Science’s Unanswered Questions

Posted on June 30, 2012 by Clive D. Field

‘Does God exist?’ is the third most important scientific question which Britons want answered, according to a survey of 2,000 adults published today and commissioned by UKTV’s Eden channel to inaugurate its July Science Month programming. The press release (which contains no details of fieldwork dates or methodology) is available at:

http://uktv.co.uk/network/item/aid/652946

The top ten scientific conundrums according to the public are:

1. Are we alone in the universe? – 54%

2. Will there ever be a cure for cancer? – 46%

3. Does God exist? – 39%

4. How big is space? – 33%

5. How and where did life start on earth? – 30%

6. Is time travel possible? – 29%

7. Will we ever colonise space? – 27%

8. What will replace oil and when? – 27%

9. How will the universe end? – 24%

10. How long can the human lifespan be extended? – 20%

All in all, an interesting blend of terrestrial and ethereal preoccupations!

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House of Lords Reform

Posted on June 28, 2012 by Clive D. Field

The Government’s House of Lords Reform Bill, which was tabled and thus received a First Reading in the House of Commons on 27 June 2012, proposes that the United Kingdom’s second Parliamentary chamber be reduced in size and become mainly elected.

However, one-fifth of its membership would still be appointed, and, in the plans, there is a continuing place for Church of England bishops sitting as the Lords Spiritual, albeit their number would be reduced from the present 26 to 12 (five holders of nominated sees and seven ‘ordinary’ bishops). Details are at Part 4, Sections 19-23 of the Bill.

To judge by a YouGov poll on House of Lords reform, commissioned by The Sun and published on 27 June to coincide with the First Reading, a majority (56%) of the 1,614 adult Britons interviewed online on 25 and 26 June 2012 believed that, with the opportunity of reform in the offing, the time has come to remove Church of England bishops from the Lords entirely. 26% wanted them to keep their seats, and 19% had no opinion. Full data tables can be found at:

http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/s9zuj152zl/YG-Archives-YouGov-LordsReform-270612.pdf

Unseating the bishops was supported by a majority of all the three main political parties: 62% of Liberal Democrat voters, 53% of Labourites, but even 52% of Conservatives. There were regional extremes, with as many as 70% of Scots wanting the bishops out of the Lords (Presbyterian sentiments evidently die hard) but only 49% of Londoners. Men appeared to be keener than women to unseat the bishops, and the over-60s more than the 18-24s, but this was partly a function of the greater number of ‘don’t knows’ among women and the youngest age cohort.

Other surveys in very recent years have also suggested that just a minority of the public endorse the concept of Lords Spiritual in the upper chamber, for example:

  • January 2012 (YouGov): 24% wanted bishops to continue to sit and vote in the House of Lords, and 58% were opposed
  • April 2011 (Ipsos MORI): 26% supported an episcopal presence in the House of Lords, 32% were opposed, and 32% neutral
  • March 2010 (ICM): 21% thought it right for bishops to have automatic seats in the House of Lords, and 74% wrong

These results can be compared with the situation in July 2007 when ComRes found the public fairly evenly divided about the continued presence of the bishops in the House of Lords, with 48% agreeing and 43% disagreeing. So, attitudes to the Lords Spiritual may be hardening.

What these polls cannot tell us, of course, is the strength with which people hold their views against an episcopal presence in the House of Lords or their rationale for doing so.

Nevertheless, there will doubtless be some commentators who will interpret YouGov’s latest findings as further evidence of popular demand to terminate the constitutionally-embedded role of religion. And perhaps this may even tempt some Parliamentarians to move amendments to the Bill in an attempt to exclude the Lords Spiritual from a reformed House of Lords. Watch this space!

 

 

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New Poll Findings

Posted on June 24, 2012 by Clive D. Field

There have been no substantive polls on religion in Britain during recent weeks, but here are a few findings from disparate surveys which BRIN has yet to report and which some of our readers may have missed:

Religious affiliation

56% to 58% of Britons consider themselves to be a ‘member’ of Christianity, and 7% to 9% of a non-Christian faith, while 32% to 33% claim they have no religion. 18-24s are most likely to say they have no religion (42% to 47%) and over-65s the least (20% to 24%). Non-Christians are most prevalent among the 18-34s and in London (where they form one-fifth of the population).

