Irreligion in the United Kingdom

Last updated

Religion in the United Kingdom (2015 research) [1]

  None (52%)
   Church of England (13.7%)
   Catholic Church (8.7%)
  Other Christian (13.2%)
   Islam (6.7%)
  Other religions (3.6%)
  Not stated (2.1%)

Irreligion in the United Kingdom is more prevalent than in some parts of Europe, with about 8% indicating they were atheistic in 2018, [2] and 52% listing their religion as "none". [1] A third of Anglicans polled in a 2013 survey doubted the existence of God, while 15% of those with no religion believed in some higher power, and deemed themselves "spiritual" or even "religious". [3]

Contents

1700–1850

Organised activism for irreligion in the United Kingdom derived its roots from the legacy of British nonconformists. The South Place Religious Society, which would later become associated with the Ethical movement, was founded in 1793 as an organisation of Philadelphians or Universalists.[ citation needed ]

In 1811, The Necessity of Atheism was published by a young Oxford student, Percy Bysshe Shelley. It was one of the first printed, open avowals of irreligion in England.[ citation needed ]

The Oracle of Reason , the first avowedly atheist periodical publication in British history, was published from 1841 to 1843 by Charles Southwell. It suffered from numerous imprisonments of its staff, including Southwell, George Holyoake and Thomas Paterson, for missives deemed "blasphemous" by the authorities (Holyoake was the last person in Britain convicted of blasphemy in a public lecture). Holyoake took to publishing The Movement (1842–1845) following his six-month sentence, which later became The Reasoner (1845–1860) and shifted to a larger focus on social issues facing the British working class, increasing the publication's readership. It was during this time that Holyoake developed his idea for the replacement of Christianity with an ethical system based upon science and reason, terming his proposal "secularism". [4]

1850–1900

Charles Bradlaugh, Member of Parliament for Northampton and founder of the National Secular Society in 1866. Charles Bradlaugh.jpg
Charles Bradlaugh, Member of Parliament for Northampton and founder of the National Secular Society in 1866.

George Holyoake's coining of the word secularism in 1851 offered the English-speaking world the clarification of the nascent movement for separation of religion and state. The National Secular Society, founded in 1866 by politician Charles Bradlaugh, spearheaded the advocacy for freeing citizens from absolute government requirements involving religious observances; the Leicester Secular Society was founded in 1851. Bradlaugh's 1880 election to Parliament brought on a decade-long dispute over the demanded right to affirm declarations of office rather than swear oaths, as he was denied his seat for five years by a ruling that he had no right to affirm and resolutions preventing him from swearing an oath. When Bradlaugh was ultimately admitted in 1886, he took up the issue and saw the Oaths Act 1888 passed, which confirmed the right to optionally affirm declarations for inaugurations to office and offering testimony to government bodies. [5]

In 1881, The Freethinker began circulation as Britain's longest-running humanist periodical. In 1896, the Union of Ethical Societies was formed in the United Kingdom by American Stanton Coit as a union of pre-existing British Ethical movement societies; this group would later become known as the Ethical Union and the British Humanist Association. [6] In 1899, the Rational Press Association was formed by a group of free-thinkers including Charles Albert Watts and George Holyoake.[ citation needed ]

Meanwhile, the South Place Religious Society became further aligned with organised secularist advocacy during the tenure of Moncure D. Conway as minister of the congregation; Conway, an American Unitarian minister who served from 1864 to 1885 and 1892–1897, moved the congregation further away from doctrinal Unitarianism, and spent the break in his tenure (during which Stanton Coit served in his stead) writing a biography of American revolutionary ideologue Thomas Paine. In 1888, the South Place Religious Society became the South Place Ethical Society, now known as the Conway Hall Ethical Society.[ citation needed ]

20th century

Richard Dawkins has been a significant figure in irreligion since the 1970s Richard Dawkins Cooper Union Shankbone.jpg
Richard Dawkins has been a significant figure in irreligion since the 1970s

