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Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia

Posted on January 18, 2015 by Clive D. Field

The recent Islamist outrages in France continued to dominate the news last week, being the most noted story for 74% of the 2,070 Britons interviewed online by Populus on 14-15 January 2015. However, the domestic research agenda has now broadened out to include the implications for the Jewish community.

Anti-Semitism (1)

The Campaign against Antisemitism (CAA), a grass-roots movement which started in August 2014, published its Annual Antisemitism Barometer, 2015 Full Report on 14 January 2015, summarizing the results of two surveys which it had commissioned in Britain, one among the public and the other among Jews. These new data led the CAA to conclude: ‘Whilst antisemitism in Britain is not yet at the levels seen in most of Europe, the results of our survey should be a wakeup call. Britain is at a tipping point: unless antisemitism is met with zero tolerance, it will continue to grow and British Jews may increasingly question their place in their own country.’ The report, the preparation of which was funded by the Anglo-Jewish Association and private donors, can be viewed at:

http://antisemitism.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Annual-Antisemitism-Barometer-Report.pdf

The survey of the general public was undertaken by YouGov among 3,411 adults interviewed online in two separate polls, on 21-22 December 2014 and 5-6 January 2015 (i.e. just before the recent Islamist outrages in France, including an attack on a kosher supermarket during which four Jews were killed). Respondents were presented with a list of seven stereotypical statements deemed by the CAA to be anti-Semitic in nature, and it was found that 45% of Britons believed at least one of them to be definitely or probably true, including 51% of men and 39% of women, the regional range being from 30% in Scotland to 48% in northern England. One-quarter (26%) believed at least two statements were true, 17% at least three, and 11% at least four.

If the last statistic is taken as some kind of approximation of hard-core prejudice against Jews in Britain, then the proportion is similar to that discovered by Clive Field in his ‘meta-analysis’ of polls on anti-Semitism published in Jahrbuch für Antisemitismusforschung, Vol. 15, 2006, pp. 259-300.Also, more recently, according to The ADL Global 100: An Index of Anti-Semitism, released by the New York-based Anti-Defamation League (ADL) in May 2014, Britain has one of the lowest rates of anti-Semitism in the world – see BRIN’s coverage at:

http://www.brin.ac.uk/news/2014/adl-index-of-anti-semitism/

Results for each of YouGov’s seven statements are tabulated below, showing highs and lows by demographic sub-groups.

% saying definitely or probably true	All	High	Low
Jews chase money more than other British people	25	39 (UKIP)	18 (LibDem; 18-24)
Jews’ loyalty to Israel makes them less loyal to Britain than other British people	20	28 (UKIP)	15 (women; Scotland; no religion)
Jews think they are better than other people	17	27 (UKIP)	11 (women)
Jews have too much influence in the media	17	29 (non-Christian)	11 (women)
Jews talk about the Holocaust too much in order to get sympathy	13	23 (non-Christian)	10 (women; Scotland)
In business Jews are not as honest as most people	11	17 (UKIP)	7 (Scotland; no religion)
I would be unhappy if a family member married a Jew	10	22 (non-Christian)	7 (LibDem)

The full data tables are at:

https://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/jqf80l3ea6/CampaignAgainstAntisemitismResults_MergedFile_W.pdf

For its second survey, the CAA claims to have polled ‘a representative sample of the British Jewish community’, with the assistance of various Jewish agencies. In practice, informants appear to have constituted a self-selecting sample, who responded to an online questionnaire between 23 December 2014 and 11 January 2015, and which they accessed via a weblink distributed via social media and email lists. So, although electronic identifiers enabled duplicate or non-UK responses to be filtered out, and although the British data were weighted to reflect the regional distribution of Jews in the census (it is unclear why other census demographics of Jews were not deployed), the results should still be treated with some caution and may not be representative. As we have noted previously, it is genuinely very difficult to achieve proper cross-sections of minority religious populations.

In particular, those with a special angst about anti-Semitism and/or who felt particularly protective of Israel may have been more predisposed to reply to the CAA enquiry than other Jews. We may note that social scientist Keith Kahn-Harris is quoted in The Jewish Chronicle as having already dismissed the CAA survey as ‘methodologically invalid. There can be no confidence in its representativeness’. The equally respected Institute for Jewish Policy Research has issued a press release in which it criticizes the CAA study for being ‘littered with flaws’ and ‘rather irresponsible’. The release can be read online at:

http://www.jpr.org.uk/newsevents/article.1012

With this significant caveat in mind, we should note, for the record, that, of the 2,230 British Jews who replied to the CAA:

84% agreed that boycotts of businesses selling Israeli products constituted intimidation (11% disagreeing)
82% agreed that media bias against Israel fuelled persecution of Jews in Britain (11% disagreeing)
77% reported that they had witnessed anti-Semitism disguised as a political comment about Israel (13% disagreeing)
69% agreed that the Jewish community had to protect itself because the State does not protect it enough (18% disagreeing)
63% argued that the authorities let too much anti-Semitism go unpunished (19% disagreeing)
58% were concerned that Jews may not have a long-term future in Europe (28% disagreeing)
56% had witnessed or experienced more anti-Semitism in the past two years than previously (26% disagreeing)
56% concurred that the recent rise in anti-Semitism in Britain had echoes of the 1930s (27% disagreeing)
45% were concerned that Jews may not have a long-term future in Britain (37% disagreeing)
45% agreed that their family was threatened by Islamic extremism in Britain (37% disagreeing)
37% avoided showing any visible signs of Judaism when they went out (42% disagreeing)
27% often avoided mentioning their Judaism when they were with new people (57% disagreeing)
25% claimed to have considered leaving Britain in the past two years due to anti-Semitism (63% disagreeing)

Anti-Semitism (2)

To be fair to the CAA, it had settled upon its own survey of Jews only after approaching ‘major polling organisations’ who ‘advised that they did not have enough Jewish panellists on their databases to conduct an effective or valid survey of the Jewish community’. The CAA will doubtless have been as surprised as everyone else to have read the announcement by The Jewish Chronicle, on the same day as CAA’s Annual Antisemitism Barometer was published, that the newspaper had been working with Survation over several months to develop ‘an extensive targeted database of thousands of Jews across the UK who can be randomly contacted for polling’, each poll to have a sample of around 1,000 Jews.

Survation has published the following description of its methodology: ‘SAMPLING METHOD: Respondents were sampled based on a modelled probability of residents identifying themselves as Jewish. This was done using a range of demographic indicators selected by Survation in consultation with Jewish community leaders and academics. Respondents were asked to confirm whether they were Jewish before completing the survey, this includes both secular and non-practicing Jews. Only those who identified themselves as Jewish were asked to complete the survey.’

‘DATA WEIGHTING: Data were weighted to the profile of all Jewish adults aged 18+ in the UK … by age and sex … Targets for the weighted data were derived from Office of National Statistics 2011 Census data.’

The Jewish Chronicle had originally planned to publicize this panel of adult UK Jews towards the end of January 2015 but rushed it forward in the light of recent events in France, and commissioned its first poll, with 555 respondents contacted by telephone on 12-14 January 2015. Topline results for the four questions (excluding don’t knows) are shown below, but data tables (with breaks by gender, age, and region) have also been posted at:

http://survation.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Jewish-Topical-Issues-Poll-Final.pdf

Thinking about personal safety, how safe or unsafe do you feel as a Jewish person in Britain? – very safe 17%, quite safe 58%, quite unsafe 19%, very unsafe 3%
Do you feel life in general is getting better or worse for Jewish people in Britain, or is it about the same? – better 9%, about the same 45%, slightly worse 34%, much worse 9%
Have last week’s events in Paris made you more concerned about your safety in Britain or have they made no difference? – much more concerned 32%, slightly more concerned 41%, made no difference 27%
Have last week’s events in Paris made you consider leaving Britain? – yes 11% (16% among under-35s), no 88%

An article in The Jewish Chronicle about the survey is at:

http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/128162/jc-poll-reveals-88-cent-british-jews-have-not-considered-leaving-uk

Anti-Semitism (3)

Further evidence that hard-core prejudice against Jews in Britain may not exceed 10% of the population came in a second YouGov poll for The Sunday Times on 15-16 January 2015, among 1,647 adults. Data tables are at:

https://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/wt26kxdn72/YG-Archive-Pol-Sunday-Times-results-160115.pdf

The survey revealed that, although 13% considered that, as regards other people, there was more prejudice against Jews than ten years ago (compared with 61% saying the level of prejudice was unchanged or lessened), the overwhelming majority of the public had a favourable personal view of Jews, with only a small minority (disproportionately located among UKIP voters) unfavourable. In particular:

10% disputed that British Jews are well integrated into British society, against 71% thinking they are and 18% uncertain
8% denied that British Jews make a positive contribution to British society, with 73% believing that they do and 20% expressing no view
7% admitted to having a negative opinion of Jewish people in Britain, 77% being positive, and 17% undecided

Islamophobia (1)

The fall-out from the recent Islamist outrages in France has also negatively impacted Muslims in Britain, and matters are not helped by the fact that the population at large harbours an exaggerated notion as to how many Muslims there actually are in the country. According to the 2011 census, the proportion is just under 5%, yet only 9% of 1,782 adults interviewed by YouGov online on 12-13 January 2015 knew this, with the mean guess being 17%, more than three times the reality. Moreover, 26% of this national cross-section (and 54% of UKIP voters) also felt that ordinary Muslims needed to apologize when people claiming to be acting on behalf of Islam committed terrorist acts, with 63% considering that ordinary Muslims had nothing to apologize for, and 11% undecided. Data tables were published on 14 January 2015 at:

https://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/t92z3pag83/BuzzfeedResults_150113_Muslims_W.pdf

Islamophobia (2)

YouGov’s poll for The Sunday Times on 15-16 January 2015, published on 18 January, also probed Islamophobic attitudes, as well as reactions to the latest edition of the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, whose front page showed another cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed. The majority (53% overall, 68% of UKIP voters) agreed that this had been the right thing for the newspaper to do, and a plurality of the whole sample (43%) and majority of men, Liberal Democrats, and UKIP supporters still took this line even though it would make further terrorist attacks more likely. On British Muslims, there were some sharp divisions of opinion:

58% (and 84% of UKIP voters) contended that most British Muslim leaders could be doing a lot more to combat radicalization and terrorism, against 27% accepting they were doing all they reasonably could
46% thought that all, most, or a majority of British Muslims shared British values and the identical proportion that only a minority, hardly any, or no British Muslims did so, peaking at 73% of UKIP voters
42% believed that British Muslims were well integrated into British society but 50% said that they were not, including 79% of UKIP voters and 59% of over-60s
41% assessed that British Muslims were usually friendly to non-Muslim Britons but 20% judged them usually unfriendly, with a high of 39% among UKIP supporters
33% agreed with the suggestion of UKIP leader Nigel Farage that ghettoes had sprung up in Britain where Sharia law prevailed and from which the police and other legal authorities had withdrawn, a view shared by 75% of Farage’s own backers, with 41% denying the statement (63% of 18-24s)

Posted in News from religious organisations, Religion and Politics, Religion in public debate, Survey news | Tagged Anti-Semitism, British society, Campaign against Antisemitism, Charlie Hebdo, holocaust, integration, Islamist terrorism, Islamophobia, Israel, Jewish Chronicle, Jews, Muslims, Nigel Farage, prejudice, Sunday Times, Survation, YouGov | 1 Comment

Islamic State and Other News

Posted on August 17, 2014 by Clive D. Field

Islamic State

According to opinion polling published in the past week, the British public is becoming uneasy about the advances being made by the armed forces of the Islamic State (IS, formerly known as ISIS) in northern Iraq, its brutal persecution of ethno-religious minorities there, and the humanitarian crisis left in its wake.