Source: Three Populus polls on (respectively) executive pay, the monarchy and the European Union commissioned by various clients, and undertaken online on 11-13 May, 25-28 May and 8-10 June 2012 among samples of approximately 2,000 adults aged 18 and over. Detailed statistics will be found in the classification section of the respective data tables at:

http://www.populus.co.uk/uploads/Populus%20Executive%20Pay_Shareholder%20Rights%20Results(1).pdf

http://www.populus.co.uk/uploads/May%202012%20monarchy.pdf

http://www.populus.co.uk/uploads/European%20Union%20Referendum%20Poll.pdf

Interfaith matters

Religious ignorance is an issue in the UK, according to 64% of Britons. In seeming confirmation of this, only 43% know that Christians, Jews and Muslims believe in the same God (dropping to 29% of the 18-24s, compared with 57% of over-65s). Less than one-third understand that Jesus is recognized as a major prophet in Islam, with almost half thinking this to be untrue. 51% (including 60% of 18-24s) admit to making an initial judgment of a person based on their religion.

Source: Populus poll of adult Britons aged 18 and over, conducted for the Maimonides Foundation. Headline results were published on 29 May 2012 and featured in Church Times (1 June), Jewish Chronicle (1 June), Church of England Newspaper (3 June), and Daily Telegraph (9 June). Full tabulations and methodological details have not yet been disclosed, but BRIN has requested them. 

Religious education

Of those expressing an opinion, 58% of Britons agree that it is beneficial for pupils to study religious education (RE) at school, and 53% want it to remain a compulsory subject. Among 18-24s, with the most recent direct experience of school RE, the figure rises to 63% in each case. Again excluding the don’t knows, 50% of all adults regard RE as an essential component of a multi-faith society, against 9% who see RE as harmful and 13% who think it should not be taught in schools at all.

Source: YouGov poll for the Religious Education Council (REC) of England and Wales, undertaken online among 1,825 adults aged 18 and over in England and Wales on 9-12 March 2012. The REC tells BRIN that full data will not be available until the autumn. Meanwhile, a press release from the REC – dated 11 June, and the basis of various print and online media coverage – can be found at:

http://www.religiouseducationcouncil.org/content/view/246/46/

Same-sex marriages

68% of Scots agree that religious organizations should have the right to decide for themselves whether or not to perform same-sex marriages, with 21% disagreeing and 10% uncertain. Agreement is higher among women (72%) than men (64%), the over-55s (72%) than the 18-24s (64%), and Conservative voters (76%) than Scottish Nationalists (64%).

Source: Ipsos MORI poll for the Equality Network, conducted by telephone among 1,003 Scottish adults aged 18 and over on 7-13 June 2012. A press release and charts were published on 17 June and are available at:

http://www.ipsos-mori.com/researchpublications/researcharchive/2978/Majority-of-Scots-support-gay-marriage.aspx

 

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LGBT Opinion on Same-Sex Marriage

Posted on June 12, 2012 by Clive D. Field

The Government’s public consultation on ‘equal civil marriage’, which closes this Thursday (14 June 2012), continues to excite controversy. According to today’s The Times, there have already been more than 100,000 formal responses.

Much of the opposition to these proposals to legalize same-sex marriage has come from religious groups, both Christian and non-Christian, who regard them as an attempt to redefine the nature and meaning of marriage.

This is notwithstanding the fact that Government, in an effort to placate religious viewpoints, intends to restrict the marriage of same-sex couples to a civil ceremony conducted on secular premises. No eligibility is mooted for them to have a religious marriage ceremony on religious premises.    

However, religious leaders (including in the Church of England, which has today published its submission to the consultation) have suggested that this proposal wrongly implies that there are two categories of marriage, civil and religious; ‘this is to mistake the wedding ceremony for the institution of marriage’.

They also doubt whether the distinction would withstand legal challenge, in the form of discrimination claims, and fear that places of worship will eventually have to offer religious ceremonies for same-sex couples.

