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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Census, Corruption, Confidence, Curriculum, and Charity

Posted on August 12, 2013 by Clive D. Field

Today we feature five Cs of religious statistics – census, corruption, confidence, curriculum, and charity – in our latest round-up of newly-released quantitative data.

Census – local characteristics on religion

More data from the 2011 census of population were released by the Office for National Statistics on 31 July 2013 in the form of local characteristics on ethnicity, identity, language, and religion for output areas in England and Wales. The release provides the first cross-tabulations of two or more topics for output areas. More information and links to the data can be found at:

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/census/2011-census/local-characteristics-on-ethnicity–identity–language-and-religion-for-output-areas-in-england-and-wales/index.html

The religion-specific tables are:

  • LC2107EW     Religion by sex by age
  • LC2201EW     Ethnic group by religion
  • LC2204EW     National identity by religion
  • LC2207EW     Country of birth by religion by sex
  • LC6205EW     Economic activity by religion by sex by age
  • LC6207EW     NS-SeC by religion

although there is only space to highlight a couple here.

The breakdown of religion by ethnicity is shown below. Contrary to what many people might think, Muslims are not the most ethnically homogenous faith community – they are ‘only’ 68% Asian and include significant numbers of whites (8%) and blacks (10%). Most ethnically homogenous are Hindus (96% Asian) and Christians, Jews, and persons of no religion – all around 93% white.  

% across

White

Mixed

Asian

Black

Other
All religious groups

86.0

2.2

7.5

3.3

1.0
Christian

92.7

1.7

1.4

3.9

0.3
Buddhist

33.8

4.0

59.7

1.1

1.5
Hindu

1.5

1.2

95.7

0.7

0.9
Jewish

92.4

1.6

1.1

0.6

4.3
Muslim

7.8

3.8

67.6

10.1

10.7
Sikh

1.8

1.2

87.1

0.3

9.6
Other religion

76.0

3.1

16.5

3.0

1.5
No religion

93.4

2.8

2.5

1.0

0.4
Not stated

86.4

3.1

5.8

3.7

1.1

NS-SeC (National Statistics Socio-Economic Classification) is collapsed into eight main categories (excluding those not classified), of which three, at the extremes of the spectrum, appear below: (1) = higher managerial, administrative, professional; (7) = routine; and (8) = never worked or long-term unemployed. Most ‘affluent’ on this indicator are the Jews, who are almost twice as likely to be in higher managerial, administrative or professional occupations as the norm, and only one-quarter as likely to be in routine jobs. Most disadvantaged are Muslims, 24% of whom have never worked or are long-term unemployed, four times the national average, although cultural factors will account for some of the differential.

% across

(1)

(7)

(8)
All religious groups

9.9

11.6

5.9
Christian

9.2

12.6

4.5
Buddhist

11.1

8.5

8.5
Hindu

17.1

7.4

9.1
Jewish

19.2

2.9

5.2
Muslim

6.3

8.7

23.8
Sikh

9.6

12.5

9.8
Other religion

10.6

8.4

6.2
No religion

11.6

10.2

5.7
Not stated

10.0

11.4

7.0

Corruption – Global Corruption Barometer

One-third of the population considers that religious bodies in this country are corrupt or extremely corrupt, according to the results of the Global Corruption Barometer (GCB), 2013, which were published on 9 July 2013 by the Berlin-based organization Transparency International: The Global Coalition against Corruption. The publics of 107 nations were surveyed on a variety of corruption-related topics between September 2012 and March 2013, with 1,000 adults being interviewed online in the UK by ORB International. A report on the study and various other outputs can be found at:

http://www.transparency.org/research/gcb

Asked to assess the extent to which twelve national organizations were affected by corruption, 34% of the UK sample said that religious bodies are corrupt or extremely corrupt (against 29% globally). Although this was a smaller proportion than made the same claim against the media (69%), political parties (66%), Parliament (55%), business (49%), and civil servants (45%), it was higher than for the police (32%), the judiciary (24%), medical and health services (19%), education (18%), NGOs (18%), and the military (17%). The UK figure for religious bodies was also almost double the 18% recorded in the 2005 GCB.

The mean corruption scores (on a scale of 1 to 5) for the UK and all 107 countries investigated in the 2013 GCB are set out in the following table, with comparisons for 2005, (when 69 countries were surveyed):

 

2013

2013

2005

2005
 

UK

Global

UK

Global
Political parties

3.9

3.8

3.5

4.0
Media

3.9

3.1

3.2

3.2
Parliament

3.6

3.6

3.2

3.7
Business

3.5

3.3

3.0

3.4
Civil servants

3.3

3.6

NA

NA
Religious bodies

3.0

2.6

2.4

2.6
Police

3.0

3.7

2.8

3.6
Judiciary

2.7

3.6

2.9

3.5
NGOs

2.6

2.7

2.5

2.8
Education system

2.6

3.1

2.1

3.0
Medical/health services

2.6

3.2

2.2

3.2
Military

2.5

2.8

2.5

2.9

The corruption score for religious bodies in the UK has increased over time from 2.4 in 2005 to 2.8 in 2006 and 2007 to 3.0 in 2010 and 2013, despite the global score remaining flat. This seems to exemplify growing perceptions of corruption affecting most UK national institutions (with the exception of the judiciary and the military), rather than specific evidence of corruption by UK religious bodies. While one can identify many reasons why the overall public standing of religious bodies may have declined of recent years, notably for the Anglican and Catholic Churches and Islam, it is not so easy to explain why they should be thought of as becoming more corrupt.

Confidence – trust in the Church

The Church is the fourteenth most trusted of twenty-four national institutions, according to a survey conducted by nfpSynergy in May 2013 among an online sample of 1,000 Britons aged 16 and over, and published on 16 July 2013. Just 30% of respondents said that they had a great deal or quite a lot of trust in the Church, a lower proportion than in the ten previous surveys carried out during the past decade through the nfpSynergy Charity Awareness Monitor. Trust in the Church stood at 42% in November 2003 and has tended to fall since, but somewhat erratically (with a rise from 32% in January and July 2011 to 38% in May 2012). By contrast, a majority of the population (61%, eight points more than in May 2012) now claims they have very little or not much trust in the Church, albeit this is still not quite as bad a rating as for banks (77%), newspapers (79%), Government (80%), and political parties (88%). The institutions which command the greatest confidence are the armed forces (78% stating that they trust them a great deal or quite a lot), the scouts and guides (67%), the National Health Service (67%), charities (66%), and schools (65%). The press release and slides relating to the May 2013 study are at:

http://nfpsynergy.net/trust-charities-third-year-running

Curriculum – benefits of religious education

Religious education (RE) is the secondary school subject regarded as having least educational benefit according to a poll published on 9 August 2013 and conducted among 1,844 UK adults aged 18 and over who had attended secondary school in the UK. They were interviewed online by Opinium Research between 12 and 16 July 2013. Shown a list of 17 school subjects, 21% identified RE as being least beneficial to their education, rising to 24% among men, 26% for those aged 35-54, and 27% for residents of Yorkshire and Humberside and Wales. The next most non-beneficial subject was art (cited by 16%), followed by physical education (10%). At the other end of the spectrum, biology, ICT, and sex education scored just 1% each, suggesting they were deemed most useful beyond school. Full results are on pp. 12-15 of the data tables at:

http://news.opinium.co.uk/sites/news.opinium.co.uk/files/OP3507%20-%20Opinium%20PR%20-%20Education%20-%20SET%20FOUR%20-%20Tables.pdf

Charity – charitable giving by Muslims

British Muslims are increasingly donating to charity online, with the month of Ramadan causing a spike in digital giving. This is according to a press release from JustGiving, which describes itself as the world’s leading online giving platform, on 20 July 2013. The claim about Muslim charitable donations is based on two sources. First, the value of donations by British Muslims to Muslim and non-Muslim causes via JustGiving increased from £116,000 in 2010 to £200,000 in 2012. Second, JustGiving commissioned ICM Research to undertake an online survey of 4,000 adults between 22 and 27 June 2013, which suggested that Muslims gave more than twice as much per capita to charity last year as the average Briton (£371 versus £165). Jews were the next most generous faith group (£270), while Protestants gave £202 and atheists only £116. The full results of the ICM study are apparently not being published at this stage, the foregoing being based on a report in The Times for 20 July 2013 and on JustGiving’s press release at:

http://www.justgiving.com/en/SharedMedia/press-releases/Ramadan%20donations%20cause%20spike%20in%20digital%20giving.pdf

 

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2011 Census Detailed Characteristics

Posted on May 19, 2013 by Clive D. Field

On 16 May 2013 the Office for National Statistics (ONS) published the first outputs from the third wave of results (Release 3.1) from the 2011 census of population of England and Wales. They comprised detailed characteristics for local authorities in terms of cross tabulations for the questions on ethnicity, national identity, country of birth, main language, proficiency in English, religion, provision of unpaid care, and health. The full tables can be consulted at:

https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/detailed_characteristics

These tables include the following breaks for religion:

  • Religion by sex by age
  • Ethnic group by religion
  • National identity by religion
  • Country of birth by religion by sex
  • Disability by general health by religion by sex by age
  • Economic activity by religion by sex by age
  • NS-SeC (National Statistics Socio-Economic Classification) by religion by sex by age

A general statistical bulletin about the release contains (at pp. 15-17) a short analysis of the religion data, focusing on the distribution by age within gender for nine religious groups. It shows that the median age of Christians was six years higher than for all English and Welsh residents (45 compared with 39 years), with Muslims and people of no religion having the youngest profiles (with median ages of 25 and 30 years respectively). The proportion of Muslims under 25 years of age is 48% and of those professing no religion 39%. The statistical bulletin is at:

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171778_310514.pdf

In addition, ONS has published what it describes as a ‘short story’ on religion, a separate 18-page paper entitled ‘What Does the Census Tell Us about Religion in 2011?’ Prepared by the ONS Measuring National Well-Being Department, it includes eight figures and two tables with associated links to data in Excel format. This paper is at:

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171776_310454.pdf

There is also an animated video version of the ‘short story’ at:

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/census/2011-census/detailed-characteristics-for-local-authorities-in-england-and-wales/video-summary-religion.html

ONS identifies the key points in the ‘short story’ as follows (slightly elaborated here by BRIN):

  • Christianity has the oldest age profile of the principal religious groups, 22% of Christians being 65 years and over compared with 16% of all English and Welsh residents, closely followed by Jews on 21%
  • The fall in the number of Christians since 2001 has largely been among the under-60s and, in absolute terms, has been evenly spread between the sexes (with roughly 2,000,000 fewer net Christians of each gender in 2011 than 2001)
  • The number with no religion has increased across all age groups since 2001, but especially for those aged 20-24 and 40-44, while the growth for women (89%) has been higher than for men (78%)
  • 93% of Christians are white (7% more than the national average) and 89% born in the UK, albeit the number identifying as white British was lower in 2011 (86%) than in 2001 (93%) – in fact, the net reduction of 4,100,000 Christians between 2001 and 2011 would have looked a lot worse had it not been for an increase of 1,200,000 non-UK-born partly offsetting the fall of 5,300,000 among UK-born
  • 68% of Muslims are Asian or Asian British, including 38% who are Pakistani, the latter figure up by 371,000 since 2001, albeit the proportion has reduced from 43% in 2001 – 48% of the growth in the Muslim population since 2001 is accounted for by UK-born and 52% by non-UK-born
  • The majority of people with no religion are white (93%) and born in the UK (93%), the rise in the number with no religion between 2001 and 2011 being largely (91%) among the UK-born
  • People with no religion have the highest proportion of economically active (74%), Christians and Muslims the lowest (60% and 55% respectively)
  • Jews have the highest level of employment (93% excluding students, including 28% self-employed), and Muslims the highest level of unemployment (17%, three times the proportion among Christians and four times for Jews)
  • Retirement is the main reason for the economic inactivity of Christians (69%) and Jews (57%), and for Muslims because they are students (30%) or looking after the home and family (31%)

BRIN hopes to provide fuller analysis of, and commentary on, these detailed characteristics in due course. Professor David Voas has already got the ball rolling with his blog post of yesterday on ‘Religious Census, 2011: What Happened to the Christians (Part II)’ This includes the hugely important estimate that the overwhelming explanation for the net fall of 4,100,000 Christians between 2001 and 2011 lies in the net ‘defection’ of 3,900,000 persons who were described as Christians in 2001 but not so in 2011, cohort replacement and immigration combined only yielding a net loss of 200,000 Christians during the decade. This process of defection is strongly age-related; the younger the respondents, the more likely they are to have moved away from self-identification as Christians. Read David’s post at:

http://www.brin.ac.uk/news/2013/religious-census-2011-what-happened-to-the-christians-part-ii/

The Census detailed characteristics on religion for Northern Ireland were also published on 16 May and can be viewed at:

http://www.nisra.gov.uk/Census/2011_results_detailed_characteristics.html

 

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2011 Anglican Statistics and Other News

Posted on May 7, 2013 by Clive D. Field

As usual, there has been a lot of media interest today in the latest (2011) Statistics for Mission of the Church of England. They are always seen as something of a barometer of the spiritual state of England, and so it is appropriate that we give them a fair amount of space here, alongside five shorter items of religious statistical news.