A ComRes survey for ITV News, conducted online on 12 August 2014 among 1,088 adult Britons, found that 84% blamed IS for the current situation in Iraq. The same proportion wanted Britain to send humanitarian aid to the Yazidis then trapped by IS on Mount Sinjar, with 73% wishing to see British helicopters used to airlift them to safety. A plurality (45%) supported British fighter planes making airstrikes on the Islamists (which have yet to happen), but there was much less appetite (18%) for British troops becoming embroiled in ground combat against them. The potential fate of the Iraqi Christian community was a particular cause for concern, no fewer than 50% (including 62% of the over-65s) wanting Britain to give asylum to those currently at risk of death, even though no numbers were specified, just 29% being against. Full tables for these and other ComRes questions on Iraq are located at:

http://www.comres.co.uk/polls/ITV_News_Iraq_Crisis_Snap_Poll_12th_August_2014.pdf

YouGov has conducted three polls, all online among samples of adults aged 18 and over: on 10-11 August 2014 (n = 1,676), 11-12 August 2014 (n = 1,942, for The Times), and 14-15 August 2014 (n = 2,019, for The Sunday Times). They revealed strong backing (around three-quarters) for the RAF’s involvement in the airlifting of humanitarian aid to members of religious minorities fleeing the Islamists, with a plurality of around two-fifths approving of RAF airstrikes against IS (albeit a majority backed similar action being taken by the Americans). However, only 28% endorsed the supply of arms by Britain to Iraqi and Kurdish forces fighting IS, with 44% opposed, and no more than one-fifth favoured the engagement of British and American ground troops against IS (58% disapproving). A potential British offer of asylum to ‘some of the Yazidi people’ was less popular than in the ComRes poll in respect of Iraqi Christians, approval running at 34% and disapproval at 46%. Two-thirds discerned IS to be a major or moderate threat to Britain itself. YouGov data tables are available as follows:

10-11 August 2014:

http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/2a3r3j0yj4/InternalResults_140811_Iraq_aid_and_air_strikes_W.pdf

11-12 August 2014:

http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/3otq667g5p/Times_Results_140812_Iraq_aid_and_air_strikes_W.pdf

14-15 August 2014:

http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/bm0fuq6bgy/YG-Archive-Pol-Sunday-Times-results-140815.pdf

A Level results

This summer’s A Level results for England, Wales, and Northern Ireland were published by the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) on 14 August 2014. Entrants for Religious Studies (RS) numbered 24,213, a rise of 3.7% over the previous year, notwithstanding a 2.0% reduction in those for all subjects. RS entries represented 2.9% of all A Levels sat. RS A Level candidates were preponderantly female (69.3%), compared with the all subject average of 54.4%. The RS pass rate (at grades A*-E) in RS was 98.5%, half a point above the figure for all A Levels, with 24.8% gaining A* or A in RS (marginally down on the 25.5% for RS in 2013 and also lower than the 26.0% achieved for all subjects in 2014). Results are further disaggregated by the three home nations. Entries for the AS (Advanced Subsidiary) Level in RS rose even more impressively, by 12.2%, far more than the 5.0% for all AS Level subjects. The full JCQ tables are at:

http://www.jcq.org.uk/examination-results/a-levels

Church of England finance statistics

The Church of England published its national and diocesan finance statistics for 2012 on 14 August 2014, in 25 pages of tables, figures, and commentary, and based on the annual parochial returns (as distinct from the central accounts of the Church Commissioners, which are entirely separate). After three years of deficit, parishes reached break-even point in 2012 through a combination of reductions in expenditure and increased giving. However, donor income, while at a record level, has not kept pace with inflation, being up by just 0.4% on the year (reflecting lower Gift Aid payments from HMRC and slightly fewer regular donors). Full details at:

https://www.churchofengland.org/media/2048371/2012financestatistics.pdf

Church of England clergy survey

The latest issue of the Church Times (15 August 2014, p. 5) reports that YouGov is to carry out an online survey of the background and attitudes of 5,000 Anglican clergy aged 70 and under, randomly selected from Crockford’s Clerical Directory. The poll has been commissioned by Professor Linda Woodhead of Lancaster University in connection with a new series of Westminster Faith Debates on ‘The Future of the Church of England’, to be held in Oxford during the autumn of 2014, in association with Ripon College Cuddesdon and the Church Times. For more information about the programme, go to:

http://faithdebates.org.uk/category/debates/2014-debates/oxford-faith-debates-the-future-of-the-church-of-england/

Attitudes to homosexuality

The past half-century has witnessed a dramatic change in public views of homosexuality in Britain, as recently documented by Ben Clements and Clive Field in ‘Public Opinion Toward Homosexuality and Gay Rights in Great Britain’, Public Opinion Quarterly, Vol. 78, No. 2, Summer 2014, pp. 523-47. Deploying a wide range of attitudinal measures, presented in 31 tables and commentary, they demonstrate some of the key turning-points in this process of liberalization, including the setback brought about by AIDS in the mid-1980s and the rapid improvements in perceptions which have occurred since the Millennium. The abstract and options for accessing the full text of the article are located at:

http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/content/78/2/523.abstract

In line with the journal’s template for contributions to its series of poll trends, the authors reproduce topline data only, for representative probability samples of adult Britons, and with no breaks by standard demographics, including religion (albeit relatively few surveys actually included religious affiliation as a variable). However, two of their tables do have a religion component, based on discontinued series of Gallup data. Table 14 summarizes answers to the question: ‘in your opinion, can a homosexual be a good Christian, Jew, etc. or not?’ In six of seven surveys between 1977 and 1993 around three-quarters answered in the affirmative, and just over one-tenth in the negative. However, much more discomfort was expressed about the appointment of homosexual clergy in six polls from 1977 to 1991 (Table 16), with the plurality (and, in 1986, a majority) opposed. Only in 1991 were more people reconciled to the prospect (49%) than not (41%).

Anti-Semitism

Anti-Semitic incidents in Britain have certainly increased since armed conflict between Israel and Hamas erupted again in Gaza in early July 2014. So much so that, among British Jewry, ‘63% say there may be no future for Jews in UK.’ Thus proclaimed the headline on the front page of the current issue (15 August 2014) of The Jewish Chronicle, the percentage appearing in thick, bold characters almost seven centimetres high. In the relatively brief story which followed, the newspaper explained that: ‘in a straw poll conducted by the JC this week, 150 people were asked: “Since the protests against the war in Gaza began, have you or your friends had a discussion about whether there is a future for Jews in the UK?” Just over 63 per cent answered “yes”’.

More information was revealed in an editorial on p. 28: ‘This week’s front-page story is not something we ever thought would be published. The poll is not scientific; we simply approached 150 people randomly in the street. But it accurately reflects the overwhelming anecdotal evidence of recent weeks. Emphatically, that does not mean that 63 per cent of us are preparing to leave. But it is deeply shocking that the stench of antisemitism is now so pungent that many in our community feel the question has to be asked.’ In an obvious slip of the pen, the editor then proceeded misleadingly to describe the poll as ‘a random sample of British Jews’.

Given that the survey has been widely reported in the online media, in Britain and overseas, thereby acquiring some authority, it is important to recognize that this is little more than a ‘voodoo poll’, to use market research industry jargon, and not necessarily representative of Jewish opinion in the country. The small sample size and inadequate sample selection process undermine its wider validity. This is a useful reminder of the difficulties of gauging the views of religious minorities which are so thinly and/or unevenly spread as not to show up in sufficient numbers in nationally representative sample surveys of all adults.

Posted in Historical studies, News from religious organisations, Religion and Politics, Religion in public debate, Survey news | Tagged A Levels, Anti-Semitism, asylum, Ben Clements, Church of England, Church Times, clergy, Clive Field, ComRes, examinations, finance, Gallup Poll, homosexuality, Iraq, Islamic State, ITV News, Jewish Chronicle, Jews, Joint Council for Qualifications, Linda Woodhead, Public Opinion Quarterly, religious studies, Sunday Times, The Times, Westminster Faith Debates, Yazidis, YouGov | Leave a comment

Religious Self-Identification and Other News

Posted on August 4, 2014 by Clive D. Field

Religious self-identification

The current issue of Religion (Vol. 44, No. 3, 2014) is a special theme issue on ‘Making Sense of Surveys and Censuses: Issues in Religious Self-Identification’, guest-edited by Abby Day and Lois Lee. It contains a number of contributions which will be of interest to BRIN readers, and these are detailed below (there are also three other papers on exclusively non-British topics). All can be accessed (via institutional subscription or pay-per-view options) through the journal issue homepage at:

http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rrel20/44/3#.U94fmTZwbX4

Abby Day and Lois Lee, ‘Making Sense of Surveys and Censuses: Issues in Religious Self-Identification’ (pp. 345-56) – This provides a general introduction to the theme issue and summarizes the individual chapters. It also draws upon Day’s own research into the religion question in the 2001 UK census of population and upon her involvement in discussions with the Office for National Statistics regarding the 2011 and 2021 censuses.

Clive Field, ‘Measuring Religious Affiliation in Great Britain: The 2011 Census in Historical and Methodological Context’ (pp. 357-82) – This traces the history of the measurement of religious affiliation in Britain from the Reformation to the present day, with particular reference to the contribution of the Churches, the State, and empirical social science. Nominal affiliation is shown to have been universal until the time of the French Revolution and preponderant until as late as the 1980s. The phenomenon of religious ‘nones’ has emerged since the latter date, but its extent today is dependent upon the way each question about religious affiliation is formulated. Alternative question-wordings are revealed to lead to wide variations in the results obtained. There are twelve tables.

Conrad Hackett, ‘Seven Things to Consider When Measuring Religious Identity’ (pp. 396-413) – The author offers seven suggestions for those wishing to describe and understand religious identity using survey data. He draws upon a range of American and international examples to illustrate his arguments. One section (pp. 402-4) attempts to explain the apparent discrepancy in religious affiliation results between the 2010 Annual Population Survey in England and Wales and the 2011 census of population.

Serena Hussain and Jamil Sherif, ‘Minority Religions in the Census: The Case of British Muslims’ (pp. 414-33) – The article considers the benefits for religious groups of having census data on religion, and for Muslims in particular. Much space is given over to the successful campaign (involving, among others, the Muslim Council of Britain) to persuade Government to field a religion question in the 2001 census; to the profile of Muslims which emerged from the 2001 and 2011 censuses, not least concerning disadvantage; and to the public policy and media impacts of such data, including perceived Islamophobic responses to the results of the 2011 census. The authors conclude with a brief expression of concern about the potentially negative effects for publicly available data on religion of the proposed changes in the methodology for the 2021 UK census.

Martin Stringer, ‘Evidencing Superdiversity in the Census and Beyond’ (pp. 453-65) – The concept of ‘superdiverse’ communities, as originally defined by Steve Vertovec, is explored through the lens of religion and other census statistics for England and Wales, with particular reference to Birmingham. The discussion is somewhat inconclusive, partly because the full range of local census data was not available to the author at the time of writing, but the conclusion appears to be that a mix of quantitative and qualitative measures will be necessary to differentiate ‘superdiverse’ from simply ‘diverse’ communities. The paper will probably make most sense when read alongside Stringer’s book Discourses on Religious Diversity (Ashgate, 2013).

Lois Lee, ‘Secular or Nonreligious? Investigating and Interpreting Generic “Not Religious” Categories and Populations’ (pp. 466-82) – The author uses qualitative, ethnographic research among self-identifying non-religious in Cambridge and Greater London to investigate what non-religious categories actually measure, specifically whether they indicate non-affiliation or disaffiliation or an alternative form of cultural affiliation. The widespread assumption that such categories merely denote secularity or secularization is questioned, many who subscribe to non-religious categories identifying with substantive (albeit diverse) non-religious and spiritual cultures. Distinctions between religious and non-religious categories as, respectively, ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ are thus flattened. The paper is somewhat jargon-ridden.

Vivianne Crowley, ‘Standing Up To Be Counted: Understanding Pagan Responses to the 2011 British Censuses’ (pp. 483-501) – Although the number of people self-identifying as Pagan increased between the 2001 and 2011 censuses, from 44,000 to 85,000, many Pagans remain reluctant to declare their Paganism, and census statistics of Pagans thus fall below those from other sources. The paper principally reports the results of an online questionnaire completed by 1,706 Pagans in Britain in May-June 2013 who were recruited via ‘snowballing/viral methods’, the sample consequently being ‘skewed heavily towards those well-networked Pagans who are active in e-groups, rather than those whose community links are weaker and more diffuse’. Respondents were asked about how they had handled the 2011 census question on religion and about their motivations for doing so. Overall, 85% recollected that they had written in Pagan on the census form, the remainder opting for another religion category (including none), not answering the census question, or being unable to say what they had done two years before. Crowley concludes that: ‘The census is not a good instrument for measuring the number of Pagans in Britain, particularly when based on household rather than individual forms.’