The 1960s were a significant time for irreligion, as the Ethical Union rebranded as the British Humanist Association, which went on to co-found the International Humanist and Ethical Union and create a symbol for humanism, the Happy Human. [6] Broadcasters such as Margaret K. Knight sensationalised Britain with open advocacy of non-religious values and secular education. [7] Senior figures in the British humanist movement went out to take on leading roles in institutions such as UNESCO, the World Health Organization, and the Food and Agriculture Organization. [8]

John William Gott, a working man of Bradford, West Yorkshire, attacked religion, especially Christianity, seeing it as reducing the opportunity for a socialist revolution. His lectures on rationalism and scepticism, and anti-Christian pamphlets, saw him jailed for blasphemy in 1911. Liberal Prime Minister H. H. Asquith was one of a group of Members of Parliament who proposed an ultimately unsuccessful piece of legislation to abolish blasphemy offences. Gott was jailed again ten years later for a pamphlet showing Jesus as a clown, and died in 1922 soon after his nine-month sentence which included hard labour despite his worsening physical condition. There was a public backlash against his sentence. [9]

Gott was the last Briton jailed for blasphemy, but the offence remained a technical crime through common law until being abolished in the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008.[ citation needed ]

Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, who first came to prominence in 1976 following the release of The Selfish Gene , increasingly figured in British irreligion with the release of his 1986 work The Blind Watchmaker , in which he argued in favour of evolutionary natural selection as opposed to intelligent design and creationism.[ citation needed ]

21st century

The city of Norwich, according to the United Kingdom's 2011 census, is the most irreligious local authority in England, with 42.5% professing no religious affiliation. West from castle mound.jpg
The city of Norwich, according to the United Kingdom's 2011 census, is the most irreligious local authority in England, with 42.5% professing no religious affiliation.

In the 21st century, New Atheism became a popular topic of debate, support and critique in the United Kingdom. Dawkins' 2006 book The God Delusion and Christopher Hitchens' 2007 book God Is Not Great were considered emblematic works of the era among British authors, and Dawkins advocated for the Brights movement. [10] The Atheist Bus Campaign was inaugurated during this time, in which advertisements on double-decker buses were purchased by the British Humanist Association in order to advocate non-belief in the supernatural; the campaign caused controversy and complaints to authorities, but soon spread to other countries and continents, taking root in the United States as a variety of atheist billboard campaigns. [11] A 2009 survey of 1,000 teenagers aged 13 to 18 reports that two-thirds of British teenagers do not believe in God. [12]

The rise in irreligion was confirmed in the UK's 2011 census, which saw irreligion rise from 7.7 million in 2001 to 14.1 million, a rise of 10.3 percentage points. The local authority in England with the highest level of irreligion was Norwich, the county town of Norfolk, where the level was 42.5%.[ citation needed ] Religion has the least influence on youth. [13] According to the 2011 census, 25% of England has no religion, 7% of Northern Ireland, [14] one third in Scotland and one-third of Wales. [15] In 2015, over 110 Parliamentarians in the UK are members of the All-Party Parliamentary Humanist Group, which means the non-religious have substantial representation among MPs and Lords. [16]

According to YouGov, Christianity is perceived to be on the decline. [17] [18] Mori Polls have shown that British Christians support a secular state. [19] [20] [21] Britons are amongst the most skeptical about religion. [22]

Statistics from the Office of National Statistics published in 2019 showed that the number of non-religious people in Britain has increased by 46% since 2011 (up to a total of 39% of the population), with over 8 million more people declaring that they do not belong to any religious group. As well as this, the figures also show a 14% decline (from 59.3% to 51%) in the number of people identifying as Christian. [23] [24]

According to the 2021 United Kingdom census the number of Christians in England and Wales decreased for the first time to less than half of the population (46.2%, 27.5 million people), a 13.1 percentage point decrease from 59.3% (33.3 million) in 2011. [25] [26] with the number of those identifying as non religious becoming the second most common response, increasing by 12.0 percentage points to 37.2% (22.2 million) from 25.2% (14.1 million) in 2011. [27] [28]