Church of England statistics for mission, 2011

The Church of England has today released its Statistics for Mission, 2011, comprising 18 pages of tables with breaks to diocesan level and some national time series. This report (prepared by Archbishops’ Council, Research and Statistics), together with a brief press statement largely quoting the Bishop of Norwich on the more encouraging aspects of the data, can be found at:

http://www.churchofengland.org/media-centre/news/2013/05/church-annual-statistics-for-2011.aspx

The short-term picture, comparing 2011 with 2010, is a mixed but largely downbeat one, which has been the story for several years past. On the credit side, the best news was the 14.5% increase in Christmas Day attendance, albeit this must be attributed in large part to the very poor weather at Christmas 2010, which negatively impacted congregations, and to the fact that Christmas Day fell on a Sunday in 2011, which probably gave them a boost. Christmas Day communicants were up by 13.3%, for the same reasons. Usual Sunday attendance grew by 0.8%, but the report ascribes this to a new estimation process for filling in gaps on the parochial schedules. Baptisms and thanksgivings were up by 4.6% in total, including by 2.6% for infant baptisms, 7.5% for baptisms of children aged 1-12, and 44.5% for thanksgivings of children.

On the debit side, there were falls in average weekly attendance (-0.3%), average Sunday attendance (-1.2%), Easter Day attendance (-1.6%), Easter Day communicants (-0.7%), electoral roll (-0.1%), confirmations (-0.5%), marriages and blessings (-3.1%), and funerals (-2.7%, although deaths in England and Wales also fell, by 1.8%, during the year). The decreases in two of the three rites of passage must be particularly disappointing for the Church, for this is an area where it has been investing resource of late and has traditionally held sway, especially over the ‘nominals’, about whom we have heard much in recent weeks. Anglican infant baptisms now account for just 12.1% of live births and Anglican funerals for 35.7% of deaths.

These are naturally national trends, which conceal some diocesan variation. For example, the average all age weekly attendance figure ranged from an increase between 2010 and 2011 of 11.0% for Southwell and Nottingham to a decrease of 10.6% in Canterbury. Will the new Archbishop make a difference in the latter see? Well, he comes from Durham, which recorded a decline of 8.0%, so it is too soon to tell.

Taking a ten-year view (2001-11), which gives a better feel for real trends, the position is summarized in the table below, which will make for rather bleak reading for the Church, even bleaker if we factor in that the mid-year population of England grew by 7.9% over the decade (invariably making the relative decline greater than suggested by the absolute numbers).

 

2001

2011

% change
Average all age weekly attendance

1,205,000

1,091,500

-9.4
Average adult weekly attendance

976,000

874,600

-10.4
Average children/young people weekly attendance

229,000

216,900

-5.3
Average all age Sunday attendance

1,041,000

898,300

-13.7
Average adult Sunday attendance

868,000

763,300

-12.1
Average children/young people Sunday attendance

173,000

134,900

-22.0
Usual all age Sunday attendance

938,000

807,500

-13.9
Usual adult Sunday attendance

781,000

690,700

-11.6
Usual children/young people Sunday attendance

157,000

116,800

-25.6
All age Easter Day attendance

1,593,100

1,365,000

-14.3
Easter Day communicants

1,134,900

979,700

-13.7
All age Christmas Day/Eve attendance

2,608,000

2,618,000

+0.4
Christmas Day/Eve communicants

1,227,900

1,008,500

-17.9
Electoral roll

1,372,000

1,206,000

-12.1
Baptisms and thanksgivings

160,200

146,330

-8.7
Confirmations

33,367

22,242

-33.3
Marriages and blessings

63,600

55,540

-12.7
Funerals

228,000

162,530

-28.7

Google ties with religion

In the latest variant of a trust in organizations survey, Google and religious institutions shared fifth equal place, 17% of Britons aged 16 and over who were interviewed reckoning that each had their best interests at heart. The 2,000 respondents were invited to rank their top three institutions from a list of sixteen. Most trusted – despite its recent high-profile failings – was the National Health Service (37%), followed by police (26%), charities (21%), and – notwithstanding the horsemeat scandal – supermarkets (19%). Least regarded as having the public’s best interests at heart were politicians (3%), the media (6%), banks (7%), and lawyers (8%) also scoring badly. These findings were released by communications agency OMD UK on 30 April 2013 as an initial output from its ongoing ‘Future of Britain’ project, in collaboration with MMR Research. The trust in organizations table is reproduced on the Sky News website at:

http://news.sky.com/story/1084991/britons-trust-google-as-much-as-religion

Religious opposition to same-sex marriage

Religious opposition to same-sex marriage in Britain is reviewed by Steven Kettell in a new article entitled ‘I Do, Thou Shalt Not’ published on 2 May 2013 in the ‘early view’ online version of Political Quarterly. Developments in Scotland are covered as well as in England and Wales. Religious arguments against same-sex marriage are analysed, the author noting how relatively little they deploy theology but rather invoke secular justifications. Some use is made of opinion poll evidence, although – inevitably for an academic journal – this is not absolutely up-to-date. Unsurprisingly, Kettell concludes that religious opposition to same-sex marriage has failed, with broader implications for religion’s public role. This is a subscription title; for access options, go to:

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-923X.2013.12009.x/abstract  

Equality and Muslims

Almost three-quarters of adults (73%, rising to 81% of over-60s) think it a very or fairly big problem in Britain that Muslim girls suffer discrimination at the hands of their own families by being told when to leave school and/or whom to marry, and 26% rate it as one of the most urgent problems facing the country (35% among the 18-24s and 34% among Conservatives and the highest income earners). By contrast, only 3% consider that unfair treatment of Muslim workers by their employers is an urgent problem (bottom of a list of ten equality challenges), with 73% contending that it is either not a problem at all or a fairly small problem (and 27% that it is a very or fairly big problem). These two questions were included in a survey of equality issues undertaken by YouGov for the YouGov@Cambridge think tank, with 1,925 Britons aged 18 and over being interviewed online on 25 and 26 February 2013. The detailed tables were released on 1 May and can be found at:

http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/9a679g3m9i/YG-Archive-Cam-equality%20results-260213.pdf

