Religion in the United Kingdom
Diversity, Trends and Decline

With over 170 distinct religions counted, the religious make-up of the UK is diverse, complex and multicultural. The 2011 Census shows that minority and alternative religions are steadily growing, as is Islam (at 5% of the population). Less than half of the British people believe in a god and from 2009 the annual British Social Attitudes results has revealed that over 50% aren't religious₁. A 2014 YouGov poll saw 77% of the British public say they're not very, or not at all, religious₂. Comprehensive professional research in 2006 by Tearfund found that 66% of the people of the UK have no connection with any religion or church₃.

However, people continue to put down what they think is their "official" religion on official forms. As a result of this Census Effect in the 2011 National Census, 59.3% of us put their religion down as "Christian"₄. Half of those who say they have no religion to pollsters still put one down on the 2011 Census. Even despite this, Christian numbers are substantially down from the 2001 figure of 72%. Religion in Britain has suffered an immense general decline since the 1950s. Between 1979 and 2005, half of all Christians stopped going to church on a Sunday. Four in five Britons want religion to be private, not public, and have no place in politics₅. All indicators show a continued secularisation of British society in line with other European countries such as France.

1. Christianity in the UK: The Newest Minority Religion
2. Organized Religion in Britain
3. Politics and Religion
4. Census Results for 2011, and Comparison to 2001
5. Ignorance of Religion
6. Belief in God, the Afterlife, Souls and Spiritual Things
7. Some Minority Religions in Britain
   1. Islam (5%)
   2. Heathens
   3. Jedi Knights
   4. Satanists
   5. Wicca and Paganism
8. Faith Schools
9. Religious Adherents (1975 to 2001)
10. Percent Cremated in the UK (1884-2011) and of % of Funerals that are Church of England
11. Links

1. Christianity in the UK: The Newest Minority Religion₆

#christianity #church_of_england #religion #UK #uk_christianity #uk_religion

The first semi-stable Christian communities in Britain can be found from the 4th/5th centuries, although the sentiments of various kings led to mass abandonments of Christianity for political or personal reasons (mostly revolving around power and sex)₇ and culminating in the fouding of the Church of England for exactly those reasons. But the modern era has removed Christianity from British life. From 1900 to 2020, UK membership of Christian churches fell from 33% to 9%₈. Although many Christians are not formal members, between 1989 and 2005, one third of all Christians in England stopped going to church on Sundays₉, leaving only 6% of the total population doing so. A 2007 poll found that Christians were the most inactive of all religious adherents₁₀. The Roman Catholic₁₁, Methodist₁₁ and Church of England₁₂ are suffering the biggest losses, whilst Pentecostal churches are growing₁₁. Between 1960 and 1985 the Church of England halved in size₁₂ and from then to year 2000, 40% of their remaining flock stopped describing themselves as members₁₃. At some point since the 1930s, most Brits stopped believing in Christianity and at some point between the 1990s and 2011, most Brits stopped calling themselves Christian, except on the occasional official document where they think it's the "right answer"₁₄.

For more, see:

• "Christianity in the UK: The Newest Minority Religion" by Vexen Crabtree (2020).

2. Organized Religion in Britain

#christianity #judaism #UK

The primary social research tool in Britain is the British Social Attitudes Survey, an annual mini-census. In 2009 'No religion' was stated by 50.7% of the UK population₁. Comprehensive professional research in 2006 by Tearfund found that two thirds (66% - 32.2 million people) in the UK have no connection with any religion or church₃, a figure which meshes perfectly with another poll in the same year that saw 63% say they are not religious ₁₅. In 2003 August, only 18% of the British public said they were a practicing member of an organized religion and 25% that they were members of a world religion₁₆. According to these results, one fifth of self-declared members would also not describe themselves as actually practicing that religion.

• 17% of the population responded that religion was one of the most significant factors in their lives. A persons' own experience, parents, education and friends come first for nearly everyone₁₆. (2003)

• Those who do profess religion in the UK are largely inactive. A 2007 poll commissioned by the British Library found that 50% of religious folk "do not practice religion very much, if at all"₁₇, with Christians being the most inactive. A 2014 poll found similar results, with 50% of British Jews saying that they are not at all religious₁₈. Muslims were most religious, with only 7% saying they're not₁₈.

• A large 2006 poll of year 9 and 10 teenagers in Cornwall found that only 19% said that they 'have a religious faith'₁₉. If these teenagers reflect the future, British religiosity is going to continue to drop.

One single fact can be found in all of the statistics: Britons are mostly non-religious and are increasingly both innocent and ignorant of religion.

The cultural attachment to Christianity in general lives on and Monica Furlong in her year 2000 comprehensive review of the state of English religion summarizes the English in the same way as Grace Davies who wrote "Religion in Britain since 1945: Believing without Belonging₁₂": by saying the English "believe without belonging" to Christianity. That is, many profess belief but do not take part in organized religion. Subsequent scholars (and we will see much supporting evidence below) have doubted whether we believe at all; one said we "don't believe, and don't belong".

“In the twenty years between 1980 and 2000 the Church of England suffered a 27 per cent decline in church membership. The Roman Catholic Church suffered a similar decline in the same period in mass attendance. Methodists, Baptists and others suffered decline too, though in all the churches, it must be said, there have been significant successes in certain churches and particular enterprises. The only institutional church which has continued to grow has been the Orthodox Church - Greek and Russian - where demand for churches exceeds supply, mainly because of immigration from Orthodox countries.

There is a rather touching footnote to all this, which is that people questioned about how much they go to church, give figures which, if true, would add up to twice those given by the churches.”

"The C of E: The State It's In" by Monica Furlong (2000)₂₀

Those who 'do not belong' have first shed the practical and theoretical underpinnings of their religion, before finally overcoming social pressure to "state your religion". There are many who are not at the later stages of this secularisation process, so they still say they 'belong', although they are in the process of forgetting & discarding the physical and mental aspects of what they say they belong to.

So why do so many people say they are Christian? Sociologists know that if they count heads and ask about beliefs, more people say they belong to a religion, and say they have the beliefs of a particular religion, than actually do. People over-state their own religiosity; that's why statistics from polls will often give higher percentages of 'believers' than will head-counting and deeper investigations. To read about this, click here: "Institutionalized Religions Have Their Numbers Inflated by National Polls" by Vexen Crabtree (2009).

Year 2000 snapshots:

• In 2000, 60 per cent of the population claimed to belong to a specific religion with 55 per cent being Christian. However, half of all adults aged 18 and over who belonged to a religion have never attended a religious service.₂₂

• 48% of people in the UK claim to belong to a religion, compared with 86% of people in the US and 92% of Italians. From BBC's report "UK is 'losing' its religion" (2000)₂₃.

3. Politics and Religion₂₄

#church_of_england #UK #UK_christianity #UK_religion

The historical dominance of Christian power in England led to the full political institutionalizing of Christianity. The Church of England in particular is the 'established religion' of the UK. Although much of this is reversed - public offices are no longer restricted to members of Catholic or Protestant denominations, some oddities do still remain. For example "the Church of England is required by law to display a complete, accessible Bible in all its places of worship"₂₅. There is no similar law placing requirements on Mosques or Synagogues. Such an outdated law is nowadays considered improper: under the concept of democratic secularism, the state has no right to interfere in such a way. Most of the time the legal entanglement of Church and State involve the former having undue influence on the latter. Bishops still sit in the House of Lords (the UK's second chamber of government) and "Britain is the only country left in the democratic world that allows clerics to sit in its legislature as of right"₂₆. Although there is a long-lasting "disestablishment" movement in the UK, the public do not know enough about religion to be roused to either oppose or support it. The government tends not to devote much time to actively dismantling such apparatus because even though it is an democratic embarrassment, the public themselves don't often notice.

In a 2012 poll conducted by YouGov and BSAS, 81% of the British stated that religion is a private matter, and should be separate from politics (only 6% thought otherwise), and 71% said that religious leaders should not influence the government₂₇. Only 7% think that Britain would be a better place if more religious leaders held public office₂₇. Battles between Christian powers and democratic propriety have a long history.

These links are to another page:

4. Census Results for 2011, and Comparison to 2001₂₈

#agnosticism #amish #ancestor_worship #animism #bahá'í_faith #buddhism #chinese_religion #christianity #confucianism #deism #druidism #eckankar #heathenism #hinduism #humanism #islam #jainism #jedi_knights #judaism #mysticism #new_age #no_religion #paganism #pantheism #raja_yoga #rastafarian #ravidassia #satanism #scientology #shamanism #shinto #sikhism #spiritualism #taoism #thelema #unification_church #unitarianism #universalism #voodoo #wicca #witchcraft #zoroastrianism

Almost all minority religions that appeared in 2001 and 2011 Census results have grown over the 10 years. Christianity has plummeted, although there is almost universal agreement amongst sociologists that the decline is amongst who have for a long time have not held Christian beliefs - or any other religious beliefs. The decline is caused by people ceasing to put "Christian" because they think it is the right answer; and putting, correctly "no religion" instead.

