News |

Attitudes to Muslims

Posted on January 11, 2013 by Clive D. Field

The year 2012 ended with the revelation that the Muslim community in England and Wales had grown by 75% between the 2001 and 2011 censuses of population. This basic demographic fact, combined with the increasingly prominent role and voice which Muslims have gained in national life and in the public square, seems bound to stimulate survey research measuring attitudes to them. And, indeed, the year 2013 starts with the publication of two sets of research findings on this very topic.

Offending Islam

Violent demonstrations against the United States (US) took place in a number of Muslim countries last September, following the distribution on YouTube of the short anti-Islamic film Innocence of Muslims, which had been made in the US. In a poll conducted in the immediate aftermath of the furore, but only just released, 24% of Britons agreed that the makers of the film ought to have been prosecuted by the US authorities for committing a hate crime, with 40% opposed to such action, and 36% uncertain. Support for prosecution was strongest among the over-60s (31%), Londoners (30%), Liberal Democrat voters (29%), and Scots (28%).

Opinion was also split about the subsequent publication, in direct response to the anti-American protests, by the French magazine Charlie Hebdo of a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad naked in front of a film director. One-third (33%) of Britons supported the magazine’s decision, as a defence of free expression, 35% criticized the publishers for causing unnecessary offence to Muslims, and 32% expressed no views. Charlie Hebdo’s greatest supporters were found among men (44%), Conservative voters (42%), and the 18-24s (41%); its greatest detractors among the over-60s (49%).

The potential tensions between free speech and religious sensibilities were explored in five more generic questions. Majorities of adults endorsed four of these statements about what should be legally allowed in Britain: saying a religion threatens world peace (60%), saying a particular religion is nonsense (59%), saying the founder of a particular religion never existed (56%), and producing visual images of the Prophet Muhammad (53%). The only statement to be approved by a plurality but not a majority of respondents was saying or printing insults about the founder of a particular religion; while 41% agreed that this should be allowed, 33% objected (14% to 18% more than to the other statements). The proportion of ‘don’t knows’ ranged from 22% to 31%, dependent upon the question.

Across all five statements, men, non-manual workers, Scots, and Conservative voters were consistently more likely to agree that the various activities should be lawful. The over-60s and Londoners were most prone to querying their legality. Since the explicit and implicit context of the entire survey was about causing offence to Muslims, the relatively pro-Islam stance of the over-60s is interesting since, on many other measures of attitudes to Islam and Muslims, this age cohort often holds the most negative views. Clearly, their position is tempered by a general sympathy for people of faith and by a sense that respect and tolerance should set appropriate limits on freedom of speech and expression; doubtless, there are also fears that mocking of Christianity might follow in the footsteps of lampooning Islam. The views of Londoners are readily explained by the fact that (as confirmed by the 2011 census) the capital is now the most diverse part of the country in terms of nationality, ethnicity, and religion, with a notable concentration of Muslims.

Source: Online survey by YouGov among 1,710 Britons aged 18 and over on 30 September and 1 October 2012. Full results released on 7 January 2013 and available at:

http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/6xjwsgccth/YouGov-Results-121001-Muslim-protests.pdf

Integration of Muslims

Attitudes towards the integration of Muslims in British society are fairly evenly balanced, with 38% of adult Britons agreeing that Muslims want to ‘fit in’, 39% disagreeing, and 21% neutral. However, these results are not uniform across three sets of sociological, religious, and political-ideological independent variables, which have been newly investigated through two multinomial logistic regression models.

For sociological variables, no significant effects were discovered for ethnic group or age, and only a relatively weak influence for gender (women being more prone than men to take a neutral position). Yet education was significant: those with a degree-level qualification were more likely to offer a neutral response or to agree that Muslims want to fit in than disagree, compared to those with no qualifications.

Religious affiliation (denomination) had little impact overall, and frequency of attendance at religious services was not significant in terms of the fuller of the two models. But religious salience (measured by the importance attached to religion in daily life) did make a difference. Higher levels of religious salience increased the likelihood of respondents agreeing that Muslims wanted to fit in, thereby providing some support for the ‘solidarity of the religious’ thesis proposed by Joel Fetzer and Christopher Soper.

Several (but not all) of the political-ideological factors were found to have statistically significant effects. In particular, a socially authoritarian disposition was associated with negative perceptions of Muslim integration, as was anti-immigrant bias. Similarly, those with traditionalist or exclusivist views of the role of Christianity were less likely to think Muslims wanted to fit in. On the other hand, individuals who took a pro-religion line on the wearing of religious dress or the banning of religiously offensive material were more likely to give neutral responses or to agree about Muslim integration.

Source: Ben Clements, ‘Explaining Public Attitudes towards the Integration of Muslims in British Society: The “Solidarity of the Religious”?’ Journal of Contemporary Religion, Vol. 28, No. 1, January 2013, pp. 49-65. The article is based on secondary analysis of one specific question (‘Do all Muslims living in Britain really want to fit in?’) posed to sub-samples A and B (n = 2,250) of the British Social Attitudes Survey of June-November 2008. Abstract and access options for the full text of the article can be found at:

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13537903.2013.750836

Posted in Religion and Politics, Religion in public debate, Survey news | Tagged Ben Clements, British Social Attitudes Surveys, cartoon, Charlie Hebdo, freedom of expression, freedom of speech, hate crime, Innocence of Muslims, integration, Islam, Islamophobia, Journal of Contemporary Religion, Muslims, offence, Prophet Muhammad, solidarity of the religious, United States, YouGov, Youtube | 3 Comments

Welcome to 2013

Posted on January 1, 2013 by Clive D. Field

Welcome to 2013! All of us at BRIN wish our readers every success and happiness in the New Year. We thank you for using our website (there have been over 360,000 page views to date). We sincerely hope that not many of you are triskaidekaphobic (afraid of the number 13), for it will doubtless seem a very long twelve months to you. We cover the phenomenon in the first item of our latest round-up of religious statistical news, which summarizes stories that have come to hand over the festive period.

Triskaidekaphobia

Britons remain a fairly superstitious lot, and apprehension about the number 13 is still quite widespread. We have already reported (in our post of 23 August 2012) that, even that far back, 8% of adults feared that the New Year would not be a good one for them because it contains the number 13 in the date. It presents particular challenges for drivers, as David Millward’s article in the Daily Telegraph on Boxing Day reminded us: ‘Unlucky 13 Plate Risks Driving Superstitious Motorists Away’. The story concerned discussions taking place between car manufacturers and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency about how they will cope with the number 13 registration plate for new vehicles, which comes into force in March and remains so until August, when the plate changes to 63.

The story is not new. The Automobile Association (AA) had got there first when it published, on 14 August 2012, a press release based on online interviews with 20,029 AA members aged 18 and over from the AA/Populus panel, conducted between 19 and 26 July 2012. The survey revealed that one-tenth of AA members were sufficiently superstitious themselves to suggest it best to avoid buying a new car with an ‘unlucky 13’ number plate. Disproportionately, they were older drivers and blue-collar workers. However, this concern was dwarfed by an anxiety about the potential difficulties of subsequently trying to sell the car on to other owners, who were anticipated to be even more superstitious. Overall, 29% had an anxiety on these grounds, ranging from 20% of drivers aged 18-24 to 33% of AA members over 65 years. The press release is still available at:

http://www.theaa.com/newsroom/news-2012/unlucky-13-number-plates.html

Top 10 Christmas carols

O Holy Night (written by a Frenchman in 1847 and translated into English in 1855) was the nation’s best-loved Christmas carol in 2012, according to an online poll of a self-selecting sample of thousands of listeners of Classic FM radio. It headed the chart for the tenth year in succession. The top 10 was as follows:

1. O Holy Night

2. Silent Night

3. In the Bleak Mid-Winter [Gustav Holst version]

4. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

5. In the Bleak Mid-Winter [Harold Darke version]

6. O Come All Ye Faithful

7. O Little Town of Bethlehem

8. Away in a Manger

9. Joy to the World

10. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

The full top 30 countdown of the Nation’s Favourite Christmas Carols was broadcast on Classic FM on Christmas Day and is listed at:

http://www.classicfm.com/discover/collections/christmas-music/nations-favourite-christmas-carol/