National Jewish Community Survey

The Institute for Jewish Policy Research (JPR) launched the National Jewish Community Survey on 1 May, with the intention of collecting data which will complement the 2011 civilian census for ‘Jewish people living in Britain, irrespective of the nature of their Jewish identity and level of involvement in the community.’ In addition to probing Jewish identity, questions are being asked about the demographic profile and charitable behaviour of Jews. The survey, which is being funded by a consortium of Jewish community organizations and foundations, is being conducted online during May and June 2013 in association with Ipsos MORI. According to an interview given to the current issue (3 May 2013, p. 2) of the Jewish Chronicle, JPR is confident that its online methodology will not lead to under-representation of strictly Orthodox Jews ‘as Charedim have greater access to the internet than many people think’. Respondents to the survey will be recruited by invitation only, initially on a random basis, and will thus not be self-selecting. Further information about the survey is available in the FAQs posted at:

http://www.jpr.org.uk/downloads/census-faqs.pdf

BRIN on BRIN

The latest BRIN site traffic statistics, kindly collated by Siobhan McAndrew, demonstrate that usage of BRIN has continued to build since the official launch of the website just over three years ago. Since that time there have been 186,000 visits to the site by 152,000 unique visitors who have viewed 422,000 pages. Judging by their IP addresses, 70% of visitors are from the United Kingdom and 11% from the United States, although 187 different countries are represented in all. The majority of visitors (65%) arrive at the BRIN website via Google, but 13% key the BRIN URL directly, and a similar proportion come as referrals from other sites (of which guardian.co.uk heads the list). The most frequently accessed blog post to date was from 21 September 2010 on ‘How Many Muslims?’ which accounts for just over 3% of all BRIN page views.

 

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Assisted Dying and Other News

Posted on May 2, 2013 by Clive D. Field

Assisted dying heads the list of five religious statistical news stories today, rounding off BRIN’s coverage of the exclusive YouGov survey on religion and personal morality commissioned to inform the 2013 Westminster Faith Debates.

Assisted dying

The British public overwhelmingly (70%, with just 16% in disagreement) favours a change in the law to enable persons with incurable diseases to have the right to ask close friends or relatives to help them commit suicide, and without those friends or relatives running the risk of prosecution (as is currently the case). Moreover, while those who profess no religion are especially likely (81% versus 9%) to support reform, even people of faith back it overall (64% versus 21%), with the conspicuous exception of Muslims, who take the contrary line (by 55% to 26%). A plurality (49%, with 36% against) of individuals who actively participate in a religious group also wants to see the law amended. Not until we reach the ‘strict believers’ – the 9% of the population who take their authority in life from religious sources, who certainly believe in God, and who actively participate in a religious group – is there a religious core hostile to legalizing assisted dying and thus in tune with the teaching of many mainstream faiths and denominations. These believers’ motivations are that ‘human life is sacred’ (80%) and/or ‘death should take its natural course’ (69%).

These are some of the headlines from the sixth and final instalment of the YouGov poll commissioned by Professor Linda Woodhead in connection with the 2013 series of Westminster Faith Debates, which conclude today with a discussion of ‘Should We Legislate to Permit Assisted Dying?’ The poll was undertaken through online interviews with 4,437 Britons aged 18 and over between 25 and 30 January 2013. The detailed computer tables for the assisted dying module, including the two questions exploring the reasons for supporting or opposing a change in the law, have been posted at:

http://cdn.yougov.com/cumulus_uploads/document/qsaixtu2j4/YG-Archive-University-of-Lancaster-300113-faith-matters-euthanasia.pdf

The press release for these results is at:

http://www.religionandsociety.org.uk/events/programme_events/show/press_release_westminster_faith_debate_6_should_we_legislate_to_permit_assisted_dying

A consolidated list of media coverage for all six debates in the series is at:

http://religionandsociety.org.uk/faith_debates-2013/media_coverage

Assisted dying has been a contested matter for decades. The campaign organization now known as Dignity in Dying was founded as the Voluntary Euthanasia Legalisation Society as far back as 1935. Soon afterwards, in 1937, Gallup conducted the first opinion poll on the subject, asking its sample whether ‘doctors should be given power to end the life of a person incurably ill’, and finding that 69% thought that they should. The proportion in favour of physician-assisted suicide has grown since, hovering around four-fifths in six British Social Attitudes Surveys from 1983 to 2008; in 2008 it stood at 82% (90% for those of no religion, 85% for Anglicans, 75% for Catholics, 70% for other Christians, and 63% for non-Christians). Endorsement of non-doctor-assisted suicide has run at a somewhat lower but still high level; a question worded not dissimilarly to that in the Westminster Faith Debates poll, asking about a change in the law to enable friends and relatives to assist in a suicide, was posed by YouGov on five occasions between 2008 and 2012, recording majorities for legislative reform of between 68% and 74%. However, it should be noted that the public is less approving of suicide in instances where an incurable disease does not exist; indeed, in the most recent (January 2013) Angus Reid poll only 29% of Britons deemed suicide in general to be morally acceptable.

Lent, 2013

No, there is nothing wrong with BRIN’s ecclesiastical clock; we know that Lent is long past! It is just that, after Easter this year, on 10 April, Opinium put out a press release about two online surveys of UK adults aged 18 and over which it had undertaken on behalf of the charity Street Kids International, and in connection with the latter’s ‘Give it Up for a Day’ campaign to coincide with the International Day for Street Children on 12 April. Thanks to the generosity of both Opinium and Street Kids, BRIN has been given access to both topline and detailed data from these surveys, and we are able to share some highlights from them with our constituency.

The first survey was completed by 2,021 adults and conducted between 12 and 15 February 2013, broadly coinciding with the start of Lent (13 February). Asked whether they had any plans to give anything up for Lent, 11% said yes, ranging from 14% of women to 8% of men, and from 17% of the 18-34s to 8% of the over-55s. Three-fifths of these prospective abstainers anticipated that they would sustain their sacrifice throughout the whole of Lent (66% of females and 72% of the 35-54s). Four-fifths (79%) had no intentions of giving anything up, with 65% of them attributing this to the fact that they did not celebrate Lent or were not religious; 29% could see no purpose in Lent, 10% confessed they could not be bothered, and 6% blamed a lack of willpower. 72% of the non-abstainers thought that they might manage to give up something for one day instead (which was the driver behind the Street Kids campaign). One in ten of all respondents admitted to being uncertain about their Lenten observance.

