The UK is no longer majority Christian

[RestlessSoul]

So was I.

BUT you stated that non-believers are not discriminated against, I gave a valid example of where they are, my grandchildren wouldn't be attending that school if they hadn't been baptised.

I think you are being a little disingenuous here, since you appear not to have mentioned that it is, presumably, a church school your grandchildren attend. Whatever the rights and wrongs of religious education, it’s hardly unreasonable that a church school should expect some religious commitment on the part of a child’s parents. And it was presumably the parent’s wish that your grandkids attend that particular school.

 

[Wandering Monk]

So, King Charles III is head of the Anglican Church. Church and State melded into one office. How do you untangle that?

 

[Sand Dancer]

England and Wales now minority Christian countries, census reveals | Census | The Guardian

"The census revealed a 5.5 million drop in the number of Christians..."

"37.2% of people – 22.2 million – declared they had “no religion”, the second most common response after Christian." This is up from (IIRC) 25.4% 10-years ago

"The chief executive of Humanists UK, Andrew Copson, said: “One of the most striking things about these census results is how at odds the population is from the state itself. No state in Europe has such a religious set-up as we do in terms of law and public policy, while at the same time having such a non-religious population.”

Yay!!! The US will go this way before too long as well.

 

[Sand Dancer]

For instance, it is very likely that it will stop being a Christian nation in few decades.
It can become a totally atheistic nation.
Or it can become a nation whose majority professes a different theistic religion, other than Christianity (much more likely).

Spirituality will never go away. Religion more likely will.

 

[Estro Felino]

Spirituality will never go away. Religion more likely will.

I agree with that.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

So, King Charles III is head of the Anglican Church. Church and State melded into one office. How do you untangle that?

More than that, C of E bishops get positions in the House of Lords by virtue of their office.

Edit: but to answer your question, I think the problem of the monarch also being head of a church goes away completely if there is no monarch. Make the UK a republic (and get the Lords Spiritual out of Parliament) and the problem goes away.

Whether the C of E would want to keep Charles as their head after that is an internal issue for the Church to figure out on its own.

 

[Heyo]

"No state in Europe has such a religious set-up as we do in terms of law and public policy, while at the same time having such a non-religious population.”

Funny how that works out. The US has a totally secular Constitution and a highly religious population.

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

In a thread about the UK's religiosity, the presence of Bishops is the relevant point.
But, yes, HoL needs totally reforming.

Love these lyrics from Gilbert and Sullivan's Iolanthe (I sang them in high school Glee Club, as Lord Mountararat):

When Britain really ruled the waves –
(In good Queen Bess’s time)
The House of Peers made no pretence
To intellectual eminence,
Or scholarship sublime;
Yet Britain won her proudest bays
In good Queen Bess’s glorious days!

When Wellington thrashed Bonaparte,
As every child can tell,
The House of Peers, throughout the war,
Did nothing in particular,
And did it very well:
Yet Britain set the world ablaze
In good King George’s glorious days!

And while the House of Peers withholds
Its legislative hand,
And noble statesmen do not itch
To interfere with matters which
They do not understand,
As bright will shine Great Britain’s rays
As in King George’s glorious days!

 

[It Aint Necessarily So]

Just remember that many people who do not belong to a religion do believe in a higher power. So many people who rote 'no religion' do believe in a higher power. They belong to 'spiritual but not religious' group

They are of little interest to secularists. It's the organized, politicized religions that are the problem. Most humanists don't care what others believe, just how they behave. If my neighbor wants to dance around a tree in his back yard at midnight baying at the full moon while shaking a stick with a bloody chicken claw nailed to it in order to center himself and give his like meaning, that's fine, as long as he keeps the noise down.

In America, with which I am more familiar than the UK, the only religious problem is politicized, conservative Christianity - the kind that wants to run the government and deny rights according to its dogma, and to insert its prayers and creationism back into public schools. Secularists everywhere watch the falling numbers of people identifying as Christian in any Western democracy with optimism and approval, and none more than in America, where politicized religion is toxic and destructive. The spiritual but not religious group are just fine with most secularists, because, like the chicken claw guy, who would likely self-identify that way, they're not politically organized and therefore not a threat to secularism or Americanism.

 

[The Kilted Heathen]

Proof?

It's hard to supply proof, but it's the same situation in America. We're presented with a very limited set of options on the census, so if we want to be counted at all we mark "no religion". Until censuses allow for either one to enter their religion or expand greatly on which religions we're able to report as, there can't really be an accurate view and it shouldn't be assumed that all "no religion" records are Atheist.

 

[Altfish]

Yeah, you win, because you deicide for all of us, right?
So here is another one:
Religion | Definition, Types, Beliefs, Symbols, Examples, Importance, & Facts

No, I do not claim I win at all.
I'm just saying that I do not have a religion because of the reasons I've given; you are expanding 'religion' to include more, so I assume Vegetarianism is a religion, Communism is a religion, the way you define it.
Fair enough, I don't agree with your definition but you are welcome to it.

 

[Altfish]

I think you are being a little disingenuous here, since you appear not to have mentioned that it is, presumably, a church school your grandchildren attend. Whatever the rights and wrongs of religious education, it’s hardly unreasonable that a church school should expect some religious commitment on the part of a child’s parents. And it was presumably the parent’s wish that your grandkids attend that particular school.

BUT, the state shouldn't fund it.
All children should be able to attend any state school without having to jump through hoops

 

[Secret Chief]

Religious people can hold marriage ceremonies and sign off the paperwork - atheists can't despite being trained

Are you sure? eg people get married at the registrars....or anywhere they fancy... with no religious person required...?

 

[Nakosis]

England and Wales now minority Christian countries, census reveals | Census | The Guardian

"The census revealed a 5.5 million drop in the number of Christians..."

"37.2% of people – 22.2 million – declared they had “no religion”, the second most common response after Christian." This is up from (IIRC) 25.4% 10-years ago

"The chief executive of Humanists UK, Andrew Copson, said: “One of the most striking things about these census results is how at odds the population is from the state itself. No state in Europe has such a religious set-up as we do in terms of law and public policy, while at the same time having such a non-religious population.”

I think Christianity has gotten a lot of bad press in the last decade or so.
I wonder if western European culture is more heavily influenced by the press. Or at least by western European press.

 

[Eddi]

This doesn't bother or dishearten me

 

[Shadow Wolf]

That is also a religion in a certain cultural understanding.

Maybe to those who somehow believe atheism is a religion.

 

[sun rise]

Just remember that many people who do not belong to a religion do believe in a higher power. So many people who rote 'no religion' do believe in a higher power. They belong to 'spiritual but not religious' group

That's what the article says as well:

He added: “We have left behind the era when many people almost automatically identified as Christian but other surveys consistently show how the same people still seek spiritual truth and wisdom and a set of values to live by.”

 

[sun rise]

I would encourage folks to

1. read The Guardian article, and
2. familiarize themselves with argumentum ad populum.

(It's also an opportunity to add "conurbation" to one's vocabulary.)

Now I know that I live in a conurbation given the nature of the SF Bay Area

 

[Orbit]

It is true that the UK is secularizing. Scholars have been following this issue for along time, and current research is more about "how" than "if" secularization is occurring. The US, though behind the UK in secularization, is also experiencing a decline in the those who are willing to self-identify as Christian on surveys. Same trend in Canada. That said, these surveys simply measure whether people identify as Christian, the surveys don't measure their actual beliefs, which may include a belief in God, or a higher power.

 

[Colt]

England and Wales now minority Christian countries, census reveals | Census | The Guardian

"The census revealed a 5.5 million drop in the number of Christians..."

"37.2% of people – 22.2 million – declared they had “no religion”, the second most common response after Christian." This is up from (IIRC) 25.4% 10-years ago

"The chief executive of Humanists UK, Andrew Copson, said: “One of the most striking things about these census results is how at odds the population is from the state itself. No state in Europe has such a religious set-up as we do in terms of law and public policy, while at the same time having such a non-religious population.”

Religion in the UK:

Only 32% of British respondents claimed any religious affiliation beyond pub rituals.

Breakdown as follows:

33% The Old Gods of the Forest. (mostly beyond the wall)

24% The Faith of the Seven

22% The Drowned God

17% The Many-Faced God of Death

3% The Bearded Priests of Norvos

1%.> Church of England

**** samples were compiled by interviews with 17 patrons leaving Garlic and Shots, Soho at 2:46 AM.***