It has now emerged, from hitherto unreported results of an online poll commissioned by Catholic Voices, that gay people are also dissatisfied with the Government’s compromise in offering same-sex marriages in secular venues only.

The survey was carried out between 27 April and 20 May 2012 among 541 adult Britons aged 18 and over who self-identified as LGBT – gay, lesbian, bisexual or other non-heterosexual – in a screening question asked of 10,139 persons. Full data tables are available at:

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

Among the various questions and statements put to LGBTs were two about same-sex marriage in places of worship, the first being ‘true marriage equality would mean that same-sex couples could marry in places of worship as well as in civil locations’.

Three-fifths (61%) of LGBTs agreed with this proposition, rising to almost three-quarters in South-West England, Wales and Scotland. Women (67%) were more in favour than men (58%). Only 15% of all LGBTs disagreed, with 24% undecided.

The second statement was that ‘faith groups should be forced to allow gay weddings in places of worship’. This split LGBT opinion down the middle, with 35% wanting faith groups compelled to permit same-sex weddings in their places of worship, peaking at 46% among the 35-44s, 51% in Scotland, and 53% of those agreeing with the first statement. 38% dissented and 27% were uncertain.

There are two interesting methodological aspects of this poll. First, the percentage of the initial ComRes screening sample self-identifying as gay was three times that in the Government’s Integrated Household Survey, which is conducted by a combination of face-to-face and telephone interviews. ComRes suggests as a possible explanation for the discrepancy that ‘online polls tend to attract younger, urban populations where numbers of openly gay people are higher’.

Second, ComRes admits to having weighted the data ‘to be representative demographically of the wider GB adult population’. This rather implies that heterosexuals and LGBTs have the identical demographic profile, which is probably not the case.

 

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What Anglicans (and others) think about homosexuality and disestablishment

Posted on June 12, 2012 by Siobhan McAndrew

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Earlier today, the Church of England responded to the Government’s proposals to introduce same-sex marriage. For further information, follow these links to coverage by BBC News, the Guardian, and the Telegraph; furthermore, the Church of England’s full response is available here.

In view of the discussion generated by the response, it is worth examining what Anglicans themselves think about gay relationships. My colleague Ben Clements at the University of Leicester has recently looked at data from the British Social Attitudes surveys and the European Values Surveys to see how attitudes to homosexual relationship have changed over the past three decades or so.

We recently published his full report here as part of our Figures section, which provides an array of statistics on attitudes to gay relationships, towards gay people, to adoption and other issues. To summarise:

  • In 1983, 70 per cent of Anglicans considered sexual relationships between people of the same sex were always or almost always wrong. By 2010, this had nearly halved to 37 per cent.
  • In 1983, 75 per cent of Catholics considered same sex relationships were always or almost always wrong; by 2010, this had fallen to 41 per cent.
  • In 1983, 80 per cent of Other Christians considered such rlationships wrong; by 2010, this had fallen to 47 per cent.
  • In 1983, 58 per cent of those with no religion considered such relationships wrong; by 2010, this had fallen to 21 per cent.

A specific question on the right to marriage was asked on the British Social Attitudes survey in 2007:

‘How much do you agree or disagree that … gay or lesbian couples should have the right to marry one another if they want to?’

Again, Ben broke the responses down by religious affiliation. There is some variation by religious affiliation, although note that age or ‘social generation’ effects may also be a key driver here: those of no religion are generally considerably younger than Anglicans. More complex analysis would be required to assess how far religious affiliation determines attitudes compared with other socio-demographic variables such as sex, education, socioeconomic status, and so forth.

 

Discussion today has also focused on the position of the Church of England as the established church. The Church of England argues that the proposals mean that the institution of marriage would be redefined in law to mean something the Church would ‘struggle to recognise’ as marriage:

‘the institution of marriage would have been redefined generally for the purposes of English law. At the very least that raises new and as yet unexplored questions about the implications for the current duties which English law imposes on clergy of the Established Church’ [Annex, paragraphs 21, 22].

Relatedly, Ben has also recently looked at attitudes to disestablishment of the Church of England. He analysed data from the British Election Study (BES) AV Referendum Study, undertaken in spring 2011, which included a number of questions regarding reform of British institutions. The full report is also available here in the Figures section.

The question on disestablishment, which was asked on the post-campaign survey wave, was:

 ‘The Church of England should keep its status as the official established church in England.’

The response options were: ‘strongly agree’, ‘agree’, ‘neither agree nor disagree’, ‘disagree’ and ‘strongly disagree’.

While the BES does not ask respondents their religious affiliation, we can break down responses by other demographics. To simplify, the ‘strongly agree’ and ‘agree’ response categories were collapsed. To summarise:

  • Overall, 54 per cent of respondents agreed the Church of England should remain the established church, 22 per cent neither agreed nor disagreed, 16 per cent disagreed (i.e. favoured disestablishment), and 8 per cent didn’t know.
  • Women are more in favour of the status quo than men ( 57 per cent of women agreed with the proposal compared with 50 per cent of men; 12 per cent disagreed compared with 19 per cent of men).
  • 54 per cent of Whites and 55 per cent of Black respondents are in favour of the status quo compared with 40 per cent of Asian respondents. However, the percentage disagreeing was similar for White and Asian respondents (16 and 15 per cent respectively) while that for Black respondents was 8 per cent – notably, 20 per cent of Asian respondents replied that they didn’t know.
  • There is some variation by age category. 63 per cent of those aged 65 and over favour the status quo compared with 41 per cent of those aged 18 to 24; 13 per cent of those aged 65 and over disagreed with the proposition (presumably, therefore, favouring disestablishment) compared with 19 per cent of those aged 18 to 24.
  • English respondents were more likely to support the Church of England continuing as the established church: 56 per cent agreed compared with 51 per cent in Wales, where the Anglican ‘Church in Wales’ was disestablished in 1920, and 31 per cent in Scotland (where the Church of Scotland is recognised as the national church but is not established). 15 per cent of English respondents disagreed, compared with 17 per cent of Welsh respondents, and 24 per cent of Scottish respondents.
  • Conservative Party supporters are more likely to favour continuing establishment: 69 per cent compared with 49 per cent of Labour supporters, 46 per cent of Lib Dems, and 45 per cent favouring no particular party. 8 per cent of Conservative Party supporters disagreed, thereby favouring disestablishment, compared with 19 per cent of Labour supporters, 25 per cent of Lib Dems, and 18 per cent of those favouring no particular party.
  • 74 per cent of Daily Mail readers favour the Church of England remaining established, compared with 65 per cent of Telegraph readers, 61 per cent of Sun readers, 52 per cent of Times readers, 36 per cent of Independent readers, and 28 per cent of Guardian readers.  7 per cent of Daily Mail readers favour disestablishment, compared with 13 percent of Telegraph readers, 7 per cent of Sun readers, 25 per cent of Times readers, 34 per cent of Independent readers, and 45 per cent of Guardian readers.

Again, the full reports and breakdowns are available in the Figures section via the drop-down menu, where the contact details for Ben are also available (although note that he is currently on paternity leave – congratulations Ben!).

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Diamond Jubilation

Posted on June 8, 2012 by Clive D. Field

Her Majesty the Queen’s diamond jubilee weekend celebrations are now past. They seem to have resonated with a majority of the British public, but how many, one wonders, stopped to think about the meaning and origins of the word ‘jubilee’?

The same question occurred to the Bible Society, which – not unnaturally – wished to discover the extent to which people knew that jubilee has a Biblical derivation (Leviticus), the jubilee year marking the end of seven cycles of sabbatical years.

The Society commissioned ComRes to ask a representative sample of 2,056 adult Britons aged 18 and over ‘Where does the term jubilee come from?’ Fieldwork was undertaken online on 25-28 May 2012, and the data tables are available at:

http://www.comres.co.uk/polls/Bible_Society_Diamond_Jubilee_May12_data_tables.pdf

Only 12% of all respondents knew that jubilee had its roots in the Bible, and even among professing Christians it was no more than 14% (with 10% each for those of other religions or no religion).

