Nearly two-thirds of people do not regard themselves as “religious”, a new survey carried out to coincide with the 2011 Census suggests.
The British Humanist Association (BHA), which commissioned the poll, said people often identified themselves as religious for cultural reasons.
The online poll asked 1,900 adults in England and Wales a question which is on this month’s census form.
First off, seems like the humanists are really manhandling the survey and results, lol, which then makes said results suspicious and unremarkable.
However, I think “religious” has become a loaded term, one that conjures up images in my mind of public displays. I think of people in my neck of the woods who wear big crosses, pepper their speech often with “praise the Lord” and aren’t the least bit shy about asking if you have a “church family.” That’s not me. And even though I’m a regular worshiper and take my faith seriously, I wouldn’t identify myself as “religious.”
I agree. ‘Religious’ has become a loaded word in Britain, implying a rather sickly religiosity. I meet couples regularly who are planning weddings, and fairly often a Catholic young woman and a nothingish young man who informs me, sometimes a trifle smugly, ‘I’m not very religious.’ My immediate question: ‘Do you believe in God?’ The question often startles them. Being ‘not religious’ allows them to evade the issue. However, I am startled myself at the results in the report. They seem to say that even people who do rate themselves as Christian have little sense of the divinity of Christ. Another sign of how lamentably we in the UK have failed to convey the richness of the faith.
Terry, I think that religiosity pertaining to Christianity has been infused with political overtones. In the U.S., the “Religious Right” has dramatically altered perceptions (in my mind, not for the better); in Europe, it seems to have watered down Jesus into being a nice bloke who cared about people and would support socialism; in Latin America, we have seen the complete marriage with “Liberation Theology.”
I wish that here in America it was better understood that you can be a passionate Christian who cares about and is involved in society without being one of the political loonies. (And, more personally, i wish that the blinged-out crosses adorning everything from bosoms to walls and cowboy boots would fall out of fashion. It’s just SO tacky and so disrespectful to the meaning of the Cross.)
Yes, it all seems like a bunch of humanists trying to support their own fantasies. It doesn’t really affect christians – we are called upon to witness and to make disciples. This “survey” is irrelevant to that command.