Humanists UK is the most prominent organisation espousing irreligion in the United Kingdom. [29] [ citation needed ] The organisation reported recent polling suggesting that the population with no religion may have reached 34 million. [30]

In 2023, research from the World Value Survey found that only 49% of Britons said they believed in God. Nick Baldwin, LGBT Humanists coordinator, told PinkNews the findings underline what Humanists "already know": "The UK population is largely non-religious and getting increasingly more so." He said: "This is at odds with our state set-up which is overly religious in nature, from faith-based discrimination in schools to having bishops in the House of Lords. Our politicians need to wake up to the facts: we live in a diverse and plural society. We should strive to build a country that treats everyone equally regardless of religion or belief." [31]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Secular humanism</span> Life stance that embraces human reason, secular ethics, and philosophical naturalism

Secular humanism is a philosophy, belief system or life stance that embraces human reason, logic, secular ethics, and philosophical naturalism, while specifically rejecting religious dogma, supernaturalism, and superstition as the basis of morality and decision making.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Religious humanism</span> Integration of humanist ethical philosophy

Religious humanism or ethical humanism is an integration of nontheistic humanist philosophy with congregational rites and community activity that center on human needs, interests, and abilities. Religious humanists set themselves apart from secular humanists by characterizing the nontheistic humanist life stance as a non-supernatural "religion" and structuring their organization around a congregational model.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Secular Society</span> British campaigning organisation founded in 1866

The National Secular Society (NSS) is a British campaigning organisation that promotes secularism and the separation of church and state. It holds that no one should gain advantage or disadvantage because of their religion or lack of it. It was founded by Charles Bradlaugh in 1866.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Bradlaugh</span> British politician and atheist

Charles Bradlaugh was an English political activist and atheist. He founded the National Secular Society in 1866, 15 years after George Holyoake had coined the term "secularism" in 1851.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Humanists UK</span> Charitable organization promoting secular humanism

Humanists UK, known from 1967 until May 2017 as the British Humanist Association (BHA), is a charitable organisation which promotes secular humanism and aims to represent "people who seek to live good lives without religious or superstitious beliefs" in the United Kingdom by campaigning on issues relating to humanism, secularism, and human rights. It seeks to act as a representative body for non-religious people in the UK.

Laws prohibiting blasphemy and blasphemous libel in the United Kingdom date back to the medieval times as common law and in some special cases as enacted legislation. The common law offences of blasphemy and blasphemous libel were formally abolished in England and Wales in 2008 and Scotland in 2024. Equivalent laws remain in Northern Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Religion in the United Kingdom</span>

British society is one of the most secularised in the world and in many surveys determining religious beliefs of the population agnosticism, nontheism, atheism, secular humanism, and non-affiliation are views shared by a majority of Britons. Historically, it was dominated for over 1,400 years by various forms of Christianity, which replaced preceding Romano-British religions, including Celtic and Anglo-Saxon paganism. Religious affiliations of United Kingdom citizens are recorded by regular surveys, the four major ones being the national decennial census, the Labour Force Survey, the British Social Attitudes survey and the European Social Survey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Holyoake</span> English secularist writer (1817–1906)

George Jacob Holyoake was an English secularist, co-operator and newspaper editor. He coined the terms secularism in 1851 and "jingoism" in 1878. He edited a secularist paper, the Reasoner, from 1846 to June 1861, and a co-operative one, The English Leader, in 1864–1867.