The over-65s (22%) were most knowledgeable, twice the number in all other age cohorts. The top social group (the ABs) were also good at identifying the Biblical link (18%), while men – perhaps surprisingly – scored better than women (16% versus 9%).

The most popular answer to the question was Queen Victoria (30%), reflecting the fact that she was the only monarch before Queen Elizabeth II to celebrate a diamond jubilee. 7% said William Shakespeare, but 49% had no idea where jubilee came from.

This is not the first time that Bible Society has surveyed public knowledge of the biblical origins of common words or phrases. Just over a year ago, in connection with the quatercentenary of the Authorized Version, the Society funded ComRes to ask Britons to name the source of five quotations, all of which came from the Bible.

On that occasion, while 56% knew that ‘my brother’s keeper’ derived from the Bible, just 7% to 19% identified it as the origin of the other four quotations. Biblical literacy was again found to be highest among the over-65s and the ABs. See BRIN’s coverage at:

http://www.brin.ac.uk/news/2011/influence-of-the-bible/

 

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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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Recent ComRes Polls

Posted on May 19, 2012 by Clive D. Field

This post summarizes findings from three recent ComRes polls of the general public aged 18 and over and which have touched on religious issues.

Defender of the Faith

Pretty strong numerical support for the continuation of the faith links of the monarchy is revealed in a poll conducted in England on behalf of BBC local radio, and involving telephone interviews with a sample of 2,591 adults between 30 March and 15 April 2012. Data tables are available at:

http://www.comres.co.uk/polls/BBC_Defender_of_the_Faith_Poll_April12_data_tables_rerun.pdf

79% agree that the Queen still has an important faith role, and only 25% say that she and future monarchs should not have any faith role or title at all. 73% are in favour of them retaining the titles of Supreme Governor of the Church of England and Defender of the Faith, while 50% are prepared to accede to Prince Charles’ request that, on becoming king, he should be Defender of Faith (in general, with 35% opposed). There is some variation in results by demographics, notably above-average endorsement of the faith links of the monarchy among the over-65s.

The overall high figures may partially reflect the public’s perception of the importance which the Queen has been attaching to faith during her Diamond Jubilee celebrations, and/or more positive views of the monarchy as an institution during the past year or so. However, as a meta analysis of all poll data on the various aspects of Church and State has shown (in the September 2011 issue of Implicit Religion), opinions on the subject tend not to be deeply held or well informed.

Talking about Religion

Britons feel more comfortable about discussing religion with family and friends (80%) than they do about money (75%), dying (71%) and sex (57%). Only politics (82%) and immigration (84%) score more highly as conversation topics. These findings emerge from a poll commissioned by the Dying Matters Coalition, and undertaken online on 13-15 April 2012 with 2,028 respondents. Data tables are at:

http://www.comres.co.uk/polls/Dying_Matters_Public_April12.pdf

The over-65s (86%) and Scots (85%) feel somewhat more relaxed about discussing religion than other demographic sub-groups. Just 14% of the whole sample find religion an uncomfortable topic of conversation, the proportion only reaching one-fifth among public sector workers.

Origins of the Universe

Just 26% of Britons (and no more than 35% of professing Christians) believe that God caused the Universe to exist and 41% disbelieve this, according to an online survey for Premier Christian Radio between 20 and 22 April 2012, in which 2,054 people were interviewed. 14% think neither scenario to be true, and 19% express no opinion. Data tables can be found at:

http://www.comres.co.uk/polls/Premier_Universe_question_April12_data_tables.pdf

Younger persons (aged 18-34) are more likely (31%) to believe that God caused the Universe to exist than the over-55s (24%). Women are also more likely to believe this than men, the top social grade (AB) more than other groups, and public sector workers more than private sector ones. Disbelief in a divine origin of the Universe peaks at 54% in the East Midlands and 64% among those with no religion.

 

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Gay Marriage Revisited

Posted on May 6, 2012 by Clive D. Field

Some Conservative politicians are blaming the Coalition’s losses in last Thursday’s local elections on the Government’s energetic pursuit of (essentially Liberal Democrat) policies which voters deem unimportant. The reform of the House of Lords and the legalization of gay marriage are often cited in this context.