Please note that in the 2001 Census, the population was 52.4 million; in the 2011 one it was 56.1 million, which is a 7% increase. Any category in these results that has not grown by 7% has actually shrunk, in terms of its penetration of the populace.

5. Ignorance of Religion

#christianity #islam

The British public, both adults and children, are almost wholly ignorant of the basic facts surrounding Christianity and other world religions. The Ofsted report on Religious Education (RE) in schools (2007) states that there is a problem even with teachers' insufficient knowledge of RE at primary school level₃₁ and likewise with recruiting the correct specialists at secondary school level₃₁. Not many people seem to mind, as religious education is seen as easy, and the lessons themselves often used for discussions of current affairs rather than religious studies. There is a pandemic innocence of knowledge about religion.

“Children who do not come from churchgoing homes - as I did not - now grow up largely ignorant of Christian ideas in a way unimaginable half a century ago. [...] The comments about religion by journalists in the press and on television [...] suggest that even the basic Christian ideas are no longer understood by university-educated people, still less by others. Indeed even churchgoers can reveal an ignorance of the main elements of Christian belief.”

"The C of E: The State It's In" by Monica Furlong (2000)₃₂

In data revealed in a Mori poll from 2003 Aug, only 55% of the English population could name one of the four Christian gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke or John). Slightly more, 60%, could name the sacred book used by Muslims: the Qur'an.

Religious education seems all round to be shunned, and this goes hand in hand with the obvious lack of concern the average British person has for religious matters.

“When I asked the Very Reverend David Edwards, the author of over thirty books on modern Christianity, for his assessment of the state of spirituality in England, he just told me bleakly that 'The English have lost any sense of what religion is'.”

"The English" by Jeremy Paxman (1998)₃₃

6. Belief in God, the Afterlife, Souls and Spiritual Things

6.1. Belief in God

#UK #USA

Many large-scale polls indicate that less than half the British public believe in God, with the larger ones showing a rate of 34-35%. Polls of young adults up to 24 years old, show a lower rate of (perhaps) up to 25%.

If the poll of 4000 year 9 & 10 teenagers indicates what the future holds, then we can expect belief in God to continue to fall over the next few decades.

Sociologist David Voas is additionally skeptical even of those who say they believe in God. He says that deeper research reveals that British people's religious believes are not deeply held even when they say "yes" they believe in God, and, such beliefs are rarely acted upon. He says "we cannot conclude from the fact that people tell pollsters they believe in God that they give the matter any thought, find it significant, will feel the same next year, or plan to do anything about it"₂.

6.2. Belief in the Afterlife

#christianity

In 2013, only 33% of the British public said that they believe in an afterlife₃₈. A older poll in 2003 had 52% say they believed in Heaven₁₆. In 2008, under 20% of Britons said they believed in hell₃₅ - down from a 2003 poll that placed that figure at 32%₁₆. If only 33% believe in an afterlife, and yet, 59% of Brits put down "Christian" as their religion in the 2011 Census, it is clear that many as half of all those who say they are Christian are actually wrong or are completely ignorant of even the most basic Christian beliefs.

6.3. Other Beliefs

#theism

68% believed in souls in 2003₁₆, meaning that there are many spiritualists who are not theists. In 2013, 65% of the populace revealed no belief Satan - but it is still quite surprising that 18% still do₃₉.

“Opinion polls in this country do indeed show high levels of belief, but in all sorts of things, including reincarnation (a quarter of respondents), horoscopes (also a quarter), clairvoyance (almost half), ghosts (nearly a third) and so on. It is far from clear that these beliefs make any different to the people claiming them. Research suggests that casual believers even in astrology, for example, which is distinguished by its practical orientation, rarely do or avoid doing things because of published advice. [... It] is a phenomenon one might call 'believing without believing'. Views are uninformed, not deeply held, seldom acted upon, and relatively volatile.”