2021 census

On 18 July 2014 the Government, under the signature of Francis Maude (Minister for the Cabinet Office), gave its response to the National Statistician’s recommendations for taking the 2021 population census. It accepted the proposal to have a predominantly online census in that year supplemented by more extensive use of administrative and survey data. However, Government made it clear that its support for this dual-track approach was restricted to 2021 and that its ‘ambition is that censuses after 2021 will be conducted using other sources of data and providing more timely statistical information’. The exact content of the 2021 census has still to be determined, so it is not yet definite that a question on religion will be included for a third time.

Christians, sex, and marriage

The UK’s practising Christians mostly continue to uphold a ‘traditional’ view of Christian marriage but are far from being strait-laced or immune from marital failure. This is according to a new survey by Christian Research on behalf of Christian Today, published on 30 July 2014, and for which 1,401 churchgoers and church leaders were interviewed online on 28-30 June 2014. More than two-thirds said that Christians should not cohabit before marriage. About four-fifths felt it important to marry another Christian, and of those who were married, a similar proportion had done so. Nearly seven in ten thought their spouse or partner had been specially ‘put aside’ for them by God, and almost half had explicitly looked for their ideal partner in a Christian context. Although two-thirds believed that personal desire did not need to translate into the sex act, more than seven in ten agreed that ‘my spouse/partner and I love the physical part’. Some 12% reported that their relationships had failed, in that they were either divorced or separated or remarried after divorce. A surprisingly high 0.6% of practising Christians claimed to be in civil partnerships, which only came into effect in December 2005, and this was the lead finding from the poll in the Christian Today coverage (there are currently no data tables in the public domain), which is at:

http://www.christiantoday.com/article/one.in.200.churchgoers.in.same.sex.relationships/39175.htm

Ex-Anglican Catholic Priests

Research by Professor Linda Woodhead and Fr Christopher Jamison, reported in the current issue of The Tablet (2 August 2014, p. 32), suggests that 389 Catholic priests in England and Wales are former Anglican clergy, most of them believed to be working in Catholic parishes and chaplaincies, and a very large proportion of them married. The figure is approaching one-tenth of all active Catholic priests, secular or religious, in England and Wales. Of the 389, it is estimated that 250 left the Church of England between 1994 (when the first women were ordained in that Church) and 2000, 52 from 2001 to the present, with a further 87 joining the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham following its establishment in 2011. The report is online at:

http://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/1028/0/new-figures-show-almost-400-catholic-priests-were-anglicans

Muslim heroes

Today marks the centenary of Britain’s entry into the First World War. It is an appropriate moment to remember the service and sacrifice of millions from Britain and its then Empire who supported the war effort in the front line and on the home front. Among them were 400,000 Muslims, preponderantly from the then unpartitioned India (covering the area of the present-day India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh), who fought in the British armed forces, alongside 800,000 Hindus and 100,000 Sikhs. Few contemporary British citizens are aware of the strength of this Muslim contribution to the First World War, according to the results of an ICM Research poll for the British Future think tank which were released on 2 August 2014 to coincide with the Living Islam festival. Asked to estimate how many Muslims fought with Britain in the First World War, only 2% correctly placed the number between 250,000 and 500,000. Another 600,000 Muslims fought in the Second World War.

Islamic terrorism

Almost half (46%) of the population view Islamic terrorism as a critical threat to Britain, according to an opinion poll by YouGov, conducted online on 31 July and 1 August 2014 among 2,083 adults aged 18 and over. The proportion rose to 71% of UKIP voters, 60% with the over-60s, and 59% for Conservatives. A further 33% regarded Islamic terrorism as an important but not critical threat to Britain, bringing to 79% the figure for those deeming it some kind of serious threat (and 92% or 93% for Conservatives, UKIP supporters, and over-60s). Just 2% (peaking at 8% of 18-24s and 6% of Londoners) saw it as no threat at all, with another 10% assessing it as only a minor threat. Islamic terrorism was seen as a greater danger to Britain than Russia’s military in the post-Ukraine crisis world; 11% viewed Russia as a critical threat and 47% as an important but not critical threat. Data tables can be found at:

http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/1hdxa38zho/InternalResults_140801_NATO_W.pdf

Anti-Semitic incidents

The Community Security Trust announced on 31 July 2014 that the number of anti-Semitic incidents in the UK in the first six months of the year was, at 304, 36% up on the January-June 2013 figure. The reasons for the increase are unclear, since no specific ‘trigger event’ occurred during that half-year, but the Trust speculates that improved reporting of incidents as well as more anti-Semitism both contributed to the trend. Naturally excluded from the data are incidents registered in July 2014, over 130 of them in what the Trust describes as ‘the second worst outburst’ of anti-Semitism in recent memory, and largely linked to the ongoing Israeli military operation against Hamas in Gaza. Antisemitic Incidents Report, January-June 2014 can be downloaded from:

http://www.thecst.org.uk/docs/Incidents%20Report%20Jan%20-%20June%202014.pdf

Posted in Historical studies, Measuring religion, News from religious organisations, Religion and Politics, Religious Census, Survey news | Tagged Abby Day, Anti-Semitism, British Future, Catholic priests, census of population, Christian Research, Christian Today, Christopher Jamison, Church of England, Clive Field, Community Security Trust, Conrad Hackett, First World War, ICM Research, Islamic terrorism, Jamil Sherif, Linda Woodhead, Lois Lee, marriage, Martin Stringer, Muslims, non-religious, Pagans, Religion, Religious Affiliation, religious self-identification, Roman Catholic Church, Serena Hussain, sex, superdiversity, The Tablet, Vivianne Crowley, YouGov | Leave a comment

British Academy Recognition and Other News

Posted on July 27, 2014 by Clive D. Field

BRIN secures British Academy recognition

The British Academy, the UK’s national academy for the humanities and social sciences, announced on 23 July 2014 that BRIN is to be one of fine new Academy Research Projects in the social sciences. Following an open and peer-review-based competition, BRIN has been awarded funding for five years in the first instance, with the potential for further support thereafter. BRIN and the four other projects ‘have been recognised for the excellence of their scholarship, and the promise and exciting nature of their programmes’. The British Academy’s announcement can be found at:

http://www.britac.ac.uk/news/news.cfm/newsid/1123

Ipsos Global Trends Survey, 2014

Britain has often been placed toward the bottom of international league tables of religiosity, and this continues to be the case according to the newly-published inaugural Ipsos MORI Global Trends Survey, 2014. Fieldwork was undertaken online in 20 developed and developing countries in two waves (3-17 September and 1-15 October 2013) among a sample of adults aged 16/18-64 (thereby excluding the over-65s, who tend to be the most religious cohort, as well as the group least likely to use the internet). Britain was ranked sixteenth in terms of identification of its citizens with any religion or faith (57% against the unweighted global mean of 71%), and sixteenth equal for the personal importance of religion/faith (27%, with 64% of Britons saying it was not important to them). It was also fifth equal for agreement with the statement that ‘organised religion is not for me’ (72%, with just 21% dissenting and 7% uncertain). The most consistently religious of the nations investigated were Argentina, Brazil, India, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Turkey, and the United States. Topline results can be extracted from the survey website at:

http://www.ipsosglobaltrends.com

Prospects for religious revival

In an important new article, ‘Late Secularization and Religion as Alien’, published on 17 July 2014, Steve Bruce of the University of Aberdeen argues that it is ‘sociologically implausible’ that secularization could be reversed in the UK since there are too many obstacles to ‘religious revival’, whether of Christianity or other creeds. In particular, ‘the shared stock of religious knowledge is small, the public reputation of religion is poor, and religion is carried primarily by populations that are unusual in being drawn either from a narrow demographic or from immigrant peoples’. These ‘carriers of religion’ in the UK have been allegedly reduced to elderly women, residents of rural peripheries, Poles, West Africans, and Muslims, leading to the conclusion that ‘religion is now alien’. ‘Being religious is no longer a characteristic that is thinly but fairly evenly distributed throughout the population: it is concentrated in specific minority populations, which reinforces the sense that religion is what other people do.’ The article is published in Open Theology, Vol. 1, 2014, pp. 13-23 and available for free download at:

http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/opth.2014.1.issue/issue-files/opth.2014.1.issue.xml

No religion hotspots

In a recent post on the Nonreligion & Secularity blog, dated 21 July 2014, Katherine Sissons of the University of Oxford explores the potential of DataShine, a data visualization tool developed at University College London, for the study of the distribution of no religion in the 2011 census: ‘“Godless Cities” and “Religious Enclaves”? The Distribution of Religion and Nonreligion in England and Wales’. She cautions against an over-simplistic interpretation of the data, noting that, although there are some apparent no religion urban ‘hotspots’ (such as Brighton and Norwich), religious and non-religious populations are generally not as spatially segregated as is often assumed, with, for example, above average levels of irreligion occurring in several more rural areas, such as large parts of Wales, East Anglia, and the South-West. The post can be read at:

http://blog.nsrn.net/2014/07/21/godless-cities-and-religious-enclaves-the-distribution-of-religion-and-nonreligion-in-england-and-wales/

Churches and social capital

‘The Church in England reaches approximately 10 million people each year through its community activities, even excluding “familiar” church activities – Sunday services, Christmas, Easter, Harvest, baptisms, weddings, and funerals.’ So concludes Paul Bickley in a new report prepared by Theos think tank for the Church Urban Fund: Good Neighbours: How Churches Help Communities Flourish. The report itself is largely based on an analysis of twelve case studies of the work of Church of England congregations in areas of high deprivation but is informed by an online survey from ComRes among 2,024 English adults aged 18 and over between 19 and 21 February 2014.

Respondents in the national study were first asked to select from a list of community activities and services (i.e. delivered by churches, charities, or voluntary organizations, rather than by private companies or the state) those which they or someone in their immediate family had accessed in the last twelve months. Almost half (48%) reported accessing such activities and services and 43% not. Among those who had taken up the provision, 51% recalled that it had come from a church or a church group (the tables fail to clarify how this figure was calculated). Setting aside weddings or funerals, the majority of this voluntary provision was church-based in only six areas: pastoral support for pub- and club-goers (68%), marriage/relationship advice (64%), food banks (56%), community events such as lunch clubs and cafés (56%), assistance of asylum seekers/migrants (55%), and counselling/befriending services (50%). In the other eleven areas secular agencies predominated.

Good Neighbours can be read at:

http://www.cuf.org.uk/sites/default/files/PDFs/Research/Good%20Neighbours%20Report-CUF-Theos-2014.pdf

and the ComRes data tables at:

http://www.comres.co.uk/polls/Theos_and_Church_Urban_Fund___Churches_in_the_Community___Final_Data___25th_February_2014.pdf

United Reformed Church statistics

The General Assembly of the United Reformed Church met in Cardiff on 3-6 July 2014, and this provides an opportunity to record its latest Britain-wide statistics, which reveal a pattern of decline characteristic of most of the ‘historic’ Free Churches (the United Reformed Church itself evolved after 1972 as a union of several previous denominations). The following table has been abstracted from:

http://www.urc.org.uk/statistics.html

	2012	2013	% change
Churches	1,512	1,487	-1.7
Active ministers	615	576	-6.3
Retired ministers	900	915	+1.7
Active lay preachers	484	479	-1.0
Serving elders	11,229	10,247	-8.7
Non-serving elders	8,791	8,396	-4.5
Members	61,627	59,077	-4.1
Regular attenders	20,596	19,968	-3.0
Average congregation	61,725	59,828	-3.1
Children associated with Church	44,771	42,076	-6.0
Children worshipping at main service	15,504	15,473	-0.2

Faith and Belief Scotland

Faith and Belief Scotland: A Contemporary Mapping of Attitudes and Provisions in Scotland, by Anthony Allison, is a report on research undertaken in 2013-14 by the School of Divinity, University of Edinburgh on behalf of the Equality Unit of the Scottish Government. The project was designed to investigate the compliance of Scottish councils with the Public Sector Equality Duty of The Equality Act 2010 in respect of religion and belief as a protected characteristic. Data-gathering comprised qualitative research in eight council areas and an online national survey completed by 1,407 adults aged 16 and over between December 2013 and March 2014.

Although respondents to the online survey were drawn from all 32 Scottish councils, the method of distribution of the questionnaire (‘through various religion and belief mailing lists and popular social media platforms’) means that the sample cannot be considered as statistically representative. In particular, relative to the results of the 2011 Scottish census, adherents of the Church of Scotland and Roman Catholic Church appear to be seriously under-represented and non-Christians and those professing no religion to be over-represented.