The second survey, in which 2,006 adults were interviewed, took place between 2 and 4 April 2013, immediately after the conclusion of Lent. A similar number to the first survey (10%) claimed that they had tried to give something up for Lent, peaking at 12% of women, 15% of the 18-34s, and 16% of Londoners, while 89% acknowledged that they had not. The top forfeits were very much the ‘traditional’ ones: eating chocolate (32% of the abstainers), drinking alcohol (19%), eating crisps (18%), eating sweets (16%), swearing (12%), drinking fizzy drinks (10%), and smoking (10%). By contrast, virtually nobody could bear to be parted from the technological trappings of modern life, such as television, mobile phones, social media, internet shopping, computer games, or Ipod music. Fewer than half (47%) of the abstainers had kept up their sacrifice throughout the whole of Lent, with the Welsh (69%) and Scots (62%) having the most staying power; at the other end of the spectrum, 31% had lasted seven days or less. Lack of willpower (30%), the temptation of a special occasion (19%), stress (19%), and forgetfulness (18%) were the most commonly cited reasons for caving in early.

Church music

The current state of, in particular, Anglican church music is partially illuminated in the results of a survey undertaken by the Royal School of Church Music and published on 20 April 2013 in connection with the conference ‘Church Music: Sound Ministry?’ held at Canterbury Christ Church University. The survey was open during a three-week period in March 2013, for completion either online or by post, and the 205 respondents were entirely self-selecting. They were also disproportionately from the UK, Anglican, and from churches’ music departments (meaning that they probably reflect the views of larger churches, which can afford to sustain such departments). The research must therefore be considered as illustrative rather than statistically representative. The principal question topic concerned the demand for music genres outside the ‘usual repertoire’ of churches, notably the spread of pre-recorded music at services, including the rites of passage, with pop, classical, and other secular music recordings being prevalent at weddings and funerals. One-quarter of respondents reported that their church had refused to perform or provide some requested music on the grounds that it was inappropriate. A summary of the survey, prepared by Stuart Robinson, is at:

http://www.rscm.com/assets/info_resources/SurveyReport.pdf

Prejudice against groups

Muslims are perceived to be the religious or ethnic group likely to experience most prejudice in Britain today, according to an online survey by Britain Thinks on behalf of British Future think tank, in which 2,032 adults aged 18 and over were interviewed on 16 and 17 March 2013. Topline results were published on 21 April in the appendix to Sunder Katwala, The Integration Consensus, 1993-2013: How Britain Changed Since Stephen Lawrence, which is available at:  

http://www.britishfuture.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/BRFJ726-Integration-Consensus_v8.pdf

Muslims were deemed to experience ‘a lot’ of prejudice by 54% of Britons, compared with 29% who said the same about Asians, 27% about white (Eastern) Europeans, 24% about blacks, 17% about Hindus, 17% about Sikhs, 14% about Jews, 11% about white British, 11% about Christians, 9% about people of mixed race, and 5% about atheists. Only 7% of the sample considered that Muslims suffered ‘hardly any’ prejudice, whereas for Hindus and Sikhs it was 23%, for Jews 28%, for Christians 50%, and for atheists 60%. These trends are broadly in line with previous poll evidence, including the widespread acceptability of atheism.

Abu Qatada

The British public generally shares the frustration of Home Secretary Theresa May and Prime Minister David Cameron about the current legal impasse with regard to the deportation to his native Jordan of Abu Qatada al-Filistini, the radical Muslim cleric given asylum in Britain in 1994 but who has since been implicated in Islamist terrorism, albeit he has not been convicted of any offences in the UK. A British court ruled in 2005 that Abu Qatada should be deported, but so far he has been able to block this in the British and European courts on the grounds that he would not receive a fair trial in Jordan as evidence obtained from torture might be used against him, despite new treaty guarantees from the Jordanian authorities that this would not be the case.

Although 51% of Britons agree that it would not be acceptable for evidence obtained by torture to be used against Abu Qatada (compared with 28% who say the opposite), far fewer (25%) argue that he should not be deported until the British Government is satisfied that the new treaty categorically ensures that evidence from torture will not be deployed. A clear majority (61%) wants Britain to deport Abu Qatada regardless of legal challenges and of what subsequently happens to him in Jordan; this view is strongly held by UKIP (90%) and Conservative (74%) supporters and by the over-60s (73%). Moreover, as many as 52% favour Britain’s temporary withdrawal from the European Convention on Human Rights in order to be able to deport Abu Qatada, with 30% opposing this step (rising to 59% of Liberal Democrats) and 18% undecided.

These findings derive from a YouGov poll for the Sunday Times, conducted online on 25 and 26 April 2013 among a sample of 1,898 Britons aged 18 and over. Data tables appear on pp. 12-13 at:

http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/lhnabrjag7/YG-Archive-Pol-Sunday-Times-results-260413.pdf

BRIN’s coverage of previous YouGov/Sunday Times polls relating to the Abu Qatada case can be found at:

http://www.brin.ac.uk/news/2012/theresa-mays-bad-hair-day/

http://www.brin.ac.uk/news/2012/abu-qatada/

 

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Politico-Religious News

Posted on April 21, 2013 by Clive D. Field

Today’s post (the 600th on BRIN in just over three years) examines three newly-released surveys which explore the intersection between religion and political issues.

Same-sex marriage

The Marriage (Same-Sex Couples) Bill for England and Wales has now completed the Committee Stage in the House of Commons and is awaiting a date for Report and Third Reading Stage prior to the measure’s consideration by the House of Lords. Meanwhile, New Zealand last week became the thirteenth country to legislate for same-sex marriage, with a final vote to take place on the issue (and same-sex adoption) in France’s National Assembly next Tuesday.

Christian views on the matter in Britain were openly discussed last Thursday in the fifth of this year’s series of Westminster Faith Debates, and, as with the other debates, the discussion was informed by new survey data from a YouGov poll commissioned by Professor Linda Woodhead and conducted online between 25 and 30 January 2013 among a representative sample of 4,437 adult Britons. The data tables should be posted on YouGov’s public archive site during the next few days, at:

http://yougov.co.uk/publicopinion/archive/

More immediately, there is some coverage of the results (especially as they affect Catholics) in The Tablet for 20 April 2013 (pp. 10 and 30) and also a press release at:

http://www.religionandsociety.org.uk/events/programme_events/show/press_release_do_christians_really_oppose_gay_marriage

Among Britons as a whole, 52% thought that same-sex couples should be allowed to get married, 34% disagreed, and 14% did not know what to think. There were significant differences between people of faith and those without: whereas 69% of those professing no religion favoured same-sex marriage, and only 20% dissented, persons affiliating to a religion evenly split at 43% for and against.

