Quote: (04-14-2015 10:01 PM)Wutang Wrote:
I've noticed that England seems to be particularly anti-Christian even when compared to other secularized Western nations. It's not surprising that two of the Four Horsemen of the New Atheism are of British background and one of them, Dawkins was extensively educated in Anglican schools. I wonder if a lot of it is backlash is due to the religious education that you described which from what I heard is still going on even in a country as irreligious as England. Peter Hitchens who also went through similar religious education when he was in school talked about how liberating it was when he burned his Bible as a youth. What's your take on why England seems to produce so many of these sort of anti-religion atheists?
Edit: From reading a lot of Victorian era literature it seems like there was already a lot of anti-Christian sentiment boiling over during that time, at least among the upper classes. Bertrand Russell is a great example of this and there were many other Victorian era intellectuals that seemed to have the same sort of mentality he did when it came to religion. It makes me give more credence to the theory that a lot of the anti-religion sentiment you see in England is rebellion against the deeply embedded cultural Christianity that is still propped up by the state to this day. If something is in your face all the time you'll tend to be turned off in it - kinda like how you'll see people hate on say a band, singer, or actor that gets pushed constantly by the media just for the fact you can't escape hearing about them all the time.
I wouldn’t say England is anti-Christian per se, it’s just that outward displays of religiosity are considered tasteless. There’s a saying in UK that there’s 3 things you shouldn’t talk about in polite company – sex, politics and religion.
A lot of school now in UK don’t have school prayer any more since so many of the students are from a non-Christian background. My family is Hindu and I went to school with a lot of Hindu, Sikh and Muslim students. The white kids didn’t follow any Christianity strongly as far I knew.
It’s been a few generations now since the average white British family went to church.
There’s an old joke about religion in UK:
Do you believe in God?
No.
Oh, you must be Church of England then!
For the average British person they go to churches for baptism, weddings and funerals and that’s about it.
This is what the future could look like:
Anglican school where 75% of the pupils are Muslim drops Christian hymns from assemblies
Quote:Quote:
Hymns have been dropped from assemblies at a Church of England school which has also introduced separate prayer rooms for girls and boys to cater to its mostly Muslim students.
Daily assemblies at Slough and Eton Church of England Business and Enterprise College, where 75 per cent of pupils are Muslim, are not based specifically on the Bible, but may make reference to it alongside other religious texts.
All of the the meat served at the secondary school, which has over 1,000 pupils aged between 11 and 19, is halal.
Headmaster Paul McAteer said the approach was to be 'sensitive to the fact that we do have many different faiths in the school', but added that Christian values were 'more prevalent here than I have experienced in non-Church of England schools'.
Mr McAteer, who pointed out that the Church of England describes itself as 'a faith for all faiths', told the Sunday Times: 'The values we support are very much Christian values of honesty, integrity, justice.'
According to the school's prospectus its assemblies - which Mr McAteer said contain a 'moral message' - reflect humanitarian and spiritual issues 'that concern everyone'.
The headmaster explained that the gender-separated prayer rooms at Slough and Eton, which is a voluntary controlled Church of England school, were not specifically for Muslim pupils, but said that it tended to be Muslim children that use them.
A voluntary controlled school refers to one which is state funded but the running of which a foundation - in this case the Church of England - has some influence over.
He said 20 male students would typically attend a lunchtime Islamic prayer session at the Berkshire school.
One of the school aims outlined on its mission statement is 'to promote tolerance and respect for all cultures represented in the school'.
The college was judged 'outstanding' by Ofsted in May 2011 and it was awarded the same rating after a Church of England inspection the following month.
Collective worship at the school is broadly Christian, and assemblies are based on Christian principles but are 'designed to value and not exclude any other faith', the prospectus states.
According to the Church of England, a substantial number of primary and secondary church schools - both voluntary controlled and voluntary aided - have over 80 per cent intake from the Muslim community.
Christianity declining 50pc faster than thought – as one in 10 under-25s is a Muslim
Quote:Quote:
Christianity could be facing a catastrophic collapse in Britain according to official figures suggesting it is declining 50 per cent faster than previously thought.
A new analysis of the 2011 census shows that a decade of mass immigration helped mask the scale of decline in Christian affiliation among the British-born population – while driving a dramatic increase in Islam, particularly among the young.
It suggests that only a minority of people will describe themselves as Christians within the next decade, for first time.
Meanwhile almost one in 10 under 25s in Britain is now a Muslim.
The proportion of young people who describe themselves as even nominal Christians has dropped below half for the first time.
Initial results from the 2011 census published last year showed that the total number of people in England and Wales who described themselves as Christian fell by 4.1 million – a decline of 10 per cent.
But new analysis from the Office for National Statistics shows that that figure was bolstered by 1.2 million foreign-born Christians, including Polish Catholics and evangelicals from countries such as Nigeria.
They disclosed that there were in fact 5.3 million fewer British-born people describing themselves as Christians, a decline of 15 per cent in just a decade.
At the same time the number of Muslims in England and Wales surged by 75 per cent – boosted by almost 600,000 more foreign born followers of the Islamic faith.
While almost half of British Muslims are under the age of 25, almost a quarter of Christians are over 65.
The average age of a British Muslim is just 25, not far off half that of a
British Christian.
Younger people also drove a shift away from religion altogether, with 6.4 million more people describing themselves as having no faith than 10 years earlier.
Secular campaigners said the new figures showed that Christianity had now dropped below “critical mass” making the case for disestablishing the Church of England stronger.
But the Church insisted that while there had been a significant drop in “nominal” Christians, the core of the Church remained firm.
Prof David Coleman, Professor of demography at Oxford University, said: “This is a very substantial change – it is difficult to see whether any other change in the census could have been remotely as big.
“But I wonder how far it reflects an overarching change in society where it is more acceptable more normal to say that you are not religious or are not Christian.”
Dr Fraser Watts, a Cambridge theologian, said it was “entirely possible” the people identifying themselves as Christians could become a minority within the next decade on the basis of the figures.
“It is still pretty striking and it is a worrying trend and confirms what anyone can observe - that in many churches the majority of the congregation are over 60,” he said.
Keith Porteous Wood, executive director of the National Secular Society, said the long-term reduction of Christianity, particularly among young people, was now “unstoppable”.
“In another 20 years there are going to be more active Muslims than there are churchgoers,” he said.
“The time has now come that institutional Christianity is no longer justified, the number has dropped below critical mass for which there is no longer any justification for the established Church, for example, or the monarch going through a religious ceremony at coronation.
“The expressions of optimism by the church are just completely misplaced.”
But a spokesman for the Church of England said: “These figures highlight the diversity of Christianity in this country today, something which has been increasing for decades and shows the relevance of Christianity to people from all backgrounds.
“These figures once again confirm that this remains a faithful nation and that the fall in the numbers identifying themselves as Christians is a challenge but – as you can see from the stability of Church of England attendance figures – the committed worshipping centre of the church remains firm.
“The challenge to the Church is to reconnect with the nominal.”