Cost of Anglican bishops

The office and working costs of the 44 diocesan and 69 suffragan and full-time assistant bishops of the Church of England amounted to £17,014,000 in the year-ending 31 December 2011. This represented an increase of £1,031,000 or 6.5% over the previous year. Most of this rise was due to an additional £782,000 of legal expenses (apparently linked to the consecration and enthronement of bishops and clergy discipline cases under the Discipline Measure). The principal budget line, staff costs (£8,729,000), grew by a more modest 2.7%. These office and working costs are met by the Church Commissioners, who also fund the stipends, employer’s national insurance and pension contributions of the bishops themselves (to the tune of £5,000,000 in 2011). Full details are contained in Bishops’ Office and Working Costs for the Year Ended 31 December 2011, published on 19 December 2012 and available at:

http://www.churchofengland.org/media/1618308/2011%20final.pdf

Faith in the public sphere

The Muslim Council of Britain had a higher public profile throughout the noughties than did the Archbishop of Canterbury, according to new research published by the Henry Jackson Society (a cross-partisan British think-tank) on 17 December 2012. The report, Faith in the Public Sphere: A Study of Media Reporting of Faith-Based Claims, was written by Hannah Stuart and Houriya Ahmed, and derives from an analysis of ‘requests’ and ‘responses’ to public issues by five major world faiths in the UK, as recorded in three national newspapers (Daily Mail, Daily Telegraph, and The Guardian) between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2010. A ‘request’ was identified as a call for the government, state, or a public institution to act; a ‘response’ as support for, opposition to, or criticism of the government, state, or a public institution or policy.

There were 3,945 religious ‘claims’ (requests and responses) made during this decade, of which 93% were single-faith and 7% multi-faith. Two-fifths of all claims were concentrated in 2005-07, when there was a peak of religious activity associated with anti-terrorism, discrimination, education, employment, pro-life, and public life issues. All told, 18% of claims related to public life, 14% to education, 11% to employment, 11% to public policy, 10% to pro-life, 7% to discrimination, 7% to anti-terrorism, 6% to foreign policy, 5% to family, and 5% to justice. Christians participated in 67% of the claims, Muslims in 31%, Jews in 7%, Sikhs in 4%, and Hindus in 3%. The list of religious ‘actors’ associated with these claims was headed by the Muslim Council of Britain (n = 410, 7%), followed by the Archbishop of Canterbury (n = 393, 7%) and the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster (n = 264, 5%). The Chief Rabbi ranked seventh as a religious actor (n = 104, 2%).

The research generated a mass of information, within which it is easy to get lost. BRIN suggests that readers might wish to start with the fact sheet and then progress to the executive summary (pp. 6-15) of the main report. The report itself runs to 400 pages, while all the raw data are freely available for analysis. All three outputs can be downloaded from:

http://henryjacksonsociety.org/2012/12/17/faith-in-the-public-sphere/

Religion and the demographic revolution

It is not often that BRIN recommends a new book before it has had the chance to examine it in depth, but one title certainly worth investing in if you had any vouchers given as presents for Christmas is Callum Brown, Religion and the Demographic Revolution: Women and Secularisation in Canada, Ireland, UK and USA since the 1960s (Woodbridge: Boydell Press, xiv + 302pp., ISBN 9781843837923, £55.00 hardback), which was published on 15 November 2012.

Brown (Professor of Religious and Cultural History at the University of Dundee) is already well-known for his many writings on secularization, not least for his thesis about the transformational religious changes of the 1960s. Indeed, his new book is conceived as the second in a trilogy of histories of religious decline, each deploying a different methodology – discourse analysis, statistics and demography, and autobiography and oral testimony. The Death of Christian Britain (originally published in 2001 and updated in 2009) was the first in the series, mostly rooted in discourse analysis of the successive dominance and recession of Christian culture in Britain. Whereas that title was single-nation in its focus, the second and third works are comparative and transnational in their approach.

Religion and the Demographic Revolution is brimming with quantitative data, from official, denominational, and survey sources. They leap off almost every page of text, as well as clustering in 55 tables and figures, of which 24 relate in whole or in part to the British Isles. Extensive use is made of Pearson’s rank correlations throughout. In many cases the data go back well before the 1960s, when the work theoretically commences. They cover a range of religious measures as well as statistics about sex, marriage, fertility, illegitimacy, and other socio-economic factors.

Through such quantification, Brown seeks to illustrate how the ‘two great social and cultural changes of the western world’, which began in the 1960s, became intertwined: ‘the rapid decline of Christian religious practice and identity and the rise of the people of “no religion”’ on the one hand and ‘the transformation in women’s lives that spawned a demographic revolution in sex, family and work’ on the other.

‘Starting with the distinctive features of the 1960s, the book quantifies secularisation’s scale, timing and character in each nation. Then, the intense links of women’s sexual revolution to religious decline are explored. From there, women’s changing patterns of marriage, coupling and birthing are correlated with diminishing religiosity. The final exploration is into the secularising consequences of economic change, higher education and women’s expanding work roles.’

Brown concludes: ‘To not have a religion has become in the twenty-first century an accepted part of cultural diversity, if not actually the norm or benchmark, of Europe. The people of no religion have emerged as the imminent majority in the bulk of the English-speaking world, as they are of most European nations. When once it was presumed that Europe was Christian, the presumption must be now that this civilisation exists without a defining religion. We should admit that Europe is now shaped by a people remoulding their demography and economy without the benefit of religion. They may not all be atheists, but they constitute the major cultural category in these parts.’

BRIN hopes to cover the work in greater detail in due course. Meanwhile, the publisher’s blurb can be found at:

http://www.boydellandbrewer.com/store/viewItem.asp?idProduct=14096

Posted in Historical studies, News from religious organisations, Religion and Politics, Religion in public debate, Religion in the Press, Survey news | Tagged 1960s, Archbishop of Canterbury, Automobile Association, Bishops, Boydell Press, Callum Brown, Christmas carols, Church Commissioners, Church of England, Classic FM, costs, Daily Mail, Daily Telegraph, demography, Hannah Stuart, Henry Jackson Society, Houriya Ahmed, media, Muslim Council of Britain, number 13, O Holy Night, Populus, public sphere, religious festivals, secularization, superstitions, The Guardian, triskaidekaphobia, vehicle registration plates, women | 2 Comments

Christmas and Other Themes

Posted on December 17, 2012 by Clive D. Field

Today’s ‘bumper’ round-up of religious statistical news features seven stories. Two are Christmas-themed; two summarize public attitudes to the religious dimensions of the same-sex marriage debate; two report on new research among Roman Catholics; and the last highlights reflections on the 2011 religion census of England and Wales by the Director of the AHRC/ESRC Religion and Society programme.

Churchgoing at Christmas

One-quarter of the national population claims they will attend a church service over the Christmas period this year (5% on Christmas Day itself, 11% on Christmas Eve, and 8% on another day around Christmas). The range is from 20% of men and residents of the Midlands and Wales to 30% of Londoners. Two-thirds say that they will not worship at Christmastide with one-tenth uncertain what they will do. Interestingly, when asked to indicate which of a list of Christmas Day activities they would pursue, an additional 2% (making 7% in all) mention going to church. Even so, apart from going to work (4%), this is the least favoured pastime on Christmas Day. Two-thirds anticipate singing Christmas carols over the festive period, women the most (51%) and men (31%) the least, closely followed by Scots on 32%. Among those with children under the age of ten, 45% expect them to take part in a nativity play, and 30% not. If past form is anything to go by, actual religious practices at Christmas will be significantly less than these aspirations.

Source: Online survey by YouGov for The Sun among 1,729 adults aged 18 and over in Great Britain on 9-10 December 2012. Data tables published on 14 December at:

http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/tmd6ug984b/YG-Archive-Pol-Sun-results-101212-Christmas.pdf

Nativity knowledge

Britons’ knowledge of the nativity story is somewhat variable, according to a new survey. Asked ten specific questions about the first Christmas, on average they scored six out of ten, with 22% of parents and 18% of children scoring eight out of ten or more. The best-known facts about the nativity are that Jesus was born in Bethlehem (98%), Mary put the baby Jesus in a manger (89%), and that the Angel Gabriel told Mary she would give birth (83%). At the other end of the spectrum, only 14% knew that the three wise men travelled West following the star, 26% that Mary and Joseph were espoused (and thus not married) when she found out she was going to have a baby, and 32% knew that Immanuel means God is with us. A notable feature of the incorrect answers was the not infrequent appearance of Father Christmas, especially among parents’ responses. Over half of families (52%) said they planned to go to a school nativity play this year.