In terms of faith traditions, the greatest opposition to same-sex marriage was to be found with Muslims (59%), followed by Baptists (50%). Hostility also correlated with strength of religious attachment. Thus, it reached above-average levels among those describing themselves as religious (53%), actively practising their faith (46%), definite believers in God or a higher power (48%), also those who said their lives were guided by religious leaders (67%), their religion (58%), religious teachings (56%), or God (54%).

A second question asked respondents whether they felt same-sex marriage to be right or wrong. Among all Britons, 46% said right and 34% wrong, but religious people were more likely to say wrong (44%) than right (37%), while the no religion group was strongly inclined to say right (63% compared with 20% wrong). Muslims (64%), Baptists (55%), and Sikhs (54%) were especially prone to regard same-sex marriage as wrong, as were the self-assessed religious (54%), and those deriving guidance from religious leaders (67%), their religion (59%), religious teachings (58%), or God (57%). Excluding don’t knows, Christians divided 56% wrong and 44% right.

Overall, 44% of Britons disapproved of the opposition to same-sex marriage of the mainstream Christian Churches, with 33% choosing to back the Churches, and 23% uncertain. Hostility to the Churches’ stance against same-sex marriage was notable among Labour and Liberal Democrat voters (54% and 56% respectively), the 18-24s (56%), Scots (52%), degree-holders (54%), those professing no religion (60%), definite disbelievers in God (60%), and those whose lives were guided by science (55%). Agreement with the Churches’ line was concentrated among Conservatives (46%), the over-60s (51%), Baptists (60%), Muslims (52%), the self-styled religious (54%), individuals practising their faith (51%), definite believers in God (50%), and among those guided by religious leaders (65%), their religion (58%), religious teachings (57%), or God (56%).

Notwithstanding a tendency for people of faith to be disproportionately less disposed to same-sex marriage, among Christians who contended that same-sex marriage is wrong only 26% explicitly cited religion or scripture as the basis for their opposition. More common explanations of their position were the assertion that marriage should be between a man and a woman (79%), the claim that same-sex marriage would undermine the traditional family of a mother and a father (63%), and the conviction that it is not the best context in which to bring up children (52%). Christians who regarded same-sex marriage as right viewed the matter in terms of equality (77%) and the non-exclusivity of faithful love to heterosexual couples (70%).

It should be remembered that the fieldwork for this YouGov poll took place immediately before the Second Reading debate on the Bill on 5 February, when the salience of same-sex marriage was very high in respect of public opinion and the media. It is possible that views have shifted somewhat since, because either a) the salience of the issue has dropped, b) the fall-out from the Cardinal O’Brien affair in Scotland has made Church lobbying against the Bill somewhat less credible in England and Wales, or c) some Christians accept the inevitability of the Bill becoming law, given the substantial Commons majority at Second Reading.

On the last point, it is certainly the case that the Churches have had to accommodate themselves to all manner of things over the years which instinctively they did not like the sound of. These include civil partnerships which, however lauded by most Church leaders now (as justification for same-sex marriage not being needed), were widely opposed by people of faith at the time of their introduction.

Politics, ethnicity, and religion

Lord Ashcroft has taken advantage of the forty-fifth anniversary of Enoch Powell’s ‘rivers of blood’ speech on immigration to commission Populus to undertake a survey of black and minority ethnic (BME) opinions on politics and multiculturalism. Telephone interviews were conducted with 1,035 BME Britons aged 18 and over between 22 March and 15 April 2013, comprising 501 Muslims, 150 Hindus, 100 Sikhs, 265 affiliates of other faiths, and a mere 18 persons (2%) professing no religion. Results, with breaks by religion, were published on 19 April in the form of both summary and full tables, available at:

http://lordashcroftpolls.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Lord-Ashcroft-Ethnic-Minority-Voters-poll-summary-April-2013.pdf

http://lordashcroftpolls.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Ethnic-minority-survey-April-2013-full-tables.pdf

The economic situation was viewed as the most important issue facing the country by most BMEs, including 57% of Muslims, 57% of Hindus, and 60% of Sikhs. Muslims and Sikhs had more confidence in the Labour team (Ed Miliband and Ed Balls) than the Conservative team (David Cameron and George Osborne) to manage the economy, 54% versus 30% for Muslims, and 51% versus 41% for Sikhs. Hindus, by contrast, placed more trust in the Conservative than Labour team (51% compared with 43%). A majority of Muslims (51%) and a plurality of Hindus (45%) and Sikhs (46%) also thought that Labour had the best plans for dealing with Britain’s overall problems.

Majorities of the three religious groups agreed that ‘if you work hard, it is possible to be very successful in Britain, no matter what your background’ (68% of Muslims, 73% of Hindus, and 70% of Sikhs). They also felt that their children’s lives would be better than theirs (57%, 60%, and 62% respectively), and – overwhelmingly – that Britain had become a multicultural nation (88%, 91%, and 88%). The Labour Party and its leader were seen as most supportive of multiculturalism by all three faith communities, followed by the Liberal Democrats, and with the Conservatives last. Most Muslims (62%) and Hindus (55%) had never heard of Enoch Powell, but the proportion was less (38%) for Sikhs, albeit only 40% even of these knew who Powell was and what he had said. Somewhat ironically, 32% of Muslims, 37% of Hindus, and 49% of Sikhs thought immigration into Britain had been ‘a bad thing’.

Jews and the news

The BBC is by far the most important provider of terrestrial television news (88% in the past seven days) and online news (52% in the past seven days) for British Jews, but the vast majority (79%, rising to 93% of Conservative voters) consider BBC news coverage to be biased against Israel (36% heavily so and 43% somewhat). Only 14% regard the coverage as generally balanced. In terms of newspapers, The Times and Sunday Times are the most widely read titles (46% of Jews having read the print version and 23% the online version during the previous week), as was also the case in 1995.

