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Christians In UK Now Outnumbered By Atheists

  • 24-05-2016 8:24am
    #1
    Timberrrrrrrr
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 25,753 ✭✭✭✭


    Christians In UK Now Outnumbered By Atheists

    http://news.sky.com/story/1701109/christians-in-uk-now-outnumbered-by-atheists

    An interesting shift in people's attitudes, I wonder will we see a similar shift in Ireland as the years go by?
    Almost half of those in England and Wales say they are of no religion, outnumbering those who identify as Christian for the first time.

    According to new research, around 48.5% of those surveyed in 2015 said they had no religion, compared to the 25% that said the same in the 2011 census.

    Those who identified themselves as Christians, including Anglicans, Catholics and other denominations, made up 43.8%.
    "The main driver is people who were brought up with some religion now saying they have no religion.

    "What we're seeing is an acceleration in the numbers of people not only not practising their faith on a regular basis, but not even ticking the box.


Comments

  • #2
    magicbastarder
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 50,893 CMod ✭✭✭✭magicbastarder


    what was the actual question asked? i.e. was it a direct question about religious identity?


  • #3
    Timberrrrrrrr
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 25,753 ✭✭✭✭Timberrrrrrrr


    magicbastarder wrote: »
    what was the actual question asked? i.e. was it a direct question about religious identity?
    According to new research, around 48.5% of those surveyed in 2015 said they had no religion, compared to the 25% that said the same in the 2011 census.

    I'm guessing they were asked what religion they were and probably had a multiple choice answer.


  • #4
    robindch
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 24,428 Mod ✭✭✭✭robindch


    More here:

    http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/23/no-religion-outnumber-christians-england-wales-study


  • #5
    mahoganygas
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,488 ✭✭✭mahoganygas


    I wonder what sort of margin we will see in the Irish census.

    Are atheists close enough to overtake Christians yet?


  • #6
    Timberrrrrrrr
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 25,753 ✭✭✭✭Timberrrrrrrr


    mahoganygas wrote: »
    I wonder what sort of margin we will see in the Irish census.

    Are atheists close enough to overtake Christians yet?

    I think in reality (if people were honest) then yes that would be the case but if you have parents filling in census forms for themselves and their children then they will probably just tick the "catholic/christian" box for all on the firm.


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  • #7
    magicbastarder
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 50,893 CMod ✭✭✭✭magicbastarder


    kinda interesting how christianity-focused it is. would have been no harm to include muslim/jewish/etc. on the stats.


  • #8
    cowboyBuilder
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,419 ✭✭✭cowboyBuilder


    magicbastarder wrote: »
    kinda interesting how christianity-focused it is. would have been no harm to include muslim/jewish/etc. on the stats.

    Indeed, no doubt Muslim is rapidly increasing - and one thing is for sure, atheists will never outnumber Muslims.


  • #9
    Timberrrrrrrr
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 25,753 ✭✭✭✭Timberrrrrrrr


    cowboyBuilder wrote: »
    Indeed, no doubt Muslim is rapidly increasing - and one thing is for sure, atheists will never outnumber Muslims.

    Worldwide you mean?


  • #10
    cowboyBuilder
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,419 ✭✭✭cowboyBuilder


    Timberrrrrrrr wrote: »
    Worldwide you mean?

    Worldwide certainly, but I would say in the UK too ...

    eventually ;)


  • #11
    ixoy
    Moderators, Entertainment Moderators Posts: 18,004 Mod ✭✭✭✭ixoy


    Can we actually say they're all atheists? Agnostic would also fit it seems, if people interpret it as belonging to an organised religion.


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  • #12
    Timberrrrrrrr
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 25,753 ✭✭✭✭Timberrrrrrrr


    cowboyBuilder wrote: »
    Worldwide certainly, but I would say in the UK too ...

    eventually ;)

    But
    cowboyBuilder wrote: »
    Indeed, no doubt Muslim is rapidly increasing - and one thing is for sure, atheists will never outnumber Muslims.

    Atheists do outnumber Muslims in the UK


  • #13
    unseenfootage
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 976 ✭✭✭unseenfootage


    How does No Religion equate to Atheist?


  • #14
    Skatedude
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,674 ✭✭✭Skatedude


    unseenfootage wrote: »
    How does No Religion equate to Atheist?

    I agree , agnostic would be more apt


  • #15
    unseenfootage
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 976 ✭✭✭unseenfootage


    Skatedude wrote: »
    I agree , agnostic would be more apt

    There are people who truly believe in the existence of God but who do not subscribe to any particular religion.

    "No religion" probably encompasses a few different subsets , i.e. Athists, Agnostics, lapse believers, deists etc...


  • #16
    smacl
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 15,812 Mod ✭✭✭✭smacl


    cowboyBuilder wrote: »
    Indeed, no doubt Muslim is rapidly increasing - and one thing is for sure, atheists will never outnumber Muslims.

    I wouldn't be too sure about that. According to the Pew Research Centre, by 2050 there will be the same number of Muslims as Christians, whereas if you look at Hans Rosling's talk on the subject he disagrees and has stated “Today number of births/women does not differ between Christian vs. Muslim majority countries” and that as a result the relative population ratio of two religions will remain largely the same. The result in the UK suggests to me that religious indifference is most certainly on the rise, largely as a result of reduced poverty, and this is true of people from Islamic as well as Christian backgrounds.


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