David Voas
In "Public Faith? The State of Religious Belief and Practice in Britain" by Paul Avis (2003)_40,2

Inspirations:

• In 2003: Close friends (46%), a walk in the country (41%), music or poetry all are more inspirational than Jesus (24%) or Nelson Mandela (20%), and all those plus Princess Diana (13%) are more inspirational than "a sacred text" with a mere 6%.₁₆.

• In 2013: "Parents (82%), Friends (77%), Politicians (38%), Brands (32%) and Celebrities (21%) are all more important to them than religious leaders (12%). That's right - Nike, Apple, J-Lo and the Jedward Twins are influential, whereas the local Bishops, Priests and other religious figures ... are the least referred to"₃₄.

7. Some Minority Religions in Britain

7.1. Islam (5%)₄₁

#india #islam #morocco #pakistan #UK #UK_islam #UK_religion

In the 2011 national census, 2.7m British residents described themselves as Muslim, up from 1.5m in 2001. Islam in the UK is socially linked with a few specific countries, from which Muslims came - or were brought during the slave trade - into the UK. The largest Muslim communities are found in Bradford, Birmingham and London₄₂. Tablighi Muslims tend to be connected with Morocco₄₃. The 500 Barelvi Islamic mosques₄₂ are largely linked with Pakistan₄₃ (or rather India, before 1947), and 800 Deobandi Islamic mosques "with a clientele composed either of [...] Indian Muslims [from the] Gujarati community [and] Pakistani muhajirs"₄₃. In general, these communities have a higher birth rate and are younger than the national average - 28 years (in 2011), compared with 41 years₄₄.

Source: Muslims in Britain (2017)₄₂

7.2. Heathens

Interestingly, the 2001 Census officials included "heathens" in the "no religion" category. Heathenism is a set of distinct religious beliefs, one of the religions generally called Pagan, along with Druidism, neo Paganism and Wicca. Although some may put heathen when they do mean "no religion", some will not. I do not know if it is more correct to list Heathens as "no religion" or "other religion". Asatru, Odinism and other Northern religions are likely to have followers who identify themselves as heathens. So, like you get Christians who are Protestant and Catholic amongst others, you also get Pagans who are neo Pagan, Wicca, etc, and Heathens who are Asatru, Odinists, etc. Listing these as non-religious is probably a mistake, unlike the Jedis.

“The main spiritual paths of Paganism to be found in the UK and the United States are Wicca, Druidry, Shamanism, Goddess Spirituality, Sacred Ecology, Heathenism and various magical groups.”

"Pagan Pathways"
Graham Harvey & Charlotte Hardman (1995)₄₅

During email correspondence, the Office for National Statistics revealed further information about the 'Heathen' category. They said: "Responses of "Heathen", with a number of other responses that either indicated no clear religion or faith, or where there was some ambiguity in the term written in, were put in the category of 'No religion'. There were less than 300 people included in this way in the 'No religion' category".₅

7.3. Jedi Knights

#UK

The UK Census of 2001 saw 390 127 people put down "Jedi Knight" as their religion - that's 0.7% of the population_46,47. This resulted from an internet campaign that preceded the Census_48,47. An urban myth had developed that this many votes would make Jedi an "official religion", however this is not true, as the UK is a secular country and there is no such thing as a government-wide list of "official religions"₄₉. The UK's Office for National Statistics concluded that this was a parody (a joke) and included those who wrote Jedi Knight in the "no religion" category_50,51.

“Just over 390,000 of the 52,000,000 people in England and Wales wrote in 'Jedi' on their census form. The 'Jedi' response was most popular in Brighton and Hove, with 2.6 per cent of Census respondents quoting it, followed by Oxford (2.0 per cent), Wandsworth (1.9), Cambridge (1.9), Southampton (1.8) and Lambeth (1.8).

It was least popular in Easington, on the north-east coast of England between Sunderland and Hartlepool, where it was quoted by only 0.16 per cent of respondents. Sedgefield, Knowsley, Blaenau Gwent, Merthyr Tydfil and Wear Valley all show less than 0.2 per cent of respondents quoting 'Jedi'.”

Office for National Statistics (2001)₅₂

The campaign was not maintained, and in 2011, less than half of the total number put down "Jedi Knight" as their religion - 176 632 people.

For more, see:

• "The Jedi Knight Religion, Inspired by Star Wars (Jediism)" by Vexen Crabtree (2015).