These are among the headlines from a report by the Institute for Jewish Policy Research which was published on 15 April 2013. Coincidentally, they are appearing at the same time as it was announced that James Harding, the Jewish former editor of The Times, has been appointed as the BBC’s new director of current affairs and news. David Graham’s Jews and the News: News Consumption Habits and Opinions of Jews in Britain is available at:

 http://www.jpr.org.uk/downloads/JPR%20Jewish%20news%20media%20report%20final.pdf

As is acknowledged in the introduction, the research now entering the public domain is actually relatively old, being undertaken between 7 January and 14 February 2010 among a self-selecting sample of 4,081 British Jews who completed an online questionnaire hosted by Ipsos MORI. Although the data have been weighted by synagogue membership, secular-religious outlook, and educational attainment, it is conceded that they may over-represent individuals interested in politics and international affairs. BRIN has already covered the first report from the survey (2010), dealing with the attitudes of British Jews toward Israel, at:

http://www.brin.ac.uk/news/2010/jewish-attitudes-toward-israel/

 

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Churchgoing in York and Other News

Posted on October 31, 2012 by Clive D. Field

Herewith three news items which have come to hand during the final week of October:

Churchgoing in York

The churchgoing history of York from 1764 to the present day is recounted, statistically, in part II (chapter 6, pp. 113-56) of Robin Gill’s new book, Theology Shaped by Society: Sociological Theology, Volume 2 (Farnham: Ashgate, 2012, ISBN 978-1-4094-2597-7, £19.99, paperback – also available as a hardback and an e-book). This is both an update and a re-evaluation of the case study of York which featured in chapter 9 of Gill’s earlier works, The Myth of the Empty Church (1993) and The ‘Empty’ Church Revisited (2003). It is based upon church censuses (local, except for 1851), Anglican visitation returns, and original fieldwork by Gill, in co-operation with individual places of worship. It does not utilize Christian Research’s English church census data for the York unitary authority, available for 1989, 1998, and 2005.

Table 6.1 on p. 151 summarizes adult church attendance in York for six years between 1901 and 2010. This would perhaps have been more meaningful had estimates of the adult population of York been included, together with a footnote about any boundary changes which may have impacted the figures. In absolute terms, churchgoing is continuing to decline in the city, down by (what many would consider) a modest 5.3% between 2001 and 2010. Catholicism has experienced the sharpest contraction (14.2%), with the Church of England falling by just 2.4% during this decade and the Free Churches by 0.4%.

The good fortunes of the Free Churches reflect the vibrancy of newer churches and Christian fellowships, some of which were overlooked by Gill in his previous surveys, and which are heavily dependent upon immigrants and/or students. By contrast, the ‘historic’ Free Churches, notably the Methodists, are still struggling, as they mostly are everywhere. Similarly, the Anglicans benefit disproportionately from the pull of York Minster and the evangelical ministry of St Michael-le-Belfrey, the subject of an ethnographic study by Mathew Guest, Evangelical Identity and Contemporary Culture (2007).

In conceptual terms, the data are less related to historical and sociological debates about secularization than to contemporary challenges and strategies of mission and church growth. Drawing upon the influential Anglican report on Mission-Shaped Church (2009), the metaphor of needing to defuse the ‘ticking time-bomb’ of church decline (related to failures in the intergenerational transmission of faith from parents to children) is invoked by Gill several times. Notwithstanding the current vibrancy of the newer manifestations of ‘Free Churchism’ – charted further by David Goodhew’s chapter on New Churches in York in Church Growth in Britain, 1980 to the Present (2012) – Gill concludes that the churchgoing situation in York remains ‘fragile’.

The BIG Welcome

The BIG Welcome was launched by British Baptists in 2010 to encourage Christians to invite the unchurched to a service or event at their church. From 2012 the Methodist and Elim Pentecostal Churches have also become involved, making this a sort of Free Church equivalent to Back to Church Sunday (covered in previous BRIN posts), which was started in 2004 within the Church of England and has become progressively more ecumenical, albeit (in quantitative terms) still essentially Anglican (in 2011 58,000 of the 77,000 additional churchgoers were at Anglican places of worship).

By comparison with Back to Church Sunday, the BIG Welcome is a relatively modest affair. In 2011 280 Baptist churches participated, out of 3,215 in England, Wales and Scotland in 2010, just 9%. About 3,000 people came to a church event for the first time in September 2011, 10.7 per participating church. In 2012 the number of churches involved has been 330 out of a combined total of 9,330 Baptist, Methodist and Elim congregations, or 4%. New individuals coming to a BIG Welcome service on Sunday, 23 September this year amounted to 3,660, 11.1 per participating church. Although 87% of participating churches have already indicated they will get involved in the initiative again in 2013 (the other 13% saying they might do so), the future of the BIG Welcome is actually in some doubt on account of impending restructuring at the Baptist Union headquarters in Didcot.

Source: Number of churches (in 2010) from Peter Brierley’s UK Church Statistics, 2005-2015. BIG Welcome data mainly from a report published on Baptist Times Online on 31 October 2012, available at:

http://www.baptisttimes.co.uk/index.php/national-news/597-support-for-big-welcome

Religious Discrimination

In several respects, Britain has become more tolerant and less prejudiced during the past four decades, according to a recent poll of adults. Compared with the 1970s, 81% now feel that there is less discrimination against homosexuals than there used to be, 79% less against black people, 78% less against women, and 64% less against Asians. Of secular groups, only ageism bucks the trend, with 33% saying that discrimination against the elderly has got worse over the years (albeit 6% fewer than those thinking it has decreased).

On the religion front, anti-Semitism is perceived to have abated, with 58% claiming there is less discrimination against Jews than in the 1970s, 7% more, and 25% about the same. However, Muslims, who had a relatively low public profile and were significantly less numerous four decades ago, have not been so fortunate, with 48% of all adults contending that they experience more discrimination, 33% less, and 11% a similar amount as before. Three-tenths also feel that discrimination against Christians has grown, and this is especially so among men (35%) and Conservative voters (41%). Equivalent proportions believe that discrimination against Christians has lessened (32%) or remained static (29%).

Source: Online survey by YouGov among 1,637 adult Britons aged 18 and over on 22-23 October 2012. Full data tables published on 26 October and available at:

http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/605x8bbko6/Discrimination%20results%20121023.pdf

 

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Women in Jewish Leadership

Posted on May 27, 2012 by Clive D. Field

Women are underrepresented in the leadership of the Jewish community in the UK, and there is strong (83%) grass-roots support for action to address the shortfall, including 56% backing for the setting of targets and 35% for the introduction of quotas.

These findings emerge from a survey conducted by the Jewish Leadership Council’s Commission on Women in Jewish Leadership, and published on 17 May 2012. A total of 1,636 Jews aged 15 and over completed an online questionnaire hosted by SurveyMonkey in February and March 2012.

The sample was recruited via 66 Jewish communal organizations and via social media channels. It was essentially self-selecting and not weighted to be statistically representative of all UK Jews. In particular, 75% of respondents were women, even though geographically and denominationally they were said to be broadly in line with the profile of the Jewish population.