The right to freedom of religion in the United Kingdom is provided for in all three constituent legal systems, by devolved, national, European, and international law and treaty. Four constituent nations compose the United Kingdom, resulting in an inconsistent religious character, and there is no state church for the whole kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Humanists International</span> Secular humanism advocacy organization

Humanists International is an international non-governmental organisation championing secularism and human rights, motivated by secular humanist values. Founded in Amsterdam in 1952, it is an umbrella organisation made up of more than 160 secular humanist, atheist, rationalist, agnostic, skeptic, freethought and Ethical Culture organisations from over 80 countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Religion in Europe</span>

Religion has been a major influence on the societies, cultures, traditions, philosophies, artistic expressions and laws within present-day Europe. The largest religion in Europe is Christianity. However, irreligion and practical secularisation are also prominent in some countries. In Southeastern Europe, three countries have Muslim majorities, with Christianity being the second-largest religion in those countries. Ancient European religions included veneration for deities such as Zeus. Modern revival movements of these religions include Heathenism, Rodnovery, Romuva, Druidry, Wicca, and others. Smaller religions include Indian religions, Judaism, and some East Asian religions, which are found in their largest groups in Britain, France, and Kalmykia.

Discrimination against atheists, sometimes called atheophobia, atheistophobia, or anti-atheism, both at present and historically, includes persecution of and discrimination against people who are identified as atheists. Discrimination against atheists may be manifested by negative attitudes, prejudice, hostility, hatred, fear, or intolerance towards atheists and atheism or even the complete denial of atheists existence. It is often expressed in distrust regardless of its manifestation. Perceived atheist prevalence seems to be correlated with reduction in prejudice. There is global prevalence of mistrust in moral perceptions of atheists found in even secular countries and among atheists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Religion in Wales</span>

Religion in Wales has, over the years, become increasingly diverse. Christianity was the religion of virtually all of the Welsh population until the late 20th century, but it has rapidly declined throughout the early 21st century. Today a plurality (46.5%) of people in Wales follow no religion at all.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Irreligion in Australia</span>

Atheism, agnosticism, scepticism, freethought, secular humanism or general irreligion are increasing in Australia. Post-war Australia has become a highly secularised country. Religion does not play a major role in the lives of much of the population.

Around 0.7 million people in India did not state their religion in the 2001 census and were counted in the "religion not stated" category. They were 0.06% of India's population. Their number has significantly increased four times, from 0.7 million in the 2001 census to 2.9 million in the 2011 census at an average annual rate of 15%. According to the 2012 WIN-Gallup Global Index of Religion and Atheism report, 81% of Indians were religious, 13% were non-religious, 3% were convinced atheists, and 3% were unsure or did not respond, while a demographic study by Cambridge University Press in 2004 found that around 2-6% of Indians identified as atheists or irreligious.

Irreligion in New Zealand refers to atheism, agnosticism, deism, religious scepticism and secular humanism in New Zealand society. Post-war New Zealand has become a highly secular country, meaning that religion does not play a major role in the lives of many of the population.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Copson</span> British humanist leader (born 1980)

Andrew James William Copson is a humanist leader and writer. He is the Chief Executive of Humanists UK and the President of Humanists International. He has worked for a number of civil and human rights organisations throughout his career in his capacity as executive committee member, director or trustee and has represented Humanist organisations before the House of Commons, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the United Nations. As a prominent spokesperson for the Humanist movement in the United Kingdom he is a frequent contributor to newspaper articles, news items, television and radio programmes and regularly speaks to Humanist and secular groups throughout Britain. Copson has contributed to several books on secularism and humanism and is the author of Secularism: Politics, Religion, and Freedom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rationalist Association</span> Irreligious organization in the United Kingdom

The Rationalist Association, originally the Rationalist Press Association, is an organization in the United Kingdom, founded in 1885 by a group of freethinkers who were unhappy with the increasingly political and decreasingly intellectual tenor of the British secularist movement. The purpose of the Rationalist Press Association was to publish literature that was too anti-religious to be handled by mainstream publishers and booksellers. The Rationalist Press Association changed its name to "The Rationalist Association" in 2002.