Nevertheless, the 37 questions in the online survey do yield some interesting findings, including the significant number of people who rejected the Equality Act’s definitions of religion (43%) and belief (38%), seemingly because they incorporate the lack, as well as the existence, of religion and belief. It is also noteworthy that only 7% of respondents regarded Scotland as a Christian country, with 33% viewing it as a post-Christian or secular nation, and 60% as a society of many religions and beliefs. In part reflection of this fact, there was a significant amount of discomfort with religious organizations providing schools (47%), adoption (39%), and foster care (38%), while 47% were opposed to state funding of religion or belief groups (with 34% in favour).

The report can be found at:

http://faithandbelief.div.ed.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Faith-and-Belief-Scotland-FINAL-VERSION-OF-REPORT.pdf

An interactive map, permitting analysis of all 37 questions by gender, religion or belief group, and council is at:

http://faithandbelief.div.ed.ac.uk/fabs/

Anti-Semitism

A spike in anti-Semitic incidents in the UK has arisen this month as a direct consequence of the conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, in much the same way as occurred with the similar conflict in January-February 2009. The Community Security Trust is reporting that the number of incidents in this country is currently running at double the level which would be expected under ‘normal’ circumstances (approximately 100 since 1 July 2014 compared with 58 for the whole of July 2013). Recent YouGov polling (as tabulated below) also indicates that, since Israeli military action commenced on 8 July 2014, Britons have been somewhat and increasingly more sympathetic to the Palestinian than the Israeli cause, although the plurality remains neutral and a substantial minority is undecided.

Sympathize with (%)	13-14/7/14	20-21/7/14	24-25/7/14
Israelis	14	14	14
Palestinians	20	23	27
Neither	40	40	41
Don’t know	26	23	19

Posted in News from religious organisations, Official data, Religion and Social Capital, Religious Census, Survey news, visualisation | Tagged alien, Anthony Allison, Anti-Semitism, British Academy, British Religion in Numbers, Church Urban Fund, community activities, ComRes, DataShine, Faith and Belief Scotland, Gaza, importance of religion, Ipsos Global Trends, Ipsos-MORI, Israel, Katherine Sissons, Nonreligion & Secularity, Open Theology, organized religion, Palestinians, Paul Bickley, Public Sector Equality Duty, Religious Affiliation, religious census, religious revival, Scotland, Scottish Government, secularization, Social Capital, Steve Bruce, Theos, United Reformed Church, visualization, YouGov | Leave a comment

ADL Index of Anti-Semitism

Posted on May 22, 2014 by Clive D. Field

Britain has one of the lowest rates of anti-Semitism in the world, according to The ADL Global 100: An Index of Anti-Semitism, which was released by the New York-based Anti-Defamation League (ADL) on 13 May 2014.

Interviews were conducted, under the auspices of Anzalone Liszt Grove Research, with randomly selected samples of 53,100 adults aged 18 and over in 102 countries (comprising 86% of the world’s population) between July 2013 and February 2014. They included 510 in Britain, by telephone, from 9 August to 17 September 2013 by an unspecified agency.

The principal output from the research is an interactive website, permitting users to interrogate the data for individual countries, but there is also an executive summary which provides an overview of the results and methodology. Both can be accessed at:

http://global100.adl.org/

The index has been compiled from a list of eleven negative stereotypes about Jews, some included in previous (less extensive) ADL research and some new. Respondents who said that at least six of these statements were probably true were deemed to harbour anti-Semitic attitudes.

Across all 102 countries combined 26% of adults were classified as anti-Semitic on this measure, the largest proportion by far being in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA, on 74%), with the biggest score within MENA being the West Bank and Gaza (93%) and for a non-MENA nation Greece (69%). The aggregate score for English-speaking countries was 13%.

Britain scored 8%, placing it in 97th position, with only Vietnam, The Netherlands, Sweden, Philippines, and Laos recording lower figures. The British statistic was higher for men (10%) than women (6%) and, by age, peaked among those aged 35-49 (9%). It was twice as great among people without religion (12%) as Christians (6%), although the sub-sample of the former apparently represented under 140 individuals.

Of the eleven stereotypes, the most commonly accepted in Britain (as it was in the rest of the world) was that ‘Jews are more loyal to Israel than to this country/the countries they live in’. This was held by 27% of Britons (34% among 18-34s), the smallest number since ADL surveys began here in 2002 (comparative data for replicated stereotypes appear below). The next most prevalent stereotypes in Britain were that ‘Jews have too much control over the United States government’ (19%, with 24% for men) and ‘Jews have too much control over the global media’ (14%, with 19% among 18-34s).

% saying each stereotype probably true	2002	2004	2005	2007	2009	2012	2013
Jews more loyal to Israel than this country	34	40	39	50	37	48	27
Jews have too much power in business world	21	20	14	22	15	20	11
Jews have too much power in international financial markets	NA	18	16	21	15	22	12
Jews still talk too much about Holocaust	23	31	28	28	20	24	10
Jews don’t care what happens to anyone but their own kind	10	18	NA	NA	NA	NA	8

Somewhat fewer than the 8% categorized by the ADL as anti-Semitic self-identified as holding unfavourable opinions of Jews – just 5%, the same as for Christians. Predictably (from other surveys), Muslims were the most negatively rated. However, in the case of all the non-Christian faiths, one-fifth of the British sample was undecided. This presumably reflected lack of direct acquaintance with the groups concerned (for instance, three-quarters said they rarely or never interacted with Jews) but may also have concealed some who were silently antipathetic. The full figures follow:

% rating of	Favourable	Unfavourable	Can’t rate
Christians	82	5	13
Jews	75	5	20
Muslims	69	11	21
Hindus	72	6	22
Buddhists	74	4	23

Rather more (16%) reported that ‘a lot of the people I know have negative feelings about Jews’, while two-fifths admitted to being very or fairly worried about violence directed at Jews or Jewish symbols/institutions in Britain. Such violence occurred somewhat often according to 6% of respondents, not that often for 27%, and never or almost never for 39%. Of the minority who could isolate the cause of the violence, far more Britons attributed it to anti-Israel sentiment as to anti-Jewish feelings, as had been the case in previous years (see trend data, below).

% agreeing violence against Jews	2002	2004	2005	2007	2009	2012	2013
Result of anti-Jewish feelings	15	14	24	27	30	32	14
Result of anti-Israel sentiment	46	51	33	34	26	34	33

In fact, as many as 26% of Britons entertained an unfavourable attitude to Israel, with 38% favourable (against 54% being favourable to Palestine). A similar proportion (27%) agreed that their views of Jews were influenced to an extent, and invariably for the worse, by the actions of the State of Israel. This was much the same as in the four previous surveys (2005. 2007, 2009, and 2012) when the figure ranged from 20% to 28%.

There was overwhelming (99%) familiarity with the Holocaust, and there were no absolute Holocaust-deniers in the sample, albeit 6% believed that the number of Jews who had died in it had been greatly exaggerated. Of the remainder, 83% accepted the historical record of the scale of Jewish deaths, while 10% expressed no views. Far fewer accused Jews of talking too much about the Holocaust than in previous surveys – 10% versus a mean of 26% for 2002-12.

Jews accounted for well under 1% of Britain’s population at the 2011 census, yet only 22% of this sample correctly estimated that proportion. Almost half (47%) reckoned Jews constituted more than 1%, including 26% who believed they might form more than 2% of the population.

So far as Britain and several other countries are concerned, the ADL study will doubtless be compared with Jewish experiences and perceptions of anti-Semitism as reported by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) on 8 November 2013. The UK data for the FRA survey derived from an online and entirely self-selecting sample of 1,468 Jews. See BRIN’s post of 15 November 2013 for further analysis.

Posted in News from religious organisations, Survey news, visualisation | Tagged Anti-Defamation League, Anti-Semitism, Anzalone Liszt Grove Research, holocaust, Islamophobia, Israel, Jews, prejudice, violence | 1 Comment

Islamic and Other Themes

Posted on May 17, 2014 by Clive D. Field

Attitudes to Muslims

One-quarter (26%) of Britons entertain a mostly unfavourable or very unfavourable opinion of Muslims, according to the latest release of data, on 12 May 2014, from the Pew Global Attitudes Project, for which 1,000 adults were interviewed by telephone in Britain between 17 March and 8 April 2014.

This was the lowest proportion holding unfavourable views of Muslims in the seven European countries investigated, significantly less than in Italy (63%), Greece (53%), Poland (50%), and Spain (46%), and broadly comparable with France (27%) and Germany (33%). Negativity toward Muslims was typically associated with older people and those espousing politically right-wing views, and Britain was no exception to this rule, with a gap of 9% between the 18-29s and over-50s and of 15% between leftists and rightists. More information is available at:

http://www.pewglobal.org/files/2014/05/2014-05-12_Pew-Global-Attitudes-European-Union.pdf

Notwithstanding a lower incidence of Islamophobia than in other countries, unfavourable attitudes to Muslims in Britain in 2014 are running at one of their highest levels since Pew first started measuring them ten years ago (as the following table of trend data shows), only marginally surpassed by the Autumn 2009 figure of 27%. They also far exceed negativity toward Jews in Britain, which has never risen above 9% during the past decade and stands at 7% in the Spring 2014 survey.

%	Favourable	Unfavourable
2004 Spring	67	18
2005 Spring	72	14
2006 Spring	64	20
2008 Spring	63	23
2009 Spring	63	19
2009 Autumn	61	27
2010 Spring	60	20
2011 Spring	64	22
2014 Spring	64	26

Halal meat

The controversy about halal meat entering the food chain for non-Muslims without clear labelling of its provenance rumbles on, and The Sunday Times commissioned YouGov to test public opinion on the subject, 1,905 Britons being interviewed online on 8-9 May 2014. The overwhelming majority (78%) thought that supermarkets should be required to label products containing meat from animals slaughtered using halal methods, with only 13% opposed; the over-60s (84%), Conservatives (84%), and UKIP voters (87%) were most in favour. A plurality (49%) said they would feel uncomfortable about eating halal meat, with discomfort most evident among women (52%), residents of southern England outside London (54%), the over-60s (56%), Conservatives (59%), and UKIP supporters (65%). Overall, 38% were comfortable with consuming halal meat, including 44% of men, 47% of Labour voters, and 51% of Londoners. Data tables can be found at:

http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/45cxqhtvw7/YG-Archive-Pol-Sunday-Times-results-140509.pdf

Nigerian schoolgirls

The abduction of 276 Nigerian schoolgirls by the Islamist group Boko Haram was the most noticed news story of the week, for the second week in succession, according to replies to an open-ended question posed in an online Populus poll of 2,043 Britons on 14-15 May 2014. It was mentioned by 19%, just ahead of the Turkish mine disaster in second place on 16% and of the death of teenager Stephen Sutton on 14%. This information is taken from ‘Something for the Weekend’, the weekly email round-up by Populus, dated 16 May 2014.

