People of no religion outnumber Christians in England and Wales

[Albertoo]

People "having no religion rose from 25% in 2011 to 48.5% in 2014"?

That's 23% of the population dropping religion in just three years?

Sounds almost too good to be true, but if it is, it's awesome

People of no religion outnumber Christians in England and Wales – study

Proportion of population who identify as having no religion rose from 25% in 2011 to 48.5% in 2014, surveys show

The number of people who say they have no religion is rapidly escalating and significantly outweighs the Christian population in England and Wales, according to new analysis.

The proportion of the population who identify as having no religion – referred to as “nones” – reached 48.5% in 2014, almost double the figure of 25% in the 2011 census. Those who define themselves as Christian – Anglicans, Catholics and other denominations – made up 43.8% of the population.

“The striking thing is the clear sense of the growth of ‘no religion’ as a proportion of the population,” said Stephen Bullivant, senior lecturer in theology and ethics at St Mary’s Catholic University in Twickenham, who analysed data collected through British Social Attitudes surveys over three decades.

“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. The reason for that is the big question in the sociology of religion.”

The report did not examine data from Scotland or Northern Ireland. Last month a Scottish Social Attitudes survey found that 52% of the population said they were not religious, compared with 40% in 1999.

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

[trotsky]

1. From 25% to 48.5% in just three years?

Wow.

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. Different survey/census, different question.

So a direct comparison of the 2 numbers is probably simplistic. from the report's footnotes:

3 NB: This is a notably smaller proportion of the population identifying as Christian
than recorded by the national Censuses of both 2001 and 2011. The discrepancy
between the Census and a large number of other social surveys (which generally
concur with the BSA’s lower figures) has been much discussed. While this is
not the place to delve too deeply into technical issues, it is worth noting that the
Census’ religion question (‘What is your religion?’) is rather different to the BSA’s
(‘What religion, if any, do you consider yourself belonging to?’). On this subject,
see: D. Voas and S. Bruce, ‘Research Note: The 2001 Census and Christian
Identification in Britain’, Journal of Contemporary Religion 19/1 (2004), 23-8; and
A. Day, Believing in Belonging: Belief and Social Identity in the Modern World
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012).

http://www.stmarys.ac.uk/benedict-xvi/docs/2016-may-contemporary-catholicism-report.pdf

Figure 1.3 in the report shows a slow increase in 'no religion' since 1983, from about 40%.

[trotsky]

6. OK that helps explain such a rapid jump.

Encouraging nonetheless!

[Albertoo]

10. I knew the figure couldn't jump like that, but Europe is now becoming 'not affiliated'

The last strongholds of religion appear to be the areas where Catholicism, the more retrograde form of Christianity, is leading (Italy, Portugal, Ireland, Poland).
The voodoo cult of the protective patron saint is comforting, it seems..

[RKP5637]

2. We can hope the US will follow the pattern one day. It is slowly decreasing in the US. n/t

[Little Star]

3. I think we are on the same path in the US......

The Fastest Growing Group Of Americans Doesn’t Identify With Any Particular Religion
http://thinkprogress.org/culture/2015/05/12/3657691/fastest-growing-group-americans-dont-identify-particular-religion/

[RKP5637]

4. That's good to hear! Religion has often been so ugly over eons. Not all, but many. It's been just

another political group with ploys to try to control the masses. It's just been horrific what some do in the name of religion, not all, but it happens often enough. Thanks for the link!

[rug]

7. You sound like the Rapture is nigh.

[Albertoo]

8. The 'rapture' is an opium of the masses high

[rug]

9. So is wishful thinking for the awesome.

[Albertoo]

11. What is 'wishful thinking for the awesome'? Do you experience it?

[rug]

12. "Sounds almost too good to be true, but if it is, it's awesome"

I left out the smiley. It's too embarassing.

[Albertoo]

13. The key fact is not wishful: western democracies are getting progressively free from religion

Something the person in your avatar would have approved of.

[rug]

14. Actually, I expect he'd be indifferent. The real enemy is capitalism.

Without religion being used as yet another commodity to exploit, it would be quite benign.

I suspect, given a choice, you prefer a world with capitalism but without religion, rather than the converse.

[Albertoo]

15. False alternative: religion is useless and dangerous, capitalism provides an improvable basis.

The case for religion is purely negative:
- zero evidence it's real, zero superior morality
- evidence of vicious divisiveness

Capitalism is the default position
- capital accumulation -> large investments -> technological progress
- anticapitalism fails (Holodomor and Great Leap Forward famines = 20M dead)

Capitalism can be amended into social democracy, while religion stays useless and dangerous.

[rug]

16. there are so many antitheist neocons these days, aren't there?

[Albertoo]

17. Nice attempt at guilt by association

You really enjoy High School debating club tricks, don't you?

[rug]

18. I do believe your last sentence is itself a high school debating trick

[Albertoo]

19. No. Merely exposing your tactics.

[mr blur]

20. Yeah, well we sent all our religious loonies to America long ago.

You're welcome.

[mr blur]

21. ...and a word from Jesus & Mo: