Irreligion in the United Kingdom
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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]
1700–1850
Organised activism for irreligion in the United Kingdom derived its roots from the legacy of British
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
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,
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
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
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
In the 21st century,
The rise in irreligion was confirmed in the UK's
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
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
References
- ^ a b "United Kingdom". Association of Religion Data Archives. 2015. Archived from the original on 2 May 2020. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
- ^ Being Christian in Western Europe, Pew Research 2018 https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2018/05/29/being-christian-in-western-europe/
- ^ 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.
- ^ "George Holyoake : Biography". Spartacus-Educational.com. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
- ISBN 9780195361490. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
- ^ a b "Our History since 1896". Retrieved 2 November 2013.
- ^ "Margaret Knight". Retrieved 13 May 2016.
- ^ Pollock, David. "Humanism: Beliefs and Values". david-pollock.org.uk. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
- ^ "John Gott". Oxforddnb.com. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
- ^ James Wood (26 August 2011). "The New Atheism | Books". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Two thirds of teenagers don't believe in God". London: The Daily Telegraph. 22 June 2009. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
- ^ "British Youth reject Religion". Yougov.co.uk. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
- ^ Devenport, Mark (11 December 2012). "BBC News - Census figures: NI Protestant population continuing to decline". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 28 September 2013.
- ^ "BBC News - Census 2011: One third in Wales have no religion". Bbc.co.uk. 11 December 2012. Retrieved 28 September 2013.
- ^ "Humanists in Parliament". British Humanist Association. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
- ^ "Hard evidence: is Christianity dying in Britain?". Theconversation.com. 27 November 2013. Retrieved 27 November 2013.
- ^ "Secularism in Britain". YouGov. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Christians don't want religion to 'influence public life'". London: Telegraph. 14 February 2012. Retrieved 28 September 2013.
- ^ "Ye of little faith". Prospect Magazine. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
- ^ "UK among most sceptical in world about religion". The Daily Telegraph. London. 17 April 2014.
- ^ "Religion by Local Authority, Great Britain, 2011 to 2018 - Office for National Statistics". www.ons.gov.uk. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
- ^ "Number of non-religious people in Britain jumps by 46%, new figures show". Humanists UK. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
- ^ "Less than half of England and Wales population Christian, Census 2021 shows". BBC News. 29 November 2022. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
- ^ "Religion, England and Wales - Office for National Statistics". www.ons.gov.uk. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
- ^ "Religion, England and Wales - Office for National Statistics". www.ons.gov.uk. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
- ^ "Less than half of England and Wales population Christian, Census 2021 shows". BBC News. 29 November 2022. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
- ^ "About us". Humanists UK. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
- ^ "Alice Roberts hands Humanists UK Presidency to Adam Rutherford". Humanists UK. 6 June 2022. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
- ^ "UK belief in God among lowest in world, according to science". 19 May 2023.