When prompted in a YouGov poll on 12-13 May 2014, 55% of 1,977 respondents also indicated that they had been very or fairly closely following the story, with a high of 68% among over-60s. A similar number (54%) expressed support for the UK sending troops to help find the schoolgirls, if requested to do so by the Nigerian government, even though far fewer (32%) endorsed more general western military involvement in combating Islamism in northern Nigeria (with 40% declaring it would be ‘a bad thing’). Awareness of the Twitter campaign to BringBackOurGirls stood at 34%, with 54% among 18-24s (reflecting their greater usage of social media). Full results are located at:

http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/hr12kl3iee/InternalResults_140513_Kidnapped_Nigerian_girls_website.pdf

A question about the kidnapping was also included in a Survation poll for the Mail on Sunday, 1.005 adults being interviewed online on 9 May 2014. The majority of them (56%) wanted the British government to offer to send the SAS (special forces) to Nigeria to help with the rescue of the schoolgirls, with just under one-third opposed to any British military engagement. Support for SAS involvement was especially strong among Scots (64%), ethnic minorities (65%), and the top (AB) social group (68%). Detailed breaks can be found at:

http://survation.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/MoS-tables-11-May-2014.pdf

Mindfulness

Mindfulness is a meditative practice which originates in Buddhism but has been increasingly deployed to alleviate a variety of mental and physical conditions. According to a YouGov online poll on 8-9 May 2014, 45% of Britons (comprising 51% of women and 38% of men) would support mindfulness-based therapy being available on the NHS to treat depression, with 25% opposed and 30% undecided. This idea has been mooted by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. Somewhat fewer (39%) of the public, however, think that mindfulness probably has health benefits, with 29% unconvinced, and 33% uncertain. Complete results do not seem to have been published, the foregoing information being extracted from a YouGov blog post on 10 May 2014 at:

http://yougov.co.uk/news/2014/05/10/mindfulness-therapy-nhs/

Post-war religious statistics

Thanks are due to Dr Ben Clements for alerting BRIN to the existence of a developing resource from the Cline Center for Democracy at the University of Illinois. The Composition of Religious and Ethnic Groups (CREG) project is assembling data on these two themes for 165 countries since the Second World War. There are three core sources of statistics – Britannica Book of the Year, CIA World Factbook, and World Almanac Book of Facts – with a variety of supplemental sources for individual countries and years. In the case of the UK actual or estimated religious population figures are provided as percentages for each year between 1945 and 2013 for the following groups: Roman Catholic, Protestant, Hindu, Sikh, Muslim, Jewish, Orthodox, and non-religious (lines 6810-7489 on the ‘long’ worksheet, lines 1727-1795 on the ‘wide’ worksheet). The CREG website will be found at:

http://www.clinecenter.illinois.edu/research/sid-composition.html

These data need to be used with circumspection since specific sources are not cited, the majority of figures appear to be estimates, worksheet columns are poorly labelled (the separate variable descriptions document needs to be consulted for explanations), faith group proportions do not always align with sample survey evidence, and the Protestant category is undifferentiated (and thus impossibly large). The statistics perhaps have some utility for comparative purposes, measured against those of other nations, although there are other compilations for this, perhaps the best-known being the World Religion Database. For the UK alone, Peter Brierley’s estimates are perhaps a better starting-point, albeit not always beyond question either; see, in particular, his UK Christian Handbook, Religious Trends, No. 2 (1999) and UK Church Statistics, 2005-2015 (2011).

Spiritual care at point of death

Hospitals in England are often failing to meet the spiritual needs of dying patients and their relatives, as laid down in national guidelines, according to the National Care of the Dying Audit for Hospitals, England: National Report, which was published by the Royal College of Physicians in conjunction with the Marie Curie Palliative Care Institute Liverpool on 14 May 2014. The research was conducted in 2013 on the basis of a mixed methods approach, comprising an organizational audit of 131 hospital trusts, an anonymized case note review for 6,580 patients, and a survey of the views of 858 bereaved families and friends. The report can be found at:

http://www.rcplondon.ac.uk/sites/default/files/ncdah_national_report.pdf

The case note review indicated that 72% of dying patients professed some religion. Despite this, in 63% of cases the hospital failed to achieve the key performance indicator of assessing the spiritual needs of the patient and their nominated relatives or friends. Direct conversations about their spiritual needs were documented with only 21% of dying patients thought capable of participating in such discussions (equivalent to 11% of all patients), and indirect (proxy) conversations (via the nominated relative or friend) were held for 23% of patients. Evidence that patients had been seen by a spiritual adviser was recorded in a mere 9% of cases. Just 25% of the relatives/carers of dying patients were asked about their own spiritual needs. Among the sample of bereaved families and friends, 39% agreed that the patient’s religious or spiritual needs had been met by the healthcare team, with 50% expressing no clear view, and 11% disagreeing.

Posted in Historical studies, Religion and Politics, Religion in the Press, Survey news | Tagged Anti-Semitism, Boko Haram, Buddhism, Cline Center for Democracy, Composition of Religious and Ethnic Groups Project, end-of-life care, halal meat, Islamism, Islamophobia, Jews, Mail on Sunday, Marie Curie Palliative Care Institute Liverpool, meditation, mindfulness, Muslims, National Health Service, Nigeria, palliative care, Pew Global Attitudes Project, Populus, Royal College of Physicians, schoolgirls, spiritual needs, Sunday Times, Survation, YouGov | Leave a comment

Religious Irreligious and Other News

Posted on May 5, 2014 by Clive D. Field

Religious irreligious

New research from OnePoll has found that 76% of people in the UK do not regard themselves as religious but many of them still exhibit signs of religiosity. The study was conducted online among 1,000 adults aged 18 and over and published in headline in Iona Hartshorn’s blog post of 29 April 2014, which can be found at:

http://www.onepoll.com/religious-rituals-from-non-religious-people/

Through the kindness of OnePoll, I have had access to the detailed computer tables and been given permission to draw upon them for this note. The data are obviously the copyright of OnePoll.

There are the standard breaks by age, gender, and region. Below we present a tabular summary of a slightly less usual break, by self-assessed religiosity:

%	Religious	Non-religious	Total
Believe in God	95	35	50
Ever attend religious services	82	27	41
Had a religious marriage	63	31	38
Want a religious funeral	85	32	45
Had been christened	81	68	71
Had own children christened	63	31	39
Attended a religious school	50	20	27
Own children attended a religious school	51	15	25
Ever pray	95	43	56
Ever say grace at mealtimes	40	6	14

There is also a break by belief in God, which reveals the sort of anomalies first surfaced in Mass-Observation’s classic 1947 study of Puzzled People. For example, OnePoll discovered that, of the believers in God, 53% did not consider themselves religious, 37% never went to church, 15% did not want a religious funeral, and 13% never prayed. Of disbelievers in God, 20% wanted a religious funeral, 8% prayed monthly or more, and 4% attended church monthly or more.

Doing God in politics

A high level of support for the sentiments expressed by Prime Minister David Cameron in his recent article in the Church Times is evident from the replies of almost 800 self-identifying members of the Conservative Party to a poll which went online on the Conservative Home website on 2 May 2014. Respondents were entirely self-selecting and cannot be assumed to be representative; indeed, some have already criticized the survey as a ‘voodoo poll’. Conservative members agreed overwhelmingly that Britain is a Christian country (85%) and should be a Christian country (86%). The majority (61%) also thought that politicians should ‘do God’, which seems to have been interpreted as meaning that they should speak about their faith in public, if they have one; 29% were opposed, with 10% uncertain. However, opinion was more divided about whether the role of faith-based organizations should be expanded, with 48% in favour and 42% against. Questions were also posed about the politics of the Church of England and its possible disestablishment, but results have not been reported yet. For analysis of the other questions, see Paul Goodman’s blog of 4 May 2014 at:

http://www.conservativehome.com/thetorydiary/2014/05/party-members-yes-cameron-should-do-god.html

Role models

Asked by Opinium Research to nominate the people whom they looked upon as their personal role models, relatively few UK citizens (6%) chose a religious figure, ranging by demographic sub-group between 2% in Wales and 12% in London. Overall, religious figures ranked eighth out of fourteen options, the list being headed (unsurprisingly) by parents (35%) and friends (19%). Online interviews were conducted with 2,001 adults aged 18 and over from 28 February to 3 March 2014. Data tables were published on 24 April and can be found at:

http://news.opinium.co.uk/sites/news.opinium.co.uk/files/op4269_opinium_pr_role_models_tables_wave_1.pdf

Rev

Talking of role models, the third (and final) series of the BBC2 sitcom Rev concluded on 28 April 2014. It starred Tom Hollander as Rev. Adam Smallbone, vicar of St Saviour in the Marshes in inner-city London. Among its audience were large numbers of practising Christians, according to an online survey of 1,943 adult members of Christian Research’s Resonate panel (1,188 churchgoing laity and 755 clergy) interviewed on 25 April 2014 for the upcoming Christian Resources Exhibition. Two-thirds of this sample (including 76% of clergy) had watched some of the third series, 71% of whom had seen more than three of the six episodes. Moreover, four-fifths of the viewers agreed with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, who recently said of the programme that it was ‘great viewing’ and ‘doesn’t depress me quite as much as you might think’.

Seven in ten of these practising Christians who had watched Rev found Smallbone a believable character, 63% indicated they would be willing to attend a church led by him (with or without reservations), and 62% anticipated he would have a positive effect on non-churchgoers’ perceptions of ministers. Respondents who had seen Rev were also sympathetic to the plight of financially struggling churches which St Saviour’s exemplified, with 86% agreeing that wealthier places of worship should use part of their income to support poorer ones, and 53% disagreeing that churches which are unable to pay their way should be closed. Many clergy in the sample likewise empathized with Smallbone’s predicament, arguing more strongly than the laity (29% versus 22%) that their own church provided inadequate social and pastoral support, and listing a good number of sources of frustration in their work.

As a personal member of Christian Research, I have been able to see the organization’s draft report on the survey. Non-members can read the Christian Research news release at:

http://www.christian-research.org/resonate/bbc-s-rev-survey-of-viewers-attitudes/

More generally, Christian Research has published the 2014 tariff and panel demographics for Resonate, giving some idea of its profile and potential skews, at:

http://www.christian-research.org/uploads/images/CR-insert-Layout-combo.pdf

Faith schools

Attitudes to faith schools within the broader context of school choice are explored in the FirstView of an article in Journal of Social Policy which was published online on 15 April 2014: Stratos Patrikios and John Curtice, ‘Attitudes Towards School Choice and Faith Schools in the UK: A Question of Individual Preference or Collective Interest?’ Data derive from a module on perspectives on public services which was included in surveys fielded in 2007 in all four constituent territories of the UK: British Social Attitudes Survey, Scottish Social Attitudes Survey, Wales Life and Times Survey, and Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey.

Drawing on social identity theory, the authors suggest that, in general, attitudes towards faith-based schools owe more to religious identities and group interests associated with those identities rather than opinions about the merits of school choice informed by an individualistic utilitarian rationale. Although the abstract principle of school choice was very popular in these 2007 studies, and the concept of specialist schools was also backed by a majority, there was much greater public wariness about faith schools. However, the extent to which attitudes towards faith schools reflect religious identities is shown to vary between the four territories in line with the local landscapes of religion and educational provision.

The tables include breaks by religious affiliation (Catholic, Protestant, no religion) within each home nation. In all four countries support for faith schools was strongest among Catholics, and it was lowest in Scotland and Northern Ireland where the provision of faith schools is almost exclusively Catholic. It should be noted that the pattern of replies may have been influenced by a potential limitation in the question in that, while it sought views about faith schools overall, it also specifically referenced Roman Catholic schools. For access options to the article, go to:

http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=9239600

Anglican and Methodist church growth

Anglican and Methodist experiences of church growth and decline from the eighteenth century to today are contrasted, with special reference to case studies of Yorkshire and London, in John Wolffe, ‘Past and Present: Taking the Long View of Methodist and Anglican History’, Proceedings of the Wesley Historical Society, Vol. 59, No. 5, May 2014, pp. 161-77. Dipping into a range of quantitative sources, from the 1851 religious census to Peter Brierley’s contemporary church statistics, Wolffe explores the extent to which Methodism and Anglicanism have been partners or competitors at various stages of their development. In the eighteenth and nineteenth century, it is argued, ‘Methodism … complemented the inherent inertia of the established Church of England by a capacity for swift and sometimes radical response to changing circumstances’. Subsequently, however, ‘the Anglican tortoise has often overtaken the Methodist hare, even as both are being pursued by the secular cheetah’. Wolffe also draws upon insights from the ‘Building on History’ project to demonstrate how history can be a resource to inform strategic thinking about present-day mission and ministry.

