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Religious Observance includes all overt kinds of religious behavior. Research in this area shows the extent and patterning of religious activities in various populations and makes it possible to test theories about the causes of religious behavior. [1] Religious commitment is lower in countries with higher education, higher GDP and greater income equality. [2]
There are sociological and psychological sources of variation in religious observance. Sociological factors include historical trends, social class and minority groups. Psychological factors include age, sex, and personality traits. Research and studies carried out between 1900 and the present day in UK, the US and Europe shows the extent and patterning of religious activities in the population and makes it possible to test theories about the causes of religious behavior. [3]
Religious observance may take the form of a religious element of a school morning assembly (e.g. prayers or hymn singing), a visit to a church for a service or a visit by a minister to a classroom where children are encouraged to join in prayer or are told that doctrinal material is fact, rather than it being discussed in a comparative or historical context. [4] Parents should have the statutory right to withdraw their child from religious observance. Some schools across Europe inform parents of this right. [5]
Variations raise questions of Why does A go to church while B does not? The answer involves three possible forms: [6]
Whilst parents should be informed of their right to opt out of Religious Observance, a UK YouGov poll of 1000 parents found 39% of parents were not aware of their right to withdraw. [7] This was commissioned by the Humanist Society Scotland in April 2012. On 3 June 2013 the Scottish Secular Society launched a petition to ensure every parent gave express permission for their child to attend RO. [8] In 2018, the Archbishop of the Church of Cyprus suggested abolishing five religious dates marked as school holidays. [9] [10] [11] [12]
Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on secular, naturalistic considerations.
School prayer, in the context of religious liberty, is state-sanctioned or mandatory prayer by students in public schools. Depending on the country and the type of school, state-sponsored prayer may be required, permitted, or prohibited. Countries which prohibit or limit school prayer often differ in their reasons for doing so. In the United States, school prayer cannot be required of students in accordance with the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. This is generally rigorously applied in public schools; the Establishment Clause does not prevent prayer in private schools that have no public funding. In Canada, school-sponsored prayer is disallowed under the concept of freedom of conscience as outlined in the Canadian Charter on Rights & Fundamental Freedoms. School-sponsored prayer is disallowed in France as a byproduct of its status as a secular nation. Countries that allow or require school and other state-sponsored prayer include Greece, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Australia. The United Kingdom also requires daily worship by law, but does not enforce it.
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.
Irreligion or nonreligion is the absence or rejection of religion, or indifference to it. Irreligion takes many forms, ranging from the casual and unaware to full-fledged philosophies such as atheism and agnosticism, secular humanism and antitheism. Social scientists tend to define irreligion as a purely naturalist worldview that excludes a belief in anything supernatural. The broadest and loosest definition, serving as an upper limit, is the lack of religious identification, though many non-identifiers express metaphysical and even religious beliefs. The narrowest and strictest is subscribing to positive atheism.
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.
Religion in the United Kingdom has changed significantly in recent years. Irreligion is prevalent, and British society is one of the most thoroughly secularised in the world. Agnosticism, nontheism, atheism, secular humanism, and non-affiliation have been the predominant view of Britons since at least the late 2010s. Despite this, the official religion of the United Kingdom is Christianity, with the Church of England being the state church of its largest constituent region, England. The Church of England defines itself as neither fully Reformed (Protestant) nor fully Catholic. The Monarch of the United Kingdom is the Supreme Governor of the Church. Some British people and organisations in the United Kingdom, such as Humanists UK, hold the view that the UK should become a secular state, with no official or established religion.
Islam is the most practiced religion in Turkey. The established presence of Islam in the region that now constitutes modern Turkey dates back to the later half of the 11th century, when the Seljuks started expanding into eastern Anatolia.
The Catholic Church is "the Catholic Communion of Churches, both Roman and Eastern, or Oriental, that are in full communion with the Bishop of Rome ." The church is also known by members as the People of God, the Body of Christ, the "Temple of the Holy Spirit", among other names. According to Vatican II's Gaudium et spes, the "church has but one sole purpose–that the kingdom of God may come and the salvation of the human race may be accomplished."
Hinduism has approximately 1.2 billion adherents worldwide. Hinduism is the third largest religion in the world behind Christianity (31.5%) and Islam (23.3%).
A faith school is a school in the United Kingdom that teaches a general curriculum but which has a particular religious character or formal links with a religious or faith-based organisation. The term is most commonly applied to state-funded faith schools, although many independent schools also have religious characteristics.
Religion in Europe has been a major influence on today's society, art, culture, philosophy and law. The largest religion in Europe is Christianity, but irreligion and practical secularisation are strong. Three countries in Southeastern Europe have Muslim majorities. 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 the Dharmic religions, Judaism, and some East Asian religions, which are found in their largest groups in Britain, France, and Kalmykia.
Humanist Society Scotland is a Scottish registered charity that promotes humanist views and offers Humanist ceremonies. It is a member of the European Humanist Federation and Humanists International.
Freedom of education is the right for parents to have their children educated in accordance with their religious and other views, allowing groups to be able to educate children without being impeded by the nation state.
Accurate demographics of atheism are difficult to obtain since conceptions of atheism vary considerably across different cultures and languages, ranging from an active concept to being unimportant or not developed. In global studies, the number of people without a religion is usually higher than the number of people without a belief in a deity and the number of people who agree with statements on lacking a belief in a deity is usually higher than the number of people who self-identify as "atheists".
Religion in Cyprus is dominated by Eastern Orthodox branch of Christianity, whose adherents make up 73% of the total population of the entire island. Most Greek Cypriots are members of the autocephalous Greek Orthodox 'Church of Cyprus'. Most Turkish Cypriots are officially Sunni Muslims. There are also Baháʼí, Catholic, Jewish, Protestant, Maronite, Armenian Apostolic, and non-religious communities in Cyprus.
The most widely spread religion in Bosnia and Herzegovina is Islam and a large portion of the Muslims of Bosnia declared themselves as followers of the Sunni branch of Islam, the majority of Sunnis follow the Hanafi school of thought, also known as a madhab. Bosniaks are generally associated with Islam, Bosnian Croats with the Roman Catholic Church, and Bosnian Serbs with the Serbian Orthodox Church. The State Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and the entity Constitutions of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska provide for freedom of religion, and the Government generally respects this right in ethnically integrated areas or in areas where government officials are of the majority religion; the state-level Law on Religious Freedom also provides comprehensive rights to religious communities. However, local authorities sometimes restricted the right to worship of adherents of religious groups in areas where such persons are in the minority. 45% of Herzegovinian and Bosnian Muslims described themselves as Sunni Muslims while 47% described themselves as just Muslims.
Andrew James William Copson, FRSA, FCMI, MCIPR is a Humanist leader and writer. He is the Chief Executive of Humanists UK and the President of Humanists International.
Masortim is an Israeli Hebrew term of self-definition, describing Jews who perceive and define themselves as neither strictly religious (dati) nor secular (hiloni). Their affinity is mainly to mohels and rabbis of Orthodox Judaism, and is the affinity of around a third of the Jewish population in Israel.
Church attendance is a central religious practice for many Christians; some Christian denominations, such as the Catholic Church require church attendance on the Lord's Day (Sunday); the Westminster Confession of Faith is held by the Reformed Churches and teaches first-day Sabbatarianism, thus proclaiming the duty of public worship in keeping with the Ten Commandments. Similarly, The General Rules of the Methodist Church also requires "attending upon all the ordinances of God" including "the public worship of God". Until 1791, the government of the United Kingdom required attendance at church services of the Church of England at least twice a year.
The Scottish Secular Society is a vocal secular organisation in Scotland and is based in Glasgow. It promotes the separation of church and state and educates the public on matters relating to the interface of religion and politics.