Source: Online survey by ICM Research on behalf of the Bible Society, undertaken between 6 and 12 December 2012 among approximately 1,000 parents of children aged 12 and under and 1,000 children. Full data tables are not yet available, but headline findings were reported on 17 December, notably in the online edition of the Daily Telegraph at:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/christmas/9748554/Scandal-of-Mary-and-Joseph-passes-most-Britons-by-as-they-place-Father-Christmas-by-the-manger.html

The Bible Society’s press release is at:

http://www.biblesociety.org.uk/news/children-and-parents-6-out-of-10-score-on-nativity-knowledge/

Same-sex marriage (1)

Three-quarters of the British public (73%) are in favour of the legalization of same-sex marriages, but they divide over whether religious organizations should be required to provide religious weddings for gay couples. Some 28% of the population feels that these organizations should be put under such an obligation, and this is especially the view of the 18-24s (44%) and Liberal Democrat voters and public sector workers (37% each). Legalization of same-sex marriage but without requiring faith bodies to offer religious ceremonies is backed by 45%, while 17% oppose same-sex marriage but countenance civil partnerships, and a further 7% are hostile both to same-sex marriage and civil partnerships.

Source: Telephone survey of 1,023 adults aged 18 and over in Great Britain, undertaken by Ipsos MORI on 8-10 December 2012 on behalf of Freedom to Marry. Full data table published on 11 December and available at:

http://www.ipsos-mori.com/Assets/Docs/Polls/gay-marriage-poll-tables-december-2012.pdf

Same-sex marriage (2)

The British public is evenly divided about whether ‘marriage is a sacred act between a man and a woman and cannot be a sacred act between same-sex couples’; 42% say yes and exactly the same number no, albeit over-55s (56%) and Conservative voters (52%) are more inclined to take the former view and under-35s (52%) and Liberal Democrats (50%) the latter. This is notwithstanding that 60% (and 73% of under-35s) indicate that they support the legalization of same-sex marriage (in a question worded differently to that in the Ipsos MORI poll, above), albeit it is not generally regarded by the public as a priority for Parliament.

A majority (53%) backs same-sex marriages in churches, provided that churches are willing to conduct such ceremonies, rising to 63% of under-35s and 61% of Liberal Democrats; 39% are hostile, including 53% of over-55s, and 9% undecided. Only 35% endorse the Government’s proposal to prohibit the Church of England from conducting same-sex religious marriages, the majority (54%, including 60% of under-35s and the AB social group) wanting to see Anglican clergy offering such ceremonies if in accordance with their individual consciences. At the same time, 58% believe the Church of England is entitled to oppose the whole concept of same-sex marriage (with 26% disagreeing and 16% unsure).

Source: Online survey of 1,003 adults aged 18 and over in Great Britain, undertaken by Survation on behalf of The Mail on Sunday on 14 and 15 December 2012. Summarized in Simon Walters, ‘Britons Vote in Favour of Same-Sex Marriage’, The Mail on Sunday, 16 December 2012, p. 13, available at:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2248833/Britons-vote-favour-sex-marriage-Public-backs-PM-gay-marriage-says-hes-doing-trendy.html

Full data tables located at:

http://survation.com/2012/12/same-sex-marriage-public-opinion-political-fall-out-survation-for-the-mail-on-sunday/

Bible engagement

Roman Catholics have a relatively low level of engagement with the Bible, according to a new survey. Of those who attend Mass once a month or more, 57% do not read the Bible week-by-week outside of a church setting. This is despite the fact that around two-thirds of them contend that the Bible has something useful to contribute to contemporary life and society, and that one-third assert that a passage in the Bible directly influenced a decision they made in the past week. For Catholics who worship less frequently than monthly or not at all, 81% seldom or never read the Bible. Less than half of both groups of Catholics feel confident about describing five specific passages from the Bible, with familiarity greater among Catholics aged 18-34 than their older co-religionists.

These findings are consistent with a ‘meta analysis’ of over 150 British sample surveys relating to the Bible and undertaken since 1945, which the present writer has almost completed, one of whose findings is: ‘Protestants in general and Free Church affiliates in particular are more Bible-centric than Catholics (apart from some indicators of literalism)’. Indeed, the faith of Catholics seems to be as much underpinned by the teachings and authority of the Roman Catholic Church as by the foundational text of Christianity.

Source: Survey of 1,012 self-identifying Roman Catholics aged 18 and over undertaken by Christian Research between 17 November and 4 December 2012, and on behalf of the Bible Society, in partnership with the Home Mission Desk of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales. The sample divided between 502 Catholics who said that they attended Mass once a month or more and 510 who went less frequently or never. Headline findings are contained in a press release from the Bishops’ Conference dated 7 December, two days before Catholic Bible Sunday, and available at:

http://catholic-ew.org.uk/Home/News-Releases/Catholic-Bible-Engagement

Roman Missal

It is just over a year since Catholic parishes in English-speaking countries started to use the revised English translation of the Missale Romanum edition tertia, which aimed to offer a more literal rendition of the Latin, replacing the translation introduced after Vatican II, with its emphasis on capturing the sense of the words. However, initial responses to the new Missal among the faithful seem to have been decidedly mixed, according to one local survey. In it only 22% described the general experience of their parish with regard to the Missal as positive, with 31% neutral, and 42% negative. Factoring in their personal views brought the negative total to 45%, with 28% positive, and 25% neutral. This underwhelmed reaction is despite the fact that 83% claimed to have been at least somewhat prepared for the new translation, the most common forms of catechesis being at Mass (69%), the parish newsletter (50%), and from a priest or deacon (41%). Pew cards (71%) and parish leaflets (30%) were commonly made available as ‘people’s aids’ at Mass. Qualitative data were collected alongside the statistics, it being noted that ‘concerning the language of the people’s responses and prayers, a panoply of [negative] adjectives and descriptors that would be the envy of Roget’s Thesaurus is wheeled into line’.

Source: Survey conducted by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth between 1 January and 30 April 2012. The survey form was posted on the diocesan website and was thus accessible to people from outside the diocese. Although the majority of the replies came from within the diocese, a significant number came from elsewhere (mainly Northern England). They were received, either in written form or as email attachments, from a self-selecting sample of both laity and clergy. ‘There is no indication of any particular group with an agenda “packing” or skewing the responses’. Even though statistics are cited to two decimal places, the number of respondents (307) is not specified until the very last page of Paul Inwood’s summary of the survey, which can be found at:

http://www.portsmouthdiocese.org.uk/userfiles/Diocesan%20Missal%20Survey%20analysis%20and%20narrative%20report.pdf

The weekly Catholic magazine The Tablet is currently running an online survey on the same subject. To participate, go to:

http://www.thetablet.co.uk/page/survey

Religious census

The religious life of the country is more diverse and complex than a superficial reading of the 2011 census data for England and Wales might suggest, according to the latest commentary on the initial results which were released a week ago. In particular, there is no hard-and-fast fault-line between ‘Christians’ and those professing ‘no religion’. ‘The census is a poor guide because it asks a single question about identity and offers a limited range of answers … The census still works with simple, unitary categories of religion. If forced, most of us can squeeze ourselves into one of these boxes. But if asked what we really mean, we display a heterogeneity which simplistic readings of the census ignore … Most people no longer identify with the labels of religious affiliation … Religion, like secularity, has become a matter of choice. We do not obey authority as we once did, and we no longer take our religious identities “off the shelf”. We explore for ourselves and assemble spiritual packages we find meaningful.’

Source: Linda Woodhead, ‘Faith that Won’t Fit the Mould’, The Tablet, 15 December 2012, p. 8.

Posted in church attendance, Measuring religion, News from religious organisations, Official data, Religion and Politics, Religion in public debate, Religious Census, Survey news | Tagged Bible, Bible Society, carols, Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, census of population, Christian Research, Christmas, church attendance, Church of England, churchgoing, Clive Field, Daily Telegraph, Diocese of Portsmouth, Freedom to Marry, homosexuality, ICM Research, Ipsos-MORI, Linda Woodhead, liturgy, Mail on Sunday, Missale Romanum, nativity, nativity plays, Paul Inwood, Religious Affiliation, religious festivals, religious knowledge, religious weddings, Roman Catholic Church, Roman Catholics, Roman Missal, same-sex marriage, Simon Walters, Survation, The Sun, The Tablet, YouGov | 1 Comment

Religious Census 2011 – Initial Responses

Posted on December 12, 2012 by Clive D. Field

Herewith an initial trawl of statements by interested parties about the results from the religion question in the 2011 census of population of England and Wales. All the statements were published on 11 or 12 December 2012. No claim is made that this is a comprehensive list.