However, public support for gay marriage appears to be confirmed in a OnePoll survey published in today’s edition of The People newspaper (see, especially, pages 2 and 21). A sample of 2,000 adults aged 18 and over was interviewed online on 3 and 4 May 2012.

59% of respondents said that they supported plans to allow gay couples to marry, compared with 15% who believed that only civil partnerships should be possible (as now). 13% did not want gay relationships to have any form of legal recognition, while 13% were unsure what to think.

Moreover, two-thirds of those in favour of gay marriage (or 40% of the entire sample) wanted gay couples to be allowed to marry in a religious ceremony or in church, if they chose. There was a marked gender split, with women (45%) being more likely to agree than men (34%).  

The OnePoll question-wording is not absolutely comparable with other recent surveys which have probed attitudes to gay marriage and the Church. Nevertheless, the following results are worth noting:

  • In an ICM poll for The Sunday Telegraph on 7 and 8 March 2012 55% of Britons argued that the Churches should have the right to refuse to marry gay couples in church, in the event of gay marriage being legalized. 26% disagreed, with 18% uncertain.
  • In a YouGov poll for The Sunday Times on 8 and 9 March 2012 37% thought the Church of England was wrong to defend marriage as an institution for just heterosexual couples. 47% said that it was right and 16% expressed no opinion.
  • In a YouGov poll for The Sun on 3 and 4 April 2012 42% considered same-sex couples should be allowed to marry in church, with 43% opposed, and 15% undecided

Overall, therefore, the surveys for The Sun and The People do seem consistent in suggesting that two-fifths of the general public are well-disposed to gay marriages taking place in church.

Churchgoers, by contrast, seem hostile to the whole concept of legalizing same-sex marriage. 83% were against the idea according to the ComRes Cpanel study of October 2011, and over two-thirds of evangelicals were strongly opposed in November 2011.

 

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Religious Education in Scottish Schools

Posted on May 5, 2012 by Clive D. Field

Scottish schools are failing to make parents aware of their statutory rights concerning religious and moral education and religious observance, according to new research by YouGov for the Humanist Society Scotland, and published on 30 April 2012.

One thousand Scottish parents of children aged 5-16 were interviewed online between 29 March and 4 April 2012. They were predominantly aged 35-54. A six-page report on the survey, together with a spreadsheet of the full data, is available at:

http://www.humanism-scotland.org.uk/content/education_research/

All Scottish schools are required, by the Education (Scotland) Act 1980, to communicate to parents their right to remove a child from any aspect of religious education and observance, if they wish. Schools are also required to offer a suitable alternative activity.

But in this poll only 20% of Scottish parents claimed they had originally learned of their rights through the school. 41% found out through another route, and the remaining 39% were unaware of their rights at all.

Of the 77% of parents who reported that their child participated in religious education and observance at school, 67% stressed the importance of children learning about a variety of religious beliefs as the reason, while just 15% cited their own religiosity for wanting their child to learn about religion at school. 18% wanted their child to stay with their classmates, 13% did not know that they could withdraw their child, and 11% stated that the alternative options were not spelled out by the school. Multiple answers were possible to this question.

Asked about the best approach to teaching religious education and observance at school, 18% of the full sample argued for the complete removal of the subject from schools. 71% supported a pluralistic approach (with 39% favouring equal time being spent on all main religions, and 32% coverage of all main religions but with a focus on the faith held by the majority of pupils). 4% felt that schools should concentrate on one religion.

Prompted about the specific topics which religious education and observance should cover at school, 16% of all parents thought that no religious or spiritual area should be included. 68% elected for Christianity, 48% Islam, 46% Judaism, 45% Hinduism, 43% Buddhism, 40% Sikhism, 39% philosophy, 38% atheism and secularism, and 21% Jainism.

In sum, therefore, fewer than one-fifth of Scottish parents wish to see the abolition of religious education and observance in schools, albeit this number might conceivably increase if there was more universal awareness of the parental right of withdrawal of their child from religious education and observance. 

As things stand, the overwhelming majority of Scottish parents appear to support the continuation of religious education and observance in schools, but on the implicit understanding that the delivery reflects all major world belief systems.

 

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