Violent anti-Semitism

The number of major violent incidents of anti-Semitism in the UK in 2013 was, at 95 or 17% of the global total of 554, second only to France (116), even though the UK is ranked but fifth in the world in terms of the size of its Jewish population. Outside of Israel, Jews are most numerous in the United States which recorded just 55 violent incidents of anti-Semitism in 2013, significantly fewer than the 83 in its less populous neighbour, Canada. Full details are contained in Antisemitism Worldwide, 2013, which was published by the Kantor Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry at Tel Aviv University on 28 April 2014. The report, which also includes (pp. 55-8) a summary by Mike White of all anti-Semitic incidents in the UK notified to the Community Security Trust in 2013, can be found at:

http://kantorcenter.tau.ac.il/sites/default/files/Doch_2013.pdf

BRIN website usage

The latest management information statistics about use of the BRIN website reveal continued steady growth in traffic. In the twelve months to 1 May 2014, 155,000 pages were viewed by 63,000 unique users in 77,000 sessions. The majority of sessions (70%) were UK-based, with 10% from the USA, and the remaining fifth from 180 different countries and territories. In the just over four years since traffic measurement began in March 2010 there have been 576,000 pageviews by 204,000 users in 263,000 sessions. We currently also have 335 followers on Twitter and would welcome more. A link to each new blog post (approximately weekly) or other substantive addition to the BRIN site is tweeted. So do join us @BritRelNumbers

Posted in Historical studies, News from religious organisations, Religion and Politics, Religion in public debate, Religion in the Press, Rites of Passage, Survey news | Tagged Adam Smallbone, Anti-Semitism, BBC2, British Religion in Numbers, Christian country, Christian Research, Christian Resources Exhibition, church growth, Church of England, clergy, Conservative Home, Conservative Party, David Cameron, Faith schools, God, Iona Hartshorn, John Curtice, John Wolffe, Journal of Social Policy, Kantor Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry, London, Methodism, OnePoll, Opinium Research, Paul Goodman, politics, Proceedings of the Wesley Historical Society, religious figures, Resonate, Rev, role models, self-assessed religiosity, Stratos Patrikios, violence, Yorkshire | 1 Comment

Church of England Health Check and Other News

Posted on February 14, 2014 by Clive D. Field

Church of England health check

Further to our post of 31 January 2014, we now note the appearance of the second and third instalments of the ‘Church Health Check’ series being run in the Church Times. In the issue for 7 February 2014 (pp. 21-8) there were various essays by academics and insiders focusing on the leadership and structure of the Church of England. Those which had a particularly quantitative dimension were by:

Professor Linda Woodhead who examined (pp. 21-2) the Church’s statistics of ministry for 2012, concluding that ‘there are no longer enough troupers left to keep the show on the road, and the show will have to change’ – see further the BRIN post of 24 October 2013 at http://www.brin.ac.uk/news/2013/from-st-george-to-prince-george/
Professor Leslie Francis who summarized (pp. 26-7) his research into psychological type profiling of Anglican bishops, to determine whether the Church has the right sort of episcopate – see the BRIN post of 30 November 2013 at http://www.brin.ac.uk/news/2013/st-andrews-day-and-other-news/
Professor David Voas who reported (pp. 26-7) on the importance of clergy leadership qualities to church growth, noting ‘there are strong associations between growth and personality type, but none between growth and attendance on leadership courses’ – see the BRIN post of 18 January 2014 at http://www.brin.ac.uk/news/2014/anglican-church-growth-and-other-news/

The same issue of the Church Times also contained (p. 2) two shorter reports quoting further findings from the newspaper’s 2013 readership survey, which attracted 4,620 self-selecting respondents. They revealed that 73% expressed confidence in the leadership of the Archbishop of Canterbury (7% disagreeing), but just 23% had confidence in the General Synod (37% disagreeing and 41% undecided), and 37% in the Archbishops’ Council. Sub-nationally, 69% (71% among laity) had confidence in their local clergy and 63% in their diocesan bishop. On matters of sexual morality, Anglo-Catholics and Broad Anglicans were shown to be more liberally disposed than Evangelicals, suggesting that the Church of England’s internal strife over homosexuality is far from over. Among Evangelicals, 63% disapproved of ordaining practising homosexuals as priests and 65% as bishops, while 75% were opposed to same-sex marriage in church and 51% to the blessing of such relationships. There was more sign of consensus on another historically contested issue (but now with just one final hurdle to clear in July’s General Synod following this week’s debate), that of women bishops, with support running at 76% for Anglo-Catholics, 77% for Evangelicals, and 93% for Broad Anglicans. These two reports are freely available online at:

http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2014/7-february/news/uk/poll-lack-of-trust-in-synod

The third instalment of the ‘Church Health Check’ can be found in the current issue of the Church Times (14 February 2014, pp. 21-7) and is devoted to the social impact of the Church of England. This has a rather limited quantitative element. However, the lead article by Professor Linda Woodhead (pp. 21-2) draws upon her 2013 Westminster Faith Debates surveys to illustrate how people still connect to the Church in ways apart from regular attendance at public worship, while also noting that take-up of all three church-based rites of passage has diminished. Some of the Opinion Research Business polling for the Church of England over the last decade or so is also relevant in this context, a couple of examples of which can be viewed through the Research and Statistics link webpage (which, incidentally, is in desperate need of an overhaul and update to consolidate the archival material) at:

http://www.churchofengland.org/about-us/facts-stats/research-statistics.aspx

The same issue of the Church Times (p. 3) carries further results from the 2013 readership survey, revealing that 67% of this sub-set of Anglicans are currently involved in some form of unpaid community work (volunteering), with 35% active in two or more fields. Education (19%), local community action (18%), cultural activities (18%), children’s work (12%), and social welfare services (10%) were most frequently mentioned by the self-selecting sample. Volunteering by these clergy and lay churchgoer respondents is said to be at least twice as great as by the population at large, as recorded in Government surveys. See further:

http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2014/14-february/news/uk/if-you-need-help,-turn-to-a-churchgoer

Finally, the issue of 14 February 2014 contains a full page (p. 17) printing nine letters from readers in response to the first two instalments of ‘Church Health Check’.

Catholics polled on family life – the sequel

On 8 November 2013 BRIN reported on the Roman Catholic Church’s global consultation of the views of the faithful on family life, including vexed issues such as contraception and same-sex relationships, in preparation for the Extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the Family, to be held in the Vatican on 5-19 October 2014. The consultation, by means of a 40-question survey instrument, attracted significant attention, not to say controversy, inside and outside the Catholic Church. It was criticized in some quarters for its inadequate methodology and theologically opaque content, although the Vatican was at pains to point out that it was not an opinion poll and that the Church’s teaching is not determined by majority popular vote.

Notwithstanding, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales took the lead in putting the questionnaire online and received a healthy response (albeit small in relation to the size of the Catholic population). According to the Catholic Herald (7 February 2014, p. 2) and The Tablet (8 February 2014, p. 28), the Conference received some 16,500 completed questionnaires. The bulk of these (12,266) were filled in online, mainly by laity (80%), with 69% being married and 38% parents. One-fifth of respondents were in ‘positions of responsibility within the Church’, including priests, teachers, and pastoral assistants, while 24% were aged under 45 years and 30% 65 and over. The figures exclude 1,163 responses from 57 other countries, which were forwarded to the relevant Church authorities.

In deference to the Vatican, the Conference has declined to publish its report on the results of the English and Welsh consultation in advance of the Extraordinary Synod (as have the bishops in the United States, Canada, and Australia), despite the fact that both the German and the Swiss Bishops’ Conferences have already published their respective national reports, containing a strong message on the need for ‘reform’. It would be surprising if any different message emerged from England and Wales, given that polling of Catholics in Britain during recent years has demonstrated a wide gulf between opinions in the pews and the Magisterium of the Church. Newly-released polling of 12,000 Catholics worldwide (excluding Britain) by Univision (the television network serving Hispanic America) has revealed similar disaffection, with the partial exception of Africa, as have national surveys by Catholic media and institutions in France, Belgium, and The Netherlands. There is a helpful summary of some of this international research in The Tablet for 15 February 2014 (p. 30).

2011 census: Church of Scotland parish profiles

Overseen by Revd Fiona Tweedie, the Statistics for Mission Group of the Church of Scotland has now completed the task of preparing parish profiles of selected data from the 2011 census of population for Scotland. The profiles, which take the form of attractive 12-page PDF documents comprising charts and tables, include details of religious affiliation. They are available to download through the ChurchFinder on the Church of Scotland website (using the ‘Parish statistics’ link from the table of search results) at:

http://cos.churchofscotland.org.uk/church_finder/

Invisible church

Speaking of the Church of Scotland, Steve Aisthorpe (the Kirk’s Mission Development Worker, North) has recently written an interesting 26-page preliminary report on Investigating the Invisible Church: A Survey of Christians who Do Not Attend Church. It is based on a survey of a random sample of 5,523 people in the Highlands and Islands contacted by telephone in the autumn of 2013, 2,698 of whom gave a short interview. Of these 934 identified themselves as Christians who do not attend church and agreed to take part in a more detailed study, and 430 (46%) eventually completed and returned the online and postal questionnaire, comprising almost 80 items. Critical Research oversaw the recruitment of participants, data entry, and statistical analysis, while funding came from the Church of Scotland’s Mission and Discipleship Council and three other partners. The report is at:

https://www.resourcingmission.org.uk/sites/default/files/downloads/Investigating%20the%20invisible%20church.pdf

The headline finding from the study was that 44% of the population of the Highlands and Islands, representing some 133,000 individuals, are professing Christians who are not currently engaged with a local congregation, although only 15% had never attended church regularly in the past and 23% had attended for more than 20 years (with a further 27% for more than 10 years). Inevitably, a good proportion of these are ‘cultural Christians’, but a surprisingly large number (50%) scored highly (more than 30 out of 50) on the Hoge Intrinsic Religiosity Scale, which aims to measure the extent to which faith underpins everyday life. Disillusioned respondents may have been with the Church, and their reasons for church-leaving were explored in detail, but 72% were not disappointed with God, with 50% regarding themselves as part of a worldwide Christian community and 41% as on a spiritual quest beyond religious institutions. There was no simplistic partition into ‘sheep’ and ‘goats’ here.

The areas explored in the quantitative phase emerged from a previous qualitative phase in 2012-13, in which 30 Christians not attending a local church were interviewed in depth. The report on this qualitative phase (dated July 2013) is also available at:

https://www.resourcingmission.org.uk/sites/default/files/downloads/Faith_journeys_beyond_the_congregations.pdf

Anti-Semitic incidents

The Community Security Trust (CST)’s 32-page Antisemitic Incidents Report, 2013 was published on 6 February 2014. It revealed that the number of such incidents recorded in the United Kingdom in 2013 was, at 529, 18% lower than in 2012 and only just over half the post-1984 high of 931 incidents in 2009. CST believes the fall in anti-Semitism since 2012 to be genuine and to reflect the lack of anti-Jewish ‘trigger events’ in 2013, such as had caused two temporary spikes in 2012. However, CST still reckons there is ‘significant underreporting’ of anti-Semitic incidents both to itself and the police, and that the true figure is considerably higher. Of the 529 recorded incidents in 2013, over three-quarters took place in Greater London and Greater Manchester, with 69 categorized as violent assaults, although none constituted ‘extreme violence’ (amounting to grievous bodily harm or a threat to life). The most common category, with 368 incidents, was of abusive behaviour, including verbal abuse, albeit these were 23% down on 2012. One-quarter of all incidents were assessed as having far right, anti-Israel, or Islamist motivations. In the minority of cases where a physical description of the perpetrator could be obtained, 62% were white and 25% South Asian. The report, including a profile of incidents by category and month for each year from 2003 to 2013, can be read at:

http://www.thecst.org.uk/docs/Incidents%20Report%202013.pdf

Values profile of Britain

The January 2014 issue of Modern Believing (Vol. 55, No. 1) is a special theme issue, devoted to ‘What British People Really Think’, and guest-edited by Professor Linda Woodhead. Using data from a variety of sources, but especially from her January and June 2013 YouGov polls for the Westminster Faith Debates, it depicts what the British think about abortion (pp. 7-14); women bishops (pp. 15-26); same-sex marriage (pp. 27-38); euthanasia (pp. 39-48); God, religion, and authority (pp. 49-58); and society, politics, and religious institutions (pp. 59-67). There is also an introduction (pp. 1-5) and conclusion (‘A Values Profile of Britain’, pp. 69-74) by Woodhead. Non-subscribers to the journal, and non-members of subscribing institutions, may struggle to access these articles. The new publisher (Liverpool University Press) does not appear to be offering the option to buy a print copy of this special issue only, while downloads cost an eye-watering £25 per (shortish) article via the following link:

http://liverpool.metapress.com/content/n37414k210jp/?p=a25311fb53864bfe817f0c15f25adc56&pi=0

POSTSCRIPT [18 February 2014] BRIN has now ascertained that single copies of this entire issue can be purchased for £15.00, more cost-effective than the article download option. To order a copy, contact Liverpool@turpin-distribution.com

Faith under fire

Do soldiers turn to God when they are on the front line? Some provisional answers to this question are apparently contained in a postgraduate thesis submitted to the Cardiff Centre for Chaplaincy Studies by Revd Peter King, who was chaplain to the Queen’s Royal Hussars during a bloody tour to Helmand province between October 2011 and April 2012, during which 23 British soldiers were killed and dozens more severely wounded. The research was featured in The Sunday Times, 9 February 2014, Main Section, p. 20 in an article by the newspaper’s defence correspondent, Mark Hookham. King surveyed more than 200 men in his 400-strong battle group, finding that 80% professed some religion and 63% reported that they were more likely to frequent religious services while on operations than when in barracks. An Easter service held by King in a cookhouse in Afghanistan had been attended by about 100 men, of whom one-quarter received Holy Communion. Almost half (46%) of the soldiers interviewed by King said they had prayed in Afghanistan, and the same proportion carried or wore a symbol of faith. An awareness of the presence of God had been felt by 17%, and a few even described a religious experience at the front.