Church of England (Arun Arora)

‘These results confirm that we remain a faithful nation. England remains a country where the majority of the nation actively identifies the role that faith plays in their life. Clearly we welcome the fact that Christianity remains the most populous faith in England – with six in ten people identifying themselves as Christian. When all faiths are taken together, people of faith account for two-thirds of the nation … Obviously the fall in those choosing to identify themselves as Christians is a challenge. We need to look closely at the fuller figures published next year and to reflect on what these tell us. One of the reasons may well be fewer people identifying as “Cultural Christians” i.e. those who have no active involvement with churches and who may previously have identified as Christian for cultural or historical reasons. They indicate a changing pattern of religious life in which traditional or inherited identities are less taken for granted than they used to be. The work of the Church of England is not limited to those who declare Christian affiliation. As a Church we continue to serve people of all faiths and none …’

http://www.churchofengland.org/media-centre/news/2012/12/census-2011.aspx

Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales

‘The overall decrease in the number of self-identifying Christians is consistent with recent social attitude and social value surveys. While this is a challenge, the fact that six out of 10 people in England and Wales self-identify as Christians is not discouraging. Christianity is no longer a religion of culture but a religion of decision and commitment. People are making a positive choice in self-identifying as Christians. While precise figures are difficult to determine, polling shows that the Catholic population has remained consistent at 9% of the total population for many years … Catholics play a full part in the country’s social and cultural mix, serving the common good.’

http://catholic-ew.org.uk/Home/News-Releases/2011-Census

Methodist Church of Great Britain (Martyn Atkins)

‘These figures are a challenge to the Churches and reflect how British society has changed. But we are not discouraged. We are excited to be Christians in part of an increasingly diverse, multi-faith society and we believe that British society is enriched by this mix. It has always been clear to Methodists that the Church exists not only for those who say they belong to it, but those who don’t. We rejoice when Churches are growing, but we also rejoice when we can share with others in transforming our world and our communities for good. The numbers of people that attend worship on Sundays and on special occasions like Christmas are important, but they only show a small part of the picture. Churches remain committed to making a difference to many more people’s lives through the wider activities of our communities, in church groups, fresh expressions, work in schools and places of community through volunteering, chaplaincies, being street pastors and good neighbours … The Census results mean we need to think and act smarter in seeking to be good witnesses to Jesus Christ today, and many Methodists will relish that opportunity.’

http://methodist.org.uk/news-and-events/news-releases/census-response-church-is-for-life-not-just-christmas-says-methodist-general-secretary

Evangelical Alliance (Steve Clifford)

‘The UK retains a strong Christian heritage, according to the release of figures from the 2011 census … There’s no real surprise in these figures, they reflect what we are seeing across the country. Being a Christian is increasingly understood as following Jesus and not just wearing a cultural or historic label. For a lot of people who do not identify as religious, it is probably more taking off a label that doesn’t fit than embracing a particular anti-religious agenda. As evangelical Christians we are presented with a fantastic opportunity. The gospel prospers in a context where faith is alive and freely chosen; we should take the results of the census as an opportunity to get to know the people the numbers represent.’

http://eauk.org/current-affairs/news/census-is-britain-still-a-christian-country.cfm

Fresh Expressions (Norman Ivison)

‘The newly published statistics show what many have been saying for some time. The church in England and Wales needs to find new ways of engaging those who no longer have, or never had any interest in the Christian faith. The reality is that inherited church life is still attractive to many people but not to everyone. New forms of church are developing throughout the UK, alongside parish and other traditional structures, which are increasingly helping those who have never been to church to discover the Christian faith for themselves. The Census statistics demonstrate that real alternatives need to be offered for those who find conventional church inaccessible for all sorts of reasons.’

http://cte.churchinsight.com/Articles/337010/Churches_Together_in/News_Events/News/Fresh_Expressions_re.aspx

Bible Society (Ben Whithall)

‘With Christmas coming up, now seems like a good time to think about labels. Research numbers we’ve been seeing recently – including the religion statistics from the latest census – suggest that when it comes to “religion”, the labels we have aren’t very helpful … It quickly becomes clear that religious identity and activity – and certainly what’s going on in people’s heads or hearts behind either – don’t fall into easy or binary categories in our society today. This idea of straightforward segregation between “religious” and “the rest/normality” in life looks increasingly ridiculous … as does the setting up of diametrically-opposed “Christian” and “non-Christian” sides. In practice, the lines seem very blurred for most people. So can we please rescue the Bible from falling into splendid isolation in a small glass case labelled “in case of spiritual emergency”’.

http://www.biblesociety.org.uk/news/stats-show-society-doesnt-split-into-religious-sides/

Ekklesia (Simon Barrow)

‘The new census data from England and Wales confirms what we have been saying for some time. Britain is increasingly becoming a mixed society in terms of culture, identity and belief. The key issue for people of all religions and none in plural settings is to learn to develop their own values and practices in a way that recognises difference and seeks to make a beneficial contribution to society through good example rather than compulsion.’

http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/17589

Theos (Nick Spencer)

‘It’s important to recognise what the Census doesn’t measure – what people believe or what they practice – and what it does measure – how they identify themselves with regard to a religion … Just because someone calls themselves a Christian, it doesn’t mean they faithfully live by Christian creeds and practices. We all know that. But the same is true for the non-religious. A recent study by Theos/ComRes into the non-religious, Post-Religious Britain? The Faith of the Faithless, shows how wrong it is to imagine that someone who calls themselves non-religious, or even an atheist, has no spiritual beliefs … The non-religious category is as messy as the religious one, with non-religious people believing in things and behaving in ways that are not particularly non-religious. What this all means is that if it is increasingly hard to sustain the claim that Britain is still a Christian country, it is even harder to claim it is an atheistic or secular one. What we are becoming is ever more religiously plural: ever more people believe, behave and belong in different ways to their neighbours when it comes to religion and spirituality.’

http://www.theosthinktank.co.uk/comment/2012/12/12/2011-census-the-religion-question

Institute for Jewish Policy Research

‘2011 UK Census data released on 11 December 2012 by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show a Jewish population of 263,376 in England and Wales. This represents a small increase of 1.3% since 2001, and suggests the UK Jewish population has remained largely static over the past ten years. However, more detailed analysis of the data reveal significant changes at the local and regional levels, with clear indications of population growth and decline in particular areas. These provide critical insights into developments in the British Jewish community.’ A four-page paper, ‘2011 Census Results (England and Wales): Initial Insights about the UK Jewish Population’, written by David Graham and Jonathan Boyd of the Institute for Jewish Policy Research and Daniel Vulkan of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, is available at:

http://www.jpr.org.uk/downloads/2011%20Census%20Initial%20findings%20report%20Final%20Dec%202012.pdf

Muslim Council of Britain (Farooq Murad)

‘Welcoming the Census 2011 results, the Muslim Council of Britain commented that the growth in number points to the fact that Muslims play a significant part in the increasing diversity of Britain. The population of Muslims in England and Wales is now 2.71 million, of a total of 56.1 million – around 4.8% of the population. The Muslim presence across the length and breadth of the land, from inner London (almost half a million) to the Isles of Scilly (around half a dozen) is a matter of fact. Comparison with the 2001 Census indicates that the populations of all minority faith communities have increased – for example the Hindu and Buddhist communities rose by 48% and 70% respectively. This is a reflection not just of demographic profile – the BME communities’ lower age profile means they have young families – but also ONS’s greater success in disseminating the Census message within hard-to-reach communities … In a time of brutal and drastic public sector cuts, policy makers will now be in a position to target scarce public resources more effectively to the most needy districts and wards – this applies particularly to the provision of childcare facilities to help working mothers and youth services … The voluntary religion question was answered by 92.8% of the population, validating the MCB’s campaign when first lobbying for its inclusion that Britain is not shy about faith.’

http://mcb.org.uk/media/presstext.php?ann_id=510

British Humanist Association (Andrew Copson)

‘Census results just published show a plunge in the number of people ticking “Christian” in England and Wales from 72% in 2001 to 59% in 2011 and an increase in the number of people ticking to say they have no religion from 15% in 2001 to 25% in 2011. This represents a 67% relative rise in the number saying “no religion”. In addition, the British Humanist Association (BHA) has calculated that if the change in Christianity showed between 2001 and 2011 continues at a linear rate, then Christians would be recorded as in the minority by the Census question from September 2018 … This is a really significant cultural shift. In spite of a biased question that positively encourages religious responses, to see such an increase in the non-religious and such a decrease in those reporting themselves as Christian is astounding. Of course these figures still exaggerate the number of Christians overall – the number of believing, practicing Christians is much lower than this and the number of those leading their lives with no reference to religion much higher. Religious practice, identity, belonging and belief are all in decline in this country, and non-religious identities are on the rise. It is time that public policy caught up with this mass turning away from religious identities and stopped privileging religious bodies with ever increasing numbers of state-funded religious schools and other faith-based initiatives. They are decreasingly relevant to British life and identity and governments should catch up and accept that fact.’

