuation marks in the decline.
As the legendary English civility goes hand in hand with English piety, it’s no coincidence that the decline of religion in England has been accompanied by a rise in violence and incivility, two traits for which the English were notorious for several centuries.
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