POSTSCRIPT [7 April 2014]: The research has now been published as Peter King, ‘Faith in a Foxhole? Researching Combatant Religiosity amongst British Soldiers on Contemporary Operations’, Defence Academy Yearbook, 2013, pp. 2-10, freely available online at:

http://www.da.mod.uk/publications/library/miscellaneous/58520%20DA%20Yearbook%202013.pdf/view

Posted in church attendance, News from religious organisations, Religion and Politics, Religion and Social Capital, Religion in the Press, Religious Census, Survey news | Tagged abortion, Afghanistan, Andrew Village, anti-Semitic incidents, Anti-Semitism, Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, census of population, Church of England, Church of Scotland, Church Times, Community Security Trust, Critical Research, David Voas, euthanasia, family, Fiona Tweedie, health check, Highlands and Islands, Hoge Intrinsic Religiosity Scale, homosexuality, Jews, leadership, Leslie Francis, Linda Woodhead, Mark Hookham, ministry, Mission and Discipleship Council, Modern Believing, non-churchgoers, parishes, Peter King, Queen’s Royal Hussars, Religious Affiliation, Roman Catholic Church, same-sex marriage, social impact, soldiers, Statistics for Mission Group, Steve Aisthorpe, Sunday Times, values, Vatican, volunteering, Westminster Faith Debates, women bishops, YouGov | Leave a comment

Portrait of Catholics and Other News

Posted on November 15, 2013 by Clive D. Field

This week’s post contains five religious statistical stories, leading on a major new survey of Roman Catholic religious practice and values.

Portrait of Catholics

Results from one of the most extensive surveys of Roman Catholic opinion for many years were released on 12 November 2013. The poll was commissioned by Professor Linda Woodhead of Lancaster University in connection with the Westminster Faith Debates and conducted online by YouGov between 5 and 11 June 2013 among 1,062 self-identifying British Catholics aged 18 and over. The questions were a direct replication of those put by YouGov to a national sample of 4,018 adults on 5-13 June 2013, again on behalf of Professor Woodhead. Data tables for the Catholic sample, extending to 160 pages and containing innumerable two-way breaks, can be found at:

http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/k0rbt8onjb/YG-Archive-050613-FaithMatters-UniversityofLancaster.pdf

It would naturally be impossible to do full justice to such a rich dataset in a brief post on BRIN, but the following table (using paraphrased questions) gives a flavour of how Catholic opinion on a range of moral, religious, and political issues differs (or not) from that of the general public (all figures in percentages):

	Britons	Catholics
Moral issues
Abortion should be banned	6	19
Same-sex marriage is wrong	37	43
Assisted suicide should be legalized	76	58
Catholic adoption agencies should not be denied charitable status for refusing same-sex adoption	39	57
B&B owners should not be allowed to refuse accommodation on grounds of sexual orientation	57	52
British society has become worse since 1945	51	50
Individuals are more selfish than 20 years ago	70	70
Religious issues
Faith schools generally should not be state-funded	45	28
Catholic schools should not be state-funded	43	20
Muslim protests against cartoons of the Prophet were justified	42	50
Christian protests against Jerry Springer: the Opera were justified	42	53
Concerned about Islamist terrorism	52	54
Church of England is a positive force in society	18	21
Church of England is a negative force in society	14	11
Catholic Church is a positive force in society	13	36
Catholic Church is a negative force in society	28	9
Political issues
Immigration has impacted negatively on my life	28	30
Cultural diversity of British cities is a bad thing	28	30
Better to live in Britain when more people shared a common culture	48	48
Would vote for Britain to leave European Union	47	44
Welfare budget is too high and should be reduced	46	46
Britain’s welfare system has created a culture of dependency	61	59
Crime rate is rising	44	44
Margaret Thatcher did more good for Britain than Tony Blair	39	34
Tony Blair did more good for Britain than Margaret Thatcher	18	24

Professor Woodhead has written two articles for The Tablet based on the survey, also drawing upon the inevitably smaller Catholic sub-samples from YouGov’s two national polls for the Westminster Faith Debates, on 25-30 January and 5-13 June 2013. The first article, published in the issue of 9 November 2013 (pp. 12-13), principally covers Catholic attitudes to sex, contraception, family, women, abortion, and same-sex marriage. The second article (16 November 2013, pp. 6-7) concentrates on the religious beliefs and practices of Catholics and their socio-political values. Both articles highlight how far British Catholics ‘have come adrift’ from Vatican-style Catholicism, only 5% overall and 2% of the under-30s now conforming to the model of ‘faithful Catholics’ according to the Church’s Magisterium.

Jewish births, marriages, and deaths

David Vulkan’s analysis of Britain’s Jewish Community Statistics, 2012 has also been released this week, by the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the umbrella body which collects the data from synagogues and other agencies. It can be found at:

http://www.bod.org.uk/content/CommunityStatistics2012.pdf

The report provides a demographic rather than attitudinal snapshot of Britain’s Jewish community, with reference to births, marriages, divorces, and deaths which are recorded under Jewish auspices (life events not marked by ‘a formal Jewish act’ will therefore be omitted, rendering it misleading to express the data as rates per 1,000 Jews). The headline findings are:

Births: There were at least 3,860 Jewish births in 2011. This figure is inferred, from records of male circumcisions and a multiplier for female births, and it includes some estimation for missing data. Births to strictly Orthodox (or Charedi) Jewish parents now account for at least two-fifths of the total. This reflects the younger age profile, earlier marriage, and higher birth rate of the strictly Orthodox.
Marriages: There was an increase in Jewish marriages between 2011 and 2012, from 808 to 857, but the long-term trend remains downwards (there were 1,029 in 1992). The proportion of strictly Orthodox marriages has trebled over the past three decades. On present trends, they are predicted to constitute a majority of Jewish marriages within the next decade.
Divorces: Statistics relate to religiously sanctioned divorces (excluding civil divorces). The trend is downwards, from 277 in 1992 to an estimated 188 in 2012.
Deaths: The long-term decline in the number of Jewish burials or cremations continues, from 4,200 in 1992 to 2,575 in 2012 (albeit the latter was up from 2,452 in 2011). Since 2005 deaths have been lower than the number of births, meaning that there is natural increase in the Jewish community. Whether that translates into an actual increase will depend upon migration flows, on which the Board has no data.

Jewish perceptions and experiences of anti-Semitism

Two-thirds of UK Jews think that anti-Semitism has increased a lot (27%) or a little (39%) in the country over the past five years, and only 5% consider it has decreased, according to data released by the European Union (EU) Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) on 8 November 2013. Moreover, 48% of UK Jews regard anti-Semitism generally as a very (11%) or fairly big (37%) problem in the UK, with 52% seeing it as such in the media and 64% on the internet. Association of Jews in the public mind with Israel and even the economic crisis is believed to contribute to anti-Semitism, while negative statements about Jews are most often attributed to people with left-wing political views and to Muslim extremists. Worries about becoming a victim of verbal insult or harassment over the next year are expressed by 28% of UK Jews, with 17% fearful of being physically attacked. One-fifth constantly or frequently avoid wearing or carrying things in public which might identify them as Jews, and 18% claim to have considered emigrating because they do not feel safe living as a Jew in the UK.

Personal experiences of anti-Semitism are lower than perceptions, 16% of UK Jews reporting personal discrimination or harassment during the past 12 months on the basis of their religion or belief, and 19% of verbal insult/harassment and/or physical attack over the same timescale due to being Jewish. Over the previous five years 29% have endured one or more of five forms of anti-Semitic harassment. The workplace is the most common context for such incidents, 76% of which (in the past year) or 71% (in the past five years) go unreported. However, in terms of both perception and experience, anti-Semitism appears to be less widespread and virulent in the UK than in several other European countries surveyed, notably France, Belgium, and Hungary.

The data for this survey were collected by Ipsos MORI, in association with the Institute for Jewish Policy Research, in the eight countries collectively containing more than 90% of the EU’s estimated Jewish population: Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Sweden, and the UK. Fieldwork took place in September-October 2012 using an online sample of 5,847 self-identifying Jews aged 16 and over, of whom 1,468 were from the UK. The questionnaire was placed on the open web, and publicized via the FRA and Jewish media and other agencies. Respondents were entirely self-selecting and cannot necessarily be considered to be national Jewish cross-sections. They are likely disproportionately to comprise those with an interest in, or experience of, anti-Semitism and to be members of Jewish community organizations. Nor did it prove feasible to weight the data to correct for any demographic bias. As the report notes: ‘this methodology is unable to deliver a random probability sample fulfilling the statistical criteria for representativeness’. Therefore, great care should be taken in interpreting the results.

An 80-page report on the survey, Discrimination and Hate Crime against Jews in EU Member States: Experiences and Perceptions of Antisemitism, can be read at:

http://fra.europa.eu/sites/default/files/fra-2013-discrimination-hate-crime-against-jews-eu-member-states_en.pdf

An interactive visualization website, with data export facility, has also been set up, permitting the results for each question for each country to be analysed by age, gender, strength of Jewish identity, and strength of religiosity. This can be found at:

http://fra.europa.eu/DVS/DVT/as2013.php

Wearing the veil in court

The debate about whether a female Muslim defendant should be allowed to wear the niqab or full face veil in court has still not run out of steam. If anything, it has been rekindled by the Lord Chief Justice’s recent announcement that there is to be a public consultation about the wearing of the niqab in courtrooms. In a new YouGov poll for the Sunday Times among 1,878 Britons on 7-8 November 2013, 55% agreed that a defendant should be made to remove the niqab throughout her entire trial and a further 32% when giving evidence (but not otherwise). The combined figure of 87% wanting the niqab prohibited for at least part of the trial peaked at 99% of UKIP supporters, 96% of Conservatives, 96% of over-60s, and 93% of Londoners. More generally, 63% of adults wanted to see a complete ban on wearing the niquab in Britain, rising to 93% of UKIP voters and 82% of over-60s. The full data are available on pp. 7-8 of the survey tables at:

http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/qhng8fwkh7/YG-Archive-Pol-Sunday-Times-results-081113.pdf

Self-assessed religiosity

In last week’s post (8 November 2013) we reported results about the claimed frequency of prayer in the UK from Round 6 of the European Social Survey, the dataset for which has recently been released. Now we present the (weighted) answers given to another question: ‘Regardless of whether you belong to a particular religion, how religious would you say you are?’ Interviewees were given a showcard inviting them to choose a point on a scale running from 0 (not at all religious) to 10 (very religious).

Religiosity score	2002	2004	2006	2008	2010	2012
0	14.4	11.4	18.1	18.8	18.0	17.0
1	5.6	7.7	7.7	6.9	8.4	8.2
2	9.7	10.2	9.1	9.8	10.3	9.5
3	10.0	10.6	11.1	10.4	10.4	10.1
4	8.0	10.6	8.9	7.8	8.6	7.5
5	17.7	15.2	14.3	13.8	13.9	12.9
6	10.4	8.8	8.0	8.9	7.4	8.7
7	10.1	8.6	9.6	10.0	9.4	10.1
8	8.2	9.0	6.4	6.1	6.5	9.4
9	2.8	4.3	2.8	3.1	3.4	3.4
10	3.1	3.7	4.1	4.4	3.6	3.3
Low (0-3)	39.7	39.9	46.0	45.9	47.1	44.8
Medium (4-6)	36.1	34.6	31.2	30.5	29.9	29.1
High (7-10)	24.2	25.6	22.9	23.6	22.9	26.2

The scores have been summed into three bands, corresponding to low, medium, and high religiosity. Unsurprisingly, the proportion self-assessing as of low religiosity has increased, from 40% in 2002 to 47% in 2010, before dropping to 45% in 2012. The high religiosity group has fluctuated in size but was actually larger in 2012 than in 2002 (26 versus 24%). It is naturally too soon to say whether the 2012 data mark the reversal of a downward trend or are something of a ‘blip’.