http://humanism.org.uk/2012/12/11/census-results-show-huge-shift-in-cultural-identity-from-christianity-to-no-religion/

National Secular Society (Terry Sanderson)

‘Findings from the 2011 census for England and Wales have revealed the number of people who say they are Christian has dropped dramatically from 72% to 59%. The figures published today by the Office for National Statistics also show the number of people who say they have no religion has risen from 15% to 25% … Such an enormous reversal in the space of ten years is an indication of the huge upheaval there has been in religious attitudes in Britain. It should serve as a warning to the churches that their increasingly conservative attitudes are not playing well with the public at large. It also calls into question the continued establishment of the Church of England whose claims to speak for the whole nation are now very hard to take seriously … It will certainly give the churches a great deal of food for thought, and should tell the Government that although it might “do God” as Baroness Warsi claims, a huge proportion of the population do not. This should be reflected in policy-making.’

http://www.secularism.org.uk/news/2012/12/census-shows-dramatic-fall-in-number-of-christians-in-uk

The Guardian (Jonathan Freedland)

‘God – or at least the church – is struggling in this country. Ten years ago 72% identified as Christians; now it’s just 59%. The panicmongers on the reactionary right will compare that to the rise in the number of British Muslims to 2.7m – from 3% of the total population in 2001 to 5% now – and warn that Christianity will one day be outstripped by Islam. But the biggest challenge to Christian influence in our national life is not Islam, but rather the 25% who declared themselves to be of “no religion” at all, up from 15% in 2001. Non-believers now form the second biggest denomination … It confirms our place as perhaps the most godless country, the least “churched”, in the industrialised world, setting us apart from the US, obviously, but also from much of continental Europe.’

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/dec/11/census-2011-england-wales

Posted in Official data, Religion in public debate, Religion in the Press | Tagged Bible Society, British Humanist Association, Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, census of population, Church of England, Ekklesia, Evangelical Alliance, Fresh Expressions, Institute for Jewish Policy Research, Methodist Church of Great Britain, Muslim Council of Britain, National Secular Society, Religious Affiliation, The Guardian, Theos | 2 Comments

Teaching Christianity and Other News

Posted on November 27, 2012 by Clive D. Field

Today’s round-up of religious news highlights poll data in support of the improved teaching of religious education (RE) in schools and presents a gender breakdown of last week’s vote on women bishops in the Church of England’s General Synod.

Teaching Christianity in RE

There is ‘widespread support in England for the teaching of Christianity as part of Religious Education’ in schools, according to newly-released data. Two-thirds (64%) of English adults agree that children need to learn about Christianity in order to understand English history, and 57% to comprehend the English culture and way-of-life. Even among those describing themselves as not religious the figures are 54% and 41% respectively.

Just under one-half (44%) of the English also say that more attention should be given to the teaching of Christianity in schools, and this is particularly true of the over-55s, albeit much less so (26%) among those identifying as not religious. But 37% of all adults feel that many RE teachers do not know enough about Christianity themselves in order to be able to teach it effectively.

Areas of Christianity which people regard as especially important for children to learn about in RE are the history of Christianity (58%), major Christian events and festivals (56%), and how Christianity distinguishes right from wrong (51%). Fewer (38%) mention that pupils should be taught the Bible, with no more than 30% wanting them to learn the Lord’s Prayer.

It would naturally be wrong to infer from these results that adults solely wish to prioritize the teaching of Christianity in RE at the expense of other world faiths (or none). Indeed, other polls indicate strong support for a pluralistic approach to RE, but (apparently) this was not explored in this particular investigation.

Source: Online survey by YouGov among 1,832 adults aged 18 and over in England between 16 and 18 May 2012. The poll was conducted on behalf of Oxford University’s Department of Education as the initial stage of a national intervention project, led by Dr Nigel Fancourt and funded by various charitable trusts, to support teachers tackling the subject of Christianity in schools. It seeks to address concerns raised by Ofsted inspectors and others about how Christianity is currently being taught.

The full data from the survey have yet to be released into the public domain. This BRIN report is therefore based upon various online media coverage on 26 November 2012, when some of the findings were published, particularly in a press release by Oxford University at:

http://www.ox.ac.uk/media/news_releases_for_journalists/121126.html

Gender analysis of General Synod vote on women bishops

The Church of England published on 26 November 2012 the General Synod electronic voting results for the Bishops and Priests (Consecration and Ordination of Women) Measure, debated (and lost) on 20 November 2012. The list appears at:

http://churchofengland.org/media/1588752/item%20501.pdf

From the list of names BRIN has compiled an analysis of voting by the gender of General Synod members in each of the three Houses (of Bishops, Clergy, Laity), excluding the two episcopal abstentions, as follows:

	Men	Men	Women	Women	Total	Total
	For	Against	For	Against	For	Against
Bishops	44	3	0	0	44	3
Clergy	94	44	54	1	148	45
Laity	74	41	58	33	132	74
Total	212	88	112	34	324	122

It can be calculated that, across the Synod as a whole, opposition to the Measure to permit women bishops stood at 29% among male members and 23% for female members (with an average of 27%). However, whereas only one of the women in the House of Clergy, or 2%, was opposed, the proportion was 36% in the House of Laity. Indeed, in the House of Laity the Measure failed to attain the requisite two-thirds majority for passing among both male and female members (64% each voting in favour).

Social welfare

There are a few – but not fully consistent – religious differences in attitudes to social welfare, according to a new study. Christians (75%) are somewhat more likely than those with no religion (66%) to say that ‘the creation of the welfare state is one of Britain’s proudest achievements’. However, more of the latter (76%) than the former (68%) agree that ‘everyone has the right to a minimum standard of living which should be paid for if necessary by the welfare state’. Slightly more Christians (67%) than nones (62%) consider that the benefits system is not working well and needs improvement or radical overhaul.

In the view of 48% of Christians and 40% of nones the level of benefits people receive should be proportionate to the amount of tax which they have paid. Larger numbers of Christians than those of no religion favour universal state pensions (77% versus 72%) and winter fuel allowance (25% against 20%), but the reverse is true of universal child benefit (supported by 39% compared with 43%).

Source: Telephone survey of 1,001 Britons aged 18 and over by ComRes for BBC Radio 4 on 16-18 November 2012. The number of respondents for religious groups other than Christians and none (n = 548 and 297 respectively) is too small to be meaningful. Full data tables published on 27 November and available at:

http://www.comres.co.uk/polls/BBC_Welfare_Poll_November2012.pdf

Profiling the ‘nones’

The number of Britons professing to have no religion reached 36% in a recent poll, but they are not evenly spread across the demographic groups. They are particularly to be found among those aged 18-34, of whom they constitute 47%, and they account for only 26% of the over-65s. Doubtless in reflection of this youthful profile, the nones comprise 42% of persons with the lowest annual household income (up to £14,000). They also have an above-average representation in South-West and Northern England and Wales (41%). By contrast, they are under-represented (28%) among Conservative voters, 69% of the latter being Christians (13% more than for all adults).

Source: Online survey of 2,066 Britons aged 18 and over, conducted by Populus on 24-26 October 2012 on behalf of the Conservative Party. Details contained in table 18 at:

http://www.populus.co.uk/uploads/OmChild_Benefit.pdf

Posted in News from religious organisations, Religion and Politics, Religion in public debate, Survey news | Tagged BBC Radio 4, benefits, Bishops and Priests (Consecration and Ordination of Women) Measure, Christianity, Christians, Church of England, ComRes, Conservative Party, gender, General Synod, Nigel Fancourt, nones, Oxford University Department of Education, Populus, Religious Affiliation, religious education, schools, social welfare, teaching, welfare state, women bishops, YouGov | 5 Comments

After General Synod, Religion and Health

Posted on November 25, 2012 by Clive D. Field

In today’s news round-up, BRIN covers a poll of public attitudes to current issues in the Church of England, following General Synod’s narrowest of rejections of women bishops, and some interesting research into the relationships between religion and health.