Irreligion in the Netherlands pertains to atheism, agnosticism, and other forms of irreligion in the Netherlands. Irreligion is the majority religious position in the country since around 2015, making the Netherlands one of the minority of mostly irreligious countries in the world. After that, there is still a very large and prominent Christian minority, plus a large irreligious but former Christian minority. Also, about a million, mostly Sunni Muslims make up about a 5% Islamic minority, making Islam the second biggest religion in the Netherlands – a new development through immigration, mostly since ca. 1970. Until World War II, the Netherlands had a small but influential Jewish minority for centuries. The Holocaust all but irradicated them, but not the Jewish influences in Dutch history and culture.

References

  1. 1 2 "United Kingdom". Association of Religion Data Archives. 2015. Archived from the original on 2 May 2020. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  2. ↑ Being Christian in Western Europe, Pew Research 2018 https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2018/05/29/being-christian-in-western-europe/
  3. ↑ Linda Woodhead, “No Religion” is the New Religion , Westminster Faith Debates, 2013; The Rise of ‘No Religion’ in Britain: The Emergence of a New Cultural Majority , Journal of the British Academy, 2016.
  4. ↑ "George Holyoake : Biography". Spartacus-Educational.com. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
  5. ↑ Schumaker, John F. (15 October 1992). Religion and Mental Health - Google Books. ISBN   9780195361490 . Retrieved 9 August 2012.
  6. 1 2 "Our History since 1896" . Retrieved 2 November 2013.
  7. ↑ "Margaret Knight" . Retrieved 13 May 2016.
  8. ↑ Pollock, David. "Humanism: Beliefs and Values". david-pollock.org.uk. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
  9. ↑ "John Gott". Oxforddnb.com. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
  10. ↑ James Wood (26 August 2011). "The New Atheism | Books". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
  11. ↑ Andrew Brown (26 April 2012). "The persistence of superstition in an irreligious Britain | Andrew Brown | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk". London: Guardian. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
  12. ↑ "Two thirds of teenagers don't believe in God". London: The Daily Telegraph. 22 June 2009. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
  13. ↑ "British Youth reject Religion". Yougov.co.uk. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
  14. ↑ Devenport, Mark (11 December 2012). "BBC News - Census figures: NI Protestant population continuing to decline". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 28 September 2013.
  15. ↑ "BBC News - Census 2011: One third in Wales have no religion". Bbc.co.uk. 11 December 2012. Retrieved 28 September 2013.
  16. ↑ "Humanists in Parliament". British Humanist Association. British Humanist Association. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  17. ↑ "Hard evidence: is Christianity dying in Britain?". Theconversation.com. Retrieved 27 November 2013.
  18. ↑ "Secularism in Britain". YouGov . Retrieved 6 September 2013.
  19. ↑ "Religious and Social Attitudes of UK Christians in 2011" (PDF). C3414097.r97.cf0.rackcdn.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 28 September 2013.
  20. ↑ "Christians don't want religion to 'influence public life'". London: Telegraph. 14 February 2012. Retrieved 28 September 2013.
  21. ↑ "Ye of little faith". Prospect Magazine. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
  22. ↑ "UK among most sceptical in world about religion". The Daily Telegraph. London. 17 April 2014.
  23. ↑ "Religion by Local Authority, Great Britain, 2011 to 2018 - Office for National Statistics". www.ons.gov.uk. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  24. ↑ "Number of non-religious people in Britain jumps by 46%, new figures show". Humanists UK. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  25. ↑ "Less than half of England and Wales population Christian, Census 2021 shows". BBC News. 29 November 2022. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  26. ↑ "Religion, England and Wales - Office for National Statistics". www.ons.gov.uk. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  27. ↑ "Religion, England and Wales - Office for National Statistics". www.ons.gov.uk. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  28. ↑ "Less than half of England and Wales population Christian, Census 2021 shows". BBC News. 29 November 2022. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
  29. ↑ "About us". Humanists UK. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  30. ↑ "Alice Roberts hands Humanists UK Presidency to Adam Rutherford". Humanists UK. 6 June 2022. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  31. ↑ https://www.thepinknews.com/2023/05/19/religious-belief-god-uk-lgbtq-kings-college-london-research/
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