Posted in Historical studies, News from religious organisations, Religion in public debate, Religion in the Press, Rites of Passage, Survey news, visualisation | Tagged Anti-Semitism, births, Board of Deputies of British Jews, courtrooms, David Vulkan, deaths, European Social Survey, European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, face-veils, Institute for Jewish Policy Research, Ipsos-MORI, Islamophobia, Jews, Linda Woodhead, marriages, Muslims, niqab, Roman Catholics, self-assessed religiosity, Sunday Times, Westminster Faith Debates, YouGov | Leave a comment

Faith Schools and Other News

Posted on September 22, 2013 by Clive D. Field

Seven religious statistical stories feature in today’s post, including five newly-released YouGov polls, four touching on aspects of religious prejudice, and leading with a major study of attitudes to faith schools.

Faith schools

In our post of 2 September 2013, we referred to new research into faith schools commissioned by Professor Linda Woodhead in connection with the Westminster Faith Debates. It was undertaken on her behalf by YouGov, 4,018 Britons aged 18 and over being interviewed online between 5 and 13 June 2013. That research was published on 19 September, in the form of a press release on the Religion and Society website and the data tables on the YouGov website. Some fascinating results emerged, which, as the press release indicated, will offer ‘little comfort for either those who defend or those who oppose faith schools’. Findings include the following:

Only 32% believe the Government should fund faith schools generally, 18-24s being most supportive (43%), with 45% opposed, peaking at 57% in Scotland (where the existence of Catholic schools has often been a matter of controversy), and 23% undecided
Government funding of any type of faith school fails to find majority support, but opposition is notably lowest for Anglican schools (38%) and greatest for Islamic schools (60%) – hostility to Hindu and Jewish schools (59% and 55% respectively) is also high, but falls to 43% for Christian schools other than Anglican
Only 24% would choose a faith school for their own child, the proportion not exceeding 30% in any demographic sub-group, with 59% being unlikely to do so (peaking at 77% in Scotland)
Academic standards (77%), location (58%), and discipline record (41%) are the major factors in choice of school – just 5% attach importance to grounding of a pupil in a faith tradition and 3% to transmission of belief about God, and no more than 23% cite ethical values
A plurality (49%) finds it acceptable that faith schools should have admission policies which give preference to children and families who profess or practice the religion with which the school is associated (with 38% deeming it unacceptable, ranging from 31% of women to 51% of Scots)
Just 23% (never exceeding 28% in any demographic sub-group) agree that all faith schools should have to admit a proportion of pupils from a different religion or none at all, while 11% think it better for faith schools to admit pupils only of the same faith and 30% that schools should determine their own admissions policies

Analysing the factors which determine favourability to faith schools, Woodhead found strength of belief in God to be the most significant. When it came to attitudes to non-Christian faith schools, an insular (as opposed to a cosmopolitan) outlook was a key influence. In general, while there was some age effect, gender, social grade, and voting intentions appeared to make little difference to opinion.

The press release can be found at:

http://www.religionandsociety.org.uk/news/show/new_poll_reveals_what_people_really_think_about_faith_schools

and the data tables (with breaks confined to gender, age, social grade, region and voting intention) at:

http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/4n6d3tnayp/YG-Archive-University-of-Lancaster-Faith-Matters-Debate-results-180613-faith-schools.pdf

Y-word in football

Yid is slang for a Jew, deriving from Yiddish. On 9 September 2013 the Football Association (FA), which is ‘cracking down’ on undesirable behaviour in football, issued a governance statement about what it described as the ‘y-word’, concluding that ‘the use of the term “Yid” is likely to be considered offensive by the reasonable observer’ and encouraging football fans ‘to avoid using it in any situation’. The statement was clearly directed at Tottenham Hotspur Football Club (the ‘Spurs’) which historically had many Jewish supporters. In consequence, its fans often still describe themselves as ‘Yids’ or as belonging to ‘the Yid Army’, and the team’s opponents, in turn, call Spurs supporters ‘Yids’. The FA’s statement has led to controversy and debate, in which even the Prime Minister has become involved.

To test public opinion on the topic, YouGov questioned 1,878 British adults aged 18 and over online on 18 and 19 September 2013. Although three-fifths of those interested in football felt that it was acceptable for Tottenham fans to use the y-word in describing themselves, fewer (46%) of the sample as a whole agreed (with 26% disagreeing and 28% undecided). One-quarter contended that such self-description encouraged anti-Jewish abuse, albeit one-fifth argued the contrary, suggesting that anti-Jewish abuse was actually discouraged by reclaiming the y-word as a positive. A plurality (41%) deemed it unacceptable for Spurs’ opponents to call Tottenham fans ‘Yids’, but people interested in football were more inclined to tolerate use of the word in this context (47%) than Britons overall (34%). Roughly half of both the public and those interested in football seemed to approve of the FA’s intervention in the matter, but 34% thought there were other (implicitly more important) issues for the FA to focus on, UKIP voters (56%) particularly subscribing to this view. Data tables were published on 20 September at:

http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/ms6ofjga9s/YG-Archive-‘Yid-Army’-results-190913.pdf

By way of footnote, some BRIN readers may be interested to know that a forthcoming exhibition tells the story of Jews and football in Britain. Entitled Four Four Jew: Football, Fans, and Faith, it runs at the Jewish Museum in London from 10 October 2013 to 23 February 2014.

Banning the burka (1)

Recent high-profile cases, involving courts and a college, have reignited the controversy surrounding Islamic women’s dress, the debate having now spilled over into other arenas such as hospitals. The specific point at issue has been the desirability of permitting the wearing of the full face veil or niqab in public, but The Sun commissioned YouGov to run a poll about the burka (a whole-body garment) more generally, 1,792 Britons aged 18 and over being interviewed online on 16 and 17 September 2013. Three-fifths (61%) supported a total ban on the burka in Britain, 5% less than in April 2011, while 32% were opposed to such a prohibition and 8% undecided. The strongest backing for a ban came from UKIP voters (93%), the over-60s (76%), and Conservatives (71%), with the 18-24s (55%), Liberal Democrats (46%), and Scots (42%) most hostile. Opposition to a ban effectively increased when the question was asked in a more roundabout way, 38% agreeing with the proposition that people should be allowed to wear whatever clothing they want in public, including the burka, 54% being in disagreement. At the same time, many respondents wanted officials and employers to have discretion to ban the burka in specific locations: 86% at security checkpoints, 83% in courtrooms (for defendants), 79% in courtrooms (for witnesses), 68% in schools and colleges, and 63% in universities and the workplace. Full data tables were published on 18 September 2013 at:

http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/7kfoc0tfiq/YG-Archive-Pol-Sun-results-170913-the-Burhka.pdf

Banning the burka (2)

YouGov’s polling for The Sunday Times, conducted online on 19-20 September 2013 and published on 22 September, was more nuanced, differentiating between the burka, the niqab, and the hijab (a headscarf which does not cover the face). Whereas two-thirds of the 1,956 respondents supported a ban in Britain on both the burka and the niqab, with fewer than one-quarter disagreeing, only 25% opposed the wearing of the hijab (with 65% against its prohibition). Rather more (76%) wanted schools to be allowed to ban their students from wearing burkas or niqabs, and 81% wanted hospitals to be permitted to ban their staff from wearing the garments. Referring to the recent court case involving a female defendant with a veil, just 6% thought she should be allowed to wear it throughout the entire trial; 54% favoured removal of the veil in court at all times and a further 35% while the woman was giving evidence. The usual demographic variations can be seen in the answers to all these questions, with UKIP and Conservative voters and the over-60s least sympathetic to Islamic dress, and the under-40s (especially), Londoners, and Scots disproportionately more tolerant. The data tables are at:

http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/4ua4utkfr8/YG-Archive-Pol-Sunday-Times-results-200913.pdf

Churchgoers and evolution

A non-random and disproportionately northern ‘convenience sample’ of 1,100 attenders at 132 Protestant churches, who completed questionnaires in 2009, is used by Andrew Village and Sylvia Baker to examine ‘Rejection of Darwinian Evolution among Churchgoers in England: The Effects of Psychological Type’, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Vol. 52, No. 3, September 2013, pp. 557-72. The principal conclusions are set out in the abstract: ‘The main predictors of rejecting evolution were denominational affiliation and attendance. Individuals from Pentecostal or evangelical denominations were twice as likely to reject evolution compared with those from Anglican or Methodist churches. In all denominations, higher attendance was associated with greater rejection of evolution. Education in general, and theological education in particular, had some effect on reducing rejection, but this was not dependent on having specifically scientific or biological educational qualifications. Psychological type preferences for sensing over intuition and for thinking over feeling also predicted greater rejection, after allowing for the association of type preferences and general religiosity.’ For options to access the article, go to:

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jssr.12049/abstract

Ecumenism in Scotland

A report on ecumenical activity at congregational level has been prepared by the Church of Scotland’s Committee on Ecumenical Relations and the Ministries Council, based on research carried out in February-March 2013. A questionnaire was sent to all the Kirk’s parishes of which 823 (over half) replied online or by post, a significant minority of which recorded the absence of any other denomination in the parish. Where there was a presence, Roman Catholic, Scottish Episcopal and Baptist churches and independent fellowships were thickest on the ground. However, in practice working relationships were closest (in terms of frequent ecumenical contacts) with the United Reformed Church, followed by the Scottish Episcopal Church, Congregational Federation, and Salvation Army. The commonest inter-denominational activities involving Church of Scotland parishes were the World Day of Prayer, Holy Week services, Christian Aid Week, and Week of Prayer for Christian Unity services. Only a minority of parishes belonged to a local Churches Together Group/Council of Churches (43%) or to an ecumenical ministers’ meeting (48%), but it could have been that none existed locally in some cases. The ‘deepest’ forms of collaboration were inevitably limited, just 6% of congregations sharing their building with another denomination, 3% being in a covenanted partnership with a congregation from another denomination, and 1% having involved an ecumenical partner in the appointment of a minister. More Church of Scotland parishes (70%) detailed hindrances to ecumenical working than identified benefits (60%). Further information about the research can be obtained from Very Rev Dr Sheilagh Kesting at SKESTING@COFSCOTLAND.ORG.UK

Ghosts and UFOs

A majority of Britons (52%) believe that some people have experienced ghosts but fewer (38%) think that some individuals have witnessed UFOs with an extra-terrestrial origin. This is according to a YouGov poll conducted online among a sample of 2,286 adult Britons aged 18 and over between 28 and 30 August 2013, on behalf of the Association for the Scientific Study of Anomalous Phenomena (ASSAP) and published by ASSAP on 17 September 2013 (following a preview in the Sunday Telegraph for 15 September, p. 3). Disregarding inevitable variations in question-wording, belief in ghosts appears to have risen over time (see the tabulation of previous data at http://www.brin.ac.uk/figures/#ChangingBelief), and it is especially prevalent among women (62% in the ASSAP survey), the separated/divorced (64%), and residents of the East Midlands (66%). Belief in UFOs is highest in the North-East (50%). Disbelievers in ghosts number 34% and in UFOs 45%, peaking among full-time students at 50% and 61% respectively, with 14% and 17% of adults unsure. The data tables are at:

http://assap.ac.uk/newsite/Docs/Ghost%20UFO%20Survey%202013.pdf

Posted in church attendance, News from religious organisations, Religion and Politics, Religion in public debate, Survey news | Tagged Andrew Village, Anti-Semitism, Association for the Scientific Study of Anomalous Phenomena, Burka, Church of Scotland, churchgoers, courtrooms, Ecumenism, evolution, face veil, Faith schools, football, Football Association, ghosts, hijab, hospitals, Islamophobia, Jews, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Linda Woodhead, Muslims, niqab, prejudice, psychological type, religious dress, schools, Scotland, Sunday Times, Sylvia Baker, The Sun, Tottenham Hotspur FC, UFOs, Westminster Faith Debates, Yids, YouGov | 1 Comment

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