7.4. Satanists

#atheism #christianity #religion #satanism #UK #UK_religion

1893 Satanists were counted in the UK's National Census of 2011 despite "extensive coverage in the media"₅₃ which make some suspect that numbers are higher. The number of Satanists is notoriously difficult to estimate. Most Satanic groups are informal, temporary and ad-hoc (so 'congregation' numbers cannot be counted), and the mainstream Church of Satan does not publish membership numbers. Also, many Satanists are not members of the Church of Satan. Hence, estimates of numbers of Satanists have varied wildly according to authors' imaginations and paranoias. In 2001 and 2002 I enquired at London Satanists meetings and found that only half identified themselves as a Satanist on the census. Others put "atheist" or even Christian denominations as their religion. This is a significant under-representation. As 1525 were counted in the 2001 Census, an estimate of 3050 seems sensible. Now in 2011, with slight growth in terms of percent of the population since 2001, an estimate of 3850 seems sensible₅₄.

For more, see:

• "How many Satanists are there in the UK?" by Vexen Crabtree (2012).

7.5. Wicca and Paganism

#UK #USA #wicca #witchcraft

Pagans, Wiccans and "Witchcraft" folk together make up over 70 000 people in England and Wales, according to the 2011 Census results. These minorities are not readily discriminated against in the UK as they are in some countries such as the USA. Maybe this acceptance comes from the UK's longer history with modern Paganisms. Professor Hutton states that it is 'the only religion which England has ever given the world':

“The unique significance of pagan witchcraft to history is that it is the only religion which England has ever given the world. The English have always developed their own distinctive versions of other religious systems ever since their state acquired an identity, but this is the first which has ever originated in it, and spread from there to many other parts of the world.”

"The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft" by Ronald Hutton (1999)₅₅

8. Faith Schools

#education #faith_schools #religion #school #sectarianism #UK

There's around 7000 state faith schools in England₅₆ (of 25000). Many are more-or-less mainsteam, but the worst of them teach creationism/intelligent design and some, although they excel at religious education in their religion of choice, they fail on everything else from science to fitness and inclusivity.

Faith schools sometimes produce better-than-average results, but on the whole they take in far fewer poor pupils and fewer of those with special education needs than do non-religious all-inclusive schools. Conversely, faith schools tend to select better-educated and more well-off pupils. Reports on the race riots of 2001 criticized faith schools for creating the segregation that increases racial and religious sectarian tensions. Over 800 studies by social psychologists have found that cooperating and extended contact between racial groups is a very good way of producing positive race relations.

They also select students based on ability (despite attempts to stop that), whereas state schools accept poorer students in the first place. The Home Office, National Union of Teachers, Chief Schools Inspector, the Association of Teachers and Lecturers have all spoken out against faith schools. The United Nations Human Rights Commission and the European Union's Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia both recommend non-sectarian education, especially of children, as a means to reduce intolerance. The National Secular Society has long campaigned for the government to reverse the creation of faith schools (100 new ones since 1997), and instead convert faith schools back into all-inclusive secular schools where religion and race do not define the children. Abolishing faith schools will decrease social tension between ethnic and religious groups, increase the fairness of the schools system (as religious schools accept fewer poor and disadvantaged students), and reduce the scope for religious extremism and indoctrination.

For more, see:

• "Faith Schools in the UK" by Vexen Crabtree (2010).

9. Religious Adherents (1975 to 2001)

Davie (1997) provides most of the historical data, but, I am not sure that her "Trinitarian" is exactly equal to the 2001 Census' "Christian" category. There are certainly non-trinitarian Christians. Nonetheless, I have transpositioned the numbers of 'Christians' in the 2001 column for ease of comparison. More importantly, the Census would have been a radically different context for people to answer as to their religion.

10. Percent Cremated in the UK (1884-2011) and of % of Funerals that are Church of England

“From 1939 cremation rapidly overtook religious coffin funerals as the preferred postmortem arrangement for bodies. England was the first Western country to adopt cremation as widely. Secular government should rightly have control over such matters as it is wrong to force particular rituals on a populace consisting of multiple faiths and varied beliefs.

England has acute problems with space to bury the dead, most formal burial grounds are full and rotate slots, smashing the bottom of old coffins and putting new ones on top. There are few other options, as such, religions that have impractical dogmas telling people how they should behave towards the dead have become obsolete and largely ignored by many, especially professionals.”

"Approaching Death: Some Instincts of the Human Animal" by Vexen Crabtree (2014)