Nevertheless, treated with caution, the survey does shed some light on attitudes to gender equality in Judaism, with helpful breakdowns of the views of men and women (men in general and male lay leaders in particular were found to be less positive about change). It also includes data about the extent of volunteering, within and beyond the Jewish community. The full report of the survey is available at:

http://www.thejlc.org/newsite/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/CWJL-Survey-Findings.pdf

 

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London Mayoral Elections

Posted on April 18, 2012 by Clive D. Field

Just a week after the publication of the Demos report Faithful Citizens, which established linkages between people of faith and progressive politics, comes evidence that religious issues are creeping into the forthcoming and hotly-contested elections for London’s Mayor.

This is suggested by a YouGov poll for the Evening Standard, conducted online between 13 and 15 April 2012 among a sample of 1,060 Greater London residents aged 18 and over. The full data tables are available at:

http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/q040gzgswz/YG-Archives-EveningStandard-MayoralRace-160412.pdf

One of the questions asked was about the eleventh-hour intervention of the current London Mayor, the Conservative Boris Johnson, to block an advertising campaign on the capital’s buses by two Christian groups (Core Issues Trust and Anglican Mainstream).

The proposed advertisement appeared to suggest, as Johnson saw it, that ‘being gay is an illness that someone recovers from’. The poster was widely regarded as mocking one by the pro-gay group Stonewall which implied that homosexuality is perfectly natural.

51% of Londoners thought that Johnson had been right to ban the advert, rising to 58% of his own supporters, 12% more than among the backers of Labour’s Mayoral candidate (Ken Livingstone), who one might have expected to have taken an even tougher pro-equality stance.

Women were more likely to endorse Johnson’s actions in the affair than men, the 18-24s more than older age cohorts, non-manual workers than manuals, and whites than non-whites. 26% opposed Johnson’s intervention, with 24% undecided.

More generally, 48% of voters thought that, in his election campaign, Johnson wanted to help some groups more than others (with 35% convinced he was out to assist all Londoners). Of the former sub-sample, 78% identified rich Londoners as the group being advantaged by Johnson and 23% white Londoners. Only 5% each said Jews or Muslims, although the proportion reached 11% and 13% respectively among those intending to vote for Johnson as Mayor.

Slightly more of the whole sample, 53%, believed that Livingstone was out disproportionately to benefit only some groups of Londoners. Of these, 41% were convinced he wanted to help Muslims (rising to 53% among the over-60s), 40% Black and Asian Londoners, and 40% poor Londoners.

9% (and 12% of his own supporters) saw Livingstone as out to favour Jews, a figure which may be slightly inflated on account of the humble pie Livingstone has been publicly eating following his recent suggestion that Jews would not vote Labour because they are too rich.

This is not the first time that Livingstone has incurred the wrath of British Jewry. In 2005, when in his second term as Mayor of London himself (he was unseated by Johnson in 2008), he got into very hot water by refusing to apologize for likening a Jewish reporter to a concentration camp guard. Public attitudes to the controversy were tested out in a ComRes survey at the time, in which 50% thought that Livingstone had been wrong not to apologize and 32% right.

Coming back to the current YouGov poll, it would appear that London’s Jews are not seen as being especially courted by either of the two main Mayoral candidates. However, whether true or not, Livingstone is obviously perceived as making a strong pitch for the Muslim vote, in contrast to Johnson. 22% of all Londoners think Livingstone has the Muslim vote in his sights.

This accords with a widespread view in the 1980s and 1990s that Muslims particularly favoured Labour, but that all seems to have changed with Muslim opposition to the Labour administration’s military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan in the 2000s.

Doubtless, fresh in Livingstone’s mind are the lessons of the recent by-election in Bradford West where Respect’s George Galloway inflicted a heavy defeat on Labour’s candidate (Imran Hussain), with a 37% swing, apparently as a result of a widespread defection of Muslims from Labour to Respect.   

 

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Britain’s Jewish Community Statistics, 2010

Posted on April 6, 2012 by Clive D. Field

Britain’s Jewish community, long in decline, may ‘very probably’ be experiencing natural increase, and much of this growth may be due to Strictly Orthodox Jews, who now (conservatively) account for more than two-fifths of Jewish births.

This is according to a new report from Daniel Vulkan, Britain’s Jewish Community Statistics, 2010, the first study of Jewish life events for five years. Published by the Board of Deputies of British Jews, it is available at:

http://www.bod.org.uk/content/CommunityStatistics2010.pdf

The data are subject to important caveats. In particular, ‘they only represent those Jews who have chosen, or whose families have chosen, to associate themselves with the Jewish community through a formal Jewish act, ie circumcision, marriage in a synagogue, dissolution of marriage by a beth din, or Jewish burial or cremation. Consequently, Jews who have not chosen to identify in these ways do not appear in this report’. Also, no account is taken of migration flows or of conversions/lapsations.

With these reservations in mind, the key findings may be noted:

BIRTHS

  • The number of births in 2007 (the last year for which they can be computed by inference from circumcisions of boys) was 3,313, an increase of 21% over the 1997 figure.
  • For 2005-07 there were 1,037 more inferred births than deaths.

MARRIAGES

  • There were 836 Jewish marriages in 2010, the lowest figure since the Board’s records began in 1901. 2005 was the last year in which there were more than 1,000.
  • Strictly Orthodox marriages in 2006-10 were 28% of the total and Central Orthodox 50%. This represented a big shift from the position in 1981-85 (9% and 66% respectively).
  • 81% of marriages in 2010 were first marriages for both parties (15% more than in England and Wales as a whole), 10% involved one divorced partner, and in 7% both parties were divorced.
  • Average age of Jewish marriage, where known, was 33 years for men and 31 for women (30 and 28 in the case of first marriages). It is likely that the age at first marriage for Strictly Orthodox Jews was considerably younger, possibly 19 or 20 years.

DIVORCES

  • There were 221 religious (ie excluding civil) divorces in 2010, the trend being downwards, as it is in the country generally.

DEATHS

  • 2,734 burials or cremations under Jewish auspices were recorded in 2010, a big fall (37%) from a twenty-year peak of 4,346 in 1993.
  • The proportion of Central Orthodox deaths was 69%, Strictly Orthodox only 5% (suggesting a very youthful age profile), Reform 16%, Liberal 7%, others 3%.
  • The incidence of cremation was far lower among Jews (11%) than for all deaths in England and Wales (73%).

 

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