Perhaps this explains it
jimbo
Britain one of the 'world's least religious countries', says poll
Survey of nearly 64,000 people across the world finds Britain has one of the lowest numbers of people who declare themselves to be religious
By David Barrett, Home Affairs Correspondent
4:00AM BST 13 Apr 2015
Britain is one of the least religious countries in the world, with two thirds of the population describing themselves as atheist or "not religious", a new survey has