Church of England after General Synod

Last Tuesday’s failure of the Measure for Women Bishops to gain the necessary two-thirds majority in all three houses of General Synod (it fell short in the House of Laity) seems to have impacted negatively on the image of the Church of England. In the first test of public opinion since the synodical vote, 76% of adults say that the Church is out of touch with society. The proportion varies relatively little by demographics (even by age), ranging from a low of 71% among professing Anglicans to 81% of Liberal Democrats (whose party policy is to disestablish the Church). Just 8% believe the Church to be in touch (and no more than 12% of Anglicans), with 16% uncertain.

Support for women bishops in the Church of England now runs at 78%, virtually unchanged from the 77% recorded by YouGov in its poll on 8-9 November 2012. The strongest backing again comes from Liberal Democrats (90%), with Labour voters on 84%, and Conservatives on 73%. Women are slightly more in favour than men, and non-manual than manual workers. The regional spread is from 71% in London to 81% in Northern England. Anglican endorsement (77%) runs near the national average. Opposition to women bishops stands at 10% (peaking at 13% in the Midlands and Wales and among Conservatives), with 11% undecided.

Some politicians and commentators have suggested that Parliament should intervene to force the Church of England to accept women bishops; this would involve the removal of the Church’s exemptions under the Equality Act 2010. One-third (34%) of Britons endorse such intervention, Londoners and the over-60s (29%) being the least enthusiastic and Labour voters the most (39%). On the other side, 49% say that it is a matter for the Church to decide and that it would be an attack on religious freedom for Parliament to become involved. Anglicans (57%), the over-60s (57%), and Conservatives (55%) are most inclined to take this position. The remaining 17% have no firm view.

It has also been speculated that the failure of the Measure for Women Bishops will undermine the credibility of the Church of England in opposing impending Government legislation for same-sex marriage in England and Wales. Almost one-half (48%) of Britons criticize the Church for this opposition, rising to two-thirds of the 18-24s and Liberal Democrats. A further 38% support the Church’s stance, peaking at 54% of the over-60s, 53% of Conservatives, and 50% of Anglicans. The don’t knows number 13%.

Source: Online survey by YouGov of 1,812 adult Britons aged 18 and over on 22-23 November 2012, on behalf of The Sunday Times. Detailed tables available on p. 9 of:

http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/lmlmhdqllh/YG-Archives-Pol-ST-results%20-%2023-251112.pdf

Religion and health in Scotland

BRIN readers will be relieved to know that recent Scottish research concluded ‘there was no significant association between toothache and religion’. However, a complex set of other relationships between health and religion was demonstrated. So, pursuing the dental line of enquiry, we find that ‘Religious faith appears to have a strong association with how many natural teeth respondents have. Only 69% of Roman Catholics had 20 or more natural teeth, which was significantly lower than the national average of 72%. Muslims were the most likely to have twenty or more natural teeth (95%) followed by Hindus (93%) and Buddhists (89%).’

On alcohol, those professing no religion were the most likely to drink excessively, and Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists the least likely. Smoking was also more prevalent than average among the nones, and among Roman Catholics as well, and most uncommon with Muslims and Protestant Christians beyond the Kirk. On the other hand, the nones were most likely and Muslims the least likely to meet the recommended level of physical activity. Buddhists and Hindus had the lowest prevalence of obesity and Church of Scotland adherents the most. Muslims had a much higher incidence of diabetes than the norm but the second lowest experience of cardio-vascular disease, the latter particularly affecting Catholics and Buddhists. Buddhists, Muslims, and Hindus were well above the national average in meeting the 5-a-day guideline intake of fruit and vegetables.

In terms of overall self-assessed health, 76% of Scots evaluated it as very good or good. For the various faith groups, the range was from 70% for Buddhists and Muslims to 92% for Hindus, with the Church of Scotland on 78%, Roman Catholics on 72%, other Christians on 77%, and those of no religion on 75%. Hindus also had the highest levels of positive mental well-being.

The report on the research mostly confines itself to documenting the two-way correlations between religion and health. There are obviously limits to what can be achieved in putting forward possible explanations of these relationships without proceeding to some form of multivariate analysis. Clearly, it seems probable that the patterns will be differentially affected by such factors as the age, socio-economic, and ethnic profiles of each of the faith groups. Neither is there any control for religious practice, which would have been particularly interesting given existing research (disproportionately American) suggesting a positive link between churchgoing and health.

Source: Aggregate analysis of the last four years (2008-11) of the Scottish Health Survey, in which data were collected on 28,770 Scottish adults aged 16 and over and resident in private households by means of face-to-face interview and self-completion questionnaire. Fieldwork was undertaken by ScotCen Social Research on behalf of the Scottish Government and NHS Health Scotland. The religious profile of the sample was found to be: no religion (41%), Church of Scotland (32%), Roman Catholic (15%), other Christian (9%), non-Christian (3%). However, sub-samples of non-Christians were relatively small (220 Muslims, 63 Buddhists, 59 Hindus, and 418 others). Detailed tables of results appear on pp. 71-88 of Paul Whybrow, Julie Ramsay and Karen MacNee, The Scottish Health Survey: Topic Report – Equality Groups, published by the Scottish Government on 30 October 2012 and available at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/0040/00406749.pdf

Posted in Official data, Religion and Ethnicity, Religion and Politics, Religion and Social Capital, Religion in public debate, Religion in the Press, Survey news | Tagged Church of England, Equality Act 2010, equality groups, General Synod, homosexuality, Julie Ramsay, Karen MacNee, Measure for Women Bishops, NHS Health Scotland, out of touch, Parliament, Paul Whybrow, religion and health, Religious Affiliation, religious freedom, same-sex marriage, ScotCen Social Research, Scotland, Scottish Government, Scottish Health Survey, Sunday Times, women bishops, YouGov | Leave a comment

London Church Census and Other News

Posted on November 16, 2012 by Clive D. Field

The following three news items have reached BRIN’s in-tray during the past few days:

London church census

A census of attendance of Greater London’s churches took place on 14 October 2012 (chosen as an ‘average’ Sunday). Commissioned by the London City Mission, it was organized by Dr Peter Brierley (of Brierley Consultancy), who, as Executive Director of Christian Research and in previous capacities, was responsible for the four English church censuses undertaken between 1979 and 2005. Following circulation of initial publicity in June, he contacted the leaders of London’s estimated 4,900 churches (well up on the 4,100 which existed in 2005) in September, inviting them to complete a two-page questionnaire about their place of worship and to return it by prepaid post or email. They were encouraged to distribute self-completion slips to each member of their congregation on census day to gather the data requested about the age, gender, ethnicity, frequency of churchgoing, length of churchgoing, and distance travelled to church. In addition to attendance statistics, a wide range of other information was sought in the questionnaire, such as about church buildings, plants, mid-week services, and employees. Reminders have recently been sent to non-respondents, including those who (through Royal Mail’s oversight) failed to receive their original mailing, so it is too early to say anything about the overall response rate. A report on the census is expected to appear in April 2013. Meanwhile, thanks are due to Dr Brierley for briefing BRIN about the census. The questionnaire and accompanying instructions for completion can still be viewed online at:

http://brierleyconsultancy.com/londoncensus

State school admissions

Almost three-quarters (73%) of adults agree (two-thirds of them strongly) that state-funded schools, including state-funded faith schools, should not be allowed to select or discriminate against prospective pupils on religious grounds in their admissions policy. Responses vary little by demographic sub-groups, apart from in Scotland where the relatively high figure of 80% perhaps reflects ongoing sensitivities about the presence and practice of Roman Catholic schools in the Scottish state sector. The proportion in disagreement with the proposition is 18%, with 9% undecided. The findings are especially topical in the light of today’s dismissal by the High Court of a judicial review of Richmond-upon-Thames council’s decision to approve two new state-funded Catholic schools with selection based on religion, wholly in one case and substantially in the other. The unsuccessful legal challenge had been mounted by the British Humanist Association and Richmond Inclusive Schools Campaign.

Source: Online survey by ComRes of 2,008 Britons aged 18 and over on 2-4 November 2012, undertaken on behalf of the Accord Coalition. The Coalition campaigns against religious discrimination and indoctrination in schools, and it particularly seeks closure of the loophole in equality legislation which enables faith schools to operate an admissions policy which discriminates against children for religious reasons. Full results of the poll were published on 12 November 2012 and are available at:

http://accordcoalition.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Accord-Coalition_Faith-Schools_November2012.pdf

UK giving

‘Religious causes’ (including churches, mosques, and synagogues) attracted the largest charitable donations by individuals in Britain in 2011/12, with a median amount given of £20 per month, up by £5 from 2010/11 and twice the median for all charitable purposes. Religious organizations received 17% of all money donated to charities in 2011/12 (a 3% increase since 2004/05), greater even than medical research (15%), hospitals (15%), children or young people (11%), and overseas (10%). Although the proportion of donors giving to religious causes was less (14%), and eclipsed by medical research (33%), hospitals (30%), children (23%) and even animals (16%), it had risen since 2009/10 (12%) and 2010/11 (13%), resuming its level of 2007/08 and 2008/09.

Source: Face-to-face interviews with 3,319 Britons aged 16 and over via the Office for National Statistics omnibus in June and October 2011 and February 2012. Despite references to the UK, Northern Ireland was not surveyed. Summarized in Joy Dobbs, Véronique Jochum, Karl Wilding, Malcolm Smith, and Richard Harrison, UK Giving, 2012: An Overview of Charitable Giving in the UK, 2011/12, published on 13 November 2012 by the National Council for Voluntary Organisations and the Charities Aid Foundation, and available at:

https://www.cafonline.org/PDF/UKGiving2012Full.pdf

Posted in church attendance, News from religious organisations, Religion and Politics, Religion and Social Capital, Religion in public debate, Survey news | Tagged Accord Coalition, admission policies, charitable giving, Charities Aid Foundation, church attendance, church census, ComRes, discrimination, Greater London, Joy Dobbs, Karl Wilding, London City Mission, Malcolm Smith, National Council for Voluntary Organisations, Office for National Statistics, Peter Brierley, religious causes, Richard Harrison, selection, state schools, Véronique Jochum | 1 Comment

British Social Attitudes, 2011

Posted on September 18, 2012 by Clive D. Field

The twenty-ninth report from the British Social Attitudes (BSA) Survey was published by NatCen Social Research on 17 September 2012, less than a year after the completion of the fieldwork (June-November 2011) on which it is based.

As usual, the 2011 BSA was undertaken through a combination of face-to-face interviews and self-completion questionnaires with adult Britons aged 18 and over. The full sample comprised 3,311 individuals, albeit some questions were put only to sub-samples.

Edited by Alison Park, Elizabeth Clery, John Curtice, Miranda Phillips and David Utting, the book-length report on British Social Attitudes, 29 is available for free download from:

http://www.bsa-29.natcen.ac.uk/media/13421/bsa29_full_report.pdf

The annotated questionnaire for the survey can be found at:

http://www.bsa-29.natcen.ac.uk/media/11241/annotated_questionnaire_2011.pdf

Although the dataset is not yet available through the Economic and Social Data Service, the 2011 data have already been loaded into the British Social Attitudes Information System, through whose website weighted results for each question can be viewed, disaggregated by demographics. Go to:

http://www.britsocat.com/Home

There was no special module on religion in the 2011 survey, but several questions of potential interest to BRIN users were included.

Asked whether they regarded themselves as belonging to any particular religion, 44% of adults replied in the negative. This was a lower proportion than in 2010 (50%) but much higher than when the question had first been put in 1983 (31%). It also represented a big increase on the 17% of 2011 interviewees who had not been brought up in any religion, suggesting that very many relinquish faith on transition to adulthood.

The number professing no religion varied substantially by age, peaking among the 18-24s (65%) and falling steadily to 18% among the over-75s. The age differential also largely explains the high of 57% for the never married and the low of 25% for the widowed. Gender was likewise significant, with 51% of men against 39% of women having no faith.

Regionally, Wales (historically a heartland of Nonconformity) reported the greatest incidence of irreligion (58%) and Greater London (formerly renowned for its poor religious allegiance but now boosted by religiously-minded immigrants) one of the lowest (42%). The Midlands, another centre of immigration, recorded 41%.

Very regular (once a week or more) attendance at religious services (other than for rites of passage) was claimed by 14%, almost certainly an exaggeration, while 58% said that they never attended public worship, just a modest rise on 53% in 1991. The picture is complicated by the fact that this question was apparently answered by very many, albeit not all, of those professing no religion.

In fact, 13% of the irreligious stated that they sometimes attended religious services. Anglicans had the highest total non-attendance (56%), with Roman Catholics on 28%, other Christians on 39%, and non-Christians on 29%. Men (65%) were more likely never to attend than women (54%). Variation by age cohort was between 54% and 65%, by marital status between 56% and 64%, and by region between 54% and 65%.

Other questions explored attitudes to Muslims. In the main (face-to-face) questionnaire, randomly-chosen sub-samples were asked for their views on three groups of migrants to Britain (labour migrants, student migrants, and family reunion migrants) originating from various geographical contexts, one of them being ‘Muslim countries like Pakistan’.

An analysis of the results is given in the chapter on immigration (pp. 26-44) by Robert Ford, Gareth Morrell and Anthony Heath, which appears in British Social Attitudes, 29, especially on pp. 35-40. In respect of Muslims, public opinion was found to be more nuanced than has usually been assumed yet there remained some underlying prejudice.

Regarding labour migration, while 61% said that Muslim professionals filling jobs was good for Britain, only 17% said the same about unskilled Muslim labourers and even fewer (10%) about the same group searching for work. This professional/unskilled split was generic, but net support for Muslim migrants still tended to be less than from East Europe. Indeed, on several measures of the economic and cultural impact of migration there was a clear net preference for East Europeans over Muslims.

A similar trend was evident for student migration. Although the public was much more well-disposed to student migrants in general with good grades than bad grades, regardless of region of origin, net support for students with good grades from Muslim countries was smaller than from the other three geographical clusters, and net opposition to student migrants with bad grades was slightly higher for those from Muslim countries than West Europe or East Asia.

The pattern was repeated for family reunion migration, with which the public is unhappy overall. At 57%, net opposition to migrants from Muslim countries bringing their family to live in Britain for three years was very much greater than for family reunion migration from West Europe. The disparity remained when the period of settlement was extended to ten years, albeit family reunion migration from Africa was then perceived somewhat more negatively than from Muslim countries.

Version C of the self-completion questionnaire, put to one-third of the sample, explored another dimension of anti-Muslim prejudice, asking respondents how comfortable they would be if a close relative married or otherwise entered into a relationship with a person who grew up in a Muslim country. Answers were recorded on a scale running from 0 to 10.

23% of respondents were very uncomfortable (0 or 1) about this prospect and 22% very comfortable (9 0r 10). Least discomfort was felt by the 18-24s (10%) and Scots (14%). Most discomfort was manifested by the over-65s (including 38% for the 65-74s), with age also probably contributing to highs for those with no educational qualifications (44%) and the widowed (38%).

The 2011 BSA findings on religious affiliation were highlighted in the notes for editors section of a BBC press release on 12 September concerning the Corporation’s RE:THINK 2012 Religion and Ethics Festival, hosted in Salford recently.

In connection with the Festival, the BBC commissioned its own research from TNS BMRB among 585 16- to 24-year-olds, interviewed face-to-face between 15 and 21 August 2012.

Asked to rank the most important moral issue for them, having religious faith or beliefs featured in equal penultimate place in a list of eight options, scoring just 4% compared with 59% of the young who selected looking after family. Moreover, religion was considered the least important moral issue by 32% of respondents.

The BBC press release can be found at:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2012/rethink-poll.html

Posted in church attendance, Religion and Ethnicity, Religion and Politics, Religion in public debate, Survey news | Tagged Alison Park, BBC, British Social Attitudes Survey, church attendance, David Utting, Elizabeth Clery, Immigration, Islamophobia, John Curtice, marriage, migration, Miranda Phillips, moral issues, Muslims, NatCen Social Research, Pakistan, RE:THINK 2012, Religious Affiliation, religious services, students, TNS-BMRB | 4 Comments

Summer Shorts

Posted on August 23, 2012 by Clive D. Field

Herewith a round-up of some recently-published religious statistics which may be of interest to BRIN readers:

Religious Affiliation

Asked whether they consider themselves to be a member of any religious group, 56% of adults reply Christian, 6% some other religion, and 36% none. The number professing no religion decreases steadily with age, from 52% among the 18-24s to 23% for the over-65s (73% of the latter claiming to be Christian). The biggest concentration of adherents of non-Christian faiths is to be found in London (12%) and with the 18-24s (10%).

Source: Populus poll for Insight PA, conducted online on 4-5 July 2012 among 2,117 Britons aged 18 and over. Data reported in table 41 at:

http://www.populus.co.uk/uploads/OmPrivate_Public.pdf

Older Giving

Slightly more than half (52%) of the UK’s over-65s were online in June 2012, 6% more than in March 2009, albeit still 30% below the average for all adults. This advent of the ‘silver surfer’ is proving financially advantageous to religious causes, even as the traditional church collection plate shows signs of drying up. In May 2012 the over-65s were more likely than average to prioritize charities related to cancer, old age and religion when it comes to their online giving, and less likely to support organizations dedicated to animals, foreign aid, and homelessness. Online contributions by the over-60s to religious causes rose by 171% between 2007 and 2011, compared with 128% for all adults, although online donations to culture and the arts grew even faster (459% among the over-60s, 210% for the population as a whole).

Source: Infographic, compiled by JustGiving from multiple sources, and posted on its blog on 6 August 2012 at:

http://blog.justgiving.com/community/older-giving/

Superstitions

41% of adults describe themselves as superstitious (including 48% of the 18-24s and 45% of women), with 39% saying they are not superstitious at all. The most prevalent superstitious practices are: not walking underneath ladders (38%), touching wood (33%), not opening an umbrella indoors (27%), and crossing fingers (26%). 32% consider themselves as lucky, 27% have a lucky number, but just 6% have lucky underwear. Four leaf clovers (26%) and black cats (20%) are the most widely-regarded omens of good luck, and breaking a mirror (35%) and number 13 (20%) of bad luck. 8% fear 2013 may not be a good year for them because it contains the number 13 in the date.

Source: OnePoll online survey of 1,000 UK adults aged 18 and over in July 2012. OnePoll has kindly given BRIN sight of the full findings, but the only substantive public domain report to date appears to be the post from 20 July 2012 on OnePoll’s blog at:

http://news.onepoll.com/avoiding-walking-ladders-popular-superstition/

Same-Sex Marriage

The Coalition Government’s commitment to widen the definition of marriage to include same-sex couples is proving none too popular with churchgoing Christians, 58% of whom say they are less likely to vote Conservative as a result and 43% less likely to vote Liberal Democrat. Moreover, as a consequence of Government policy on the issue, 75% state their perceptions of Tory leader David Cameron have worsened and 65% report the same about LibDem leader Nick Clegg. 63% believe Cameron has been intolerant of the opposition to the plan and 54% that Clegg has failed to listen to public concerns about it. Three-fifths agree that ‘whether or not I would have voted for the Conservative or Liberal Democrat Parties, I will not do so under their current leaderships if they introduce this measure’. 79% are not persuaded by Government reassurances that places of worship would not be forced to conduct same-sex marriages, while 86% fear that, even if Government does provide an exemption along these lines, it could be overturned by the UK courts or European Court of Human Rights.

Source: Cpanel survey by ComRes for the Coalition for Marriage (C4M) in which 569 churchgoing Christians in the UK aged 18 and over were interviewed online between 26 June and 11 July 2012. Full data tables, including a wide range of breaks by demographics and religion, were posted on 22 August 2012 at:

http://www.comres.co.uk/polls/C4M_full_data_tables_July_12.pdf

Newspaper coverage of the findings can be tracked via the C4M website under the entries for 18 and 19 August 2012 at:

http://c4m.org.uk/news/

Religious Studies GCSE Results, 2012

There were 239,123 candidates for the full course General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) in Religious Studies (RS) in England, Wales and Northern Ireland during the summer of 2012, an increase of 7.7% over the 2011 figure (8.0% for male students and 7.5% for female). RS entries accounted for 4.6% of the total for all subjects (4.3% for males and 4.9% for females), up by 0.3% on the previous year. Entrants achieving grades of A*, A, B or C at RS were 73.7% (67.1% for males, 79.4% for females), 4.3% more than the average for all subjects. As well as the full course, there is a short course in RS, with 235,916 entries in 2012 (8.5% less than in summer 2011, 9.2% down for males and 7.7% for females). Candidates in RS comprised 63.5% of the total for all short courses, with 53.8% achieving grades of A*-C (46.0% for males and 61.5% for females).

Source: Results tables (which include disaggregations by country) published by the Joint Council for Qualifications, representing the seven largest providers of qualifications in the UK, on 23 August 2012 at:

http://www.jcq.org.uk/attachments/published/1727/GCSE%20Results%202012.pdf

Posted in Religion and Politics, Religion in public debate, Survey news | Tagged charitable giving, Coalition for Marriage, Coalition Government, ComRes, Conservative Party, Cpanel, examinations, GCSE, General Certificate of Secondary Education, Insight PA, Joint Council for Qualifications, JustGiving, Liberal Democrat Party, luck, OnePoll, Populus, Religious Affiliation, religious studies, same-sex marriage, superstitions, voting | Leave a comment

Women Bishops

Posted on July 13, 2012 by Clive D. Field

The Church of England’s General Synod may have passed an adjournment motion last Monday, to send the draft Bishops and Priests (Consecration and Ordination of Women) Measure back for further episcopal review, but a majority of the general public seem to favour the idea of women bishops, according to two opinion polls released this week.

The first survey was undertaken by ComRes, on behalf of the Bible Society, with online fieldwork on 4 and 5 July 2012 among 2,117 Britons aged 18 and over. It was published on 9 July, to coincide with the anticipated (but unrealized) final vote on women bishops in General Synod. The full data tables have been posted at:

http://www.comres.co.uk/polls/Bible_Society_Women_Bishops_July2012.pdf

ComRes discovered that support for women bishops hovered around the three-quarters’ mark, depending a little upon question-wording. Thus:

74% thought that the Church of England should allow women to become bishops;
73% considered that the fact there was a debate at all showed the Church to be out of touch with society’s expectations of gender equality;
79% contended that, as women could already be appointed as vicars, they should also be able to become bishops;
77% said that it would be wrong not to allow women to become bishops just because of their sex

Opposition to women bishops ran at 12% overall, peaking at 19% among the over-65s and 17% for professed Christians (against just 4% of those with no religion). 15% were undecided, including 25% of non-Christians.

On the other hand, opinion was finely balanced about whether the issue of women bishops was sufficiently important for the Church of England to be spending time discussing it at the moment. While 43% said that it was, 42% deemed it to be a lower priority for the Church than other topics. Scots (50%) particularly took the latter view.

Although 67% claimed that the debate suggested there were many Anglicans who were sexist, 44% (rising to 51% of Christians) agreed that opponents of women bishops were merely following a traditional interpretation of the Bible, rather than being sexist, and society ought to respect their values.

The second poll was conducted by YouGov and published today. The sample comprised 1,721 adult Britons, who were interviewed online on 8 and 9 July 2012. The results are available at:

http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/nlslrhqpzu/YG-Archives-Life-YG-FemaleBishops-130712.pdf

YouGov posed only one question. Reminding respondents that ‘the Church of England is still considering how to accommodate the appointment of female bishops’, it asked whether the Church should allow such bishops or not.

The proportion opposed was the same as in the ComRes study (12%), but the number in favour was reduced to 55%, mainly because there was an explicit ‘no opinion either way’ option, which attracted 30% of the total vote (and 40% in Scotland).

Meanwhile, the mind of practising grass-roots Anglicans on the subject of women bishops has been tested by Christian Research for Forward in Faith (which describes itself as ‘a worldwide association of Anglicans who are unable in conscience to accept the ordination of women as priests or as bishops’).

1,125 regular Anglican churchgoers (95% attending services once a week or more) were interviewed online between March and May 2012. The sample was unweighted but was said by Christian Research to align closely with the composition, in terms of age and churchmanship, of the Church of England as a whole.

48% of these Anglican worshippers wanted to see the consecration of women bishops in the Church of England as soon as possible, 22% within the next 5-10 years, 15% when a consensus is reached among all other churches, and 16% never.

Churchgoers were mostly sympathetic to the position of those who could not, in conscience, support women bishops. 44% said that such persons should not be forced out of the Church, 31% wanted some form of compromise to enable them to remain within the Church, and 7% even thought they should have the right to veto the introduction of women bishops.

Posted in News from religious organisations, Religion in public debate, Survey news | Tagged Bible Society, Christian Research, Church of England, ComRes, Forward in Faith, sexism, women bishops, YouGov | Leave a comment

Welcome to 2013

Christmas and Other Themes

Religious Census 2011 – Initial Responses

Summer Shorts

http://blog.justgiving.com/community/older-giving/

Women Bishops

Recent News

Recent Sources

Archives

Recent Comments

British Religion in Numbers is funded as a British Academy Research Project