Post by lifelinking on Dec 16, 2009 16:28:33 GMT -5
Here’s a few interesting statistics to be published in January by the National Centre for Social Research. 4,486 interviews were conducted in the 2008 British Social Attitudes Survey and the results suggest that:
50% of respondents now call themselves Christian, down from 66% in 1983.
The steepest fall was among those who say they worship in the established religion, the Church of England, down from 40% of those who call themselves Christians to 23%. The proportion of Roman Catholics declined only slightly from 10% to 9%.
The proportion of Britons who say they have “no religion” has increased from 31% to 43%.
Non-Christians, including Muslims and Jews, now represent 7% of the population, up from 2%.
Official Church attendance figures show that average Sunday attendance was 978,000 in 2007, compared with 1.2m in 1983.
37% of Britons either do not believe in God or are unable to say if a supreme being exists, while 35% have a definite belief in God or belief with occasional doubts.
Only 7% described themselves as very religious, and 62% said they never attended services in a place of worship.
49% of those who said they were Anglicans claimed never go to church, while just 8% go every Sunday.
The study suggests that the decline in faith is largely attributable to children no longer being brought up in a particular religion.
Separate research suggests that immigration has led to a rise in adherence to Pentecostal Christianity and other world religions in Britain, leading to a “polarisation of belief” with the secular indigenous population.
Despite the survey showing falling belief in God, 65% of those questioned still thought that religion helps people to find inner peace while 79% thought it provided solace.
44% said it was a shame that the influence of religion on British life was declining, while 18% claimed both that faith is becoming more influential and that this is a bad thing.
The findings are in sharp contrast to those recorded in the USA, where 76% say they are Christian and 26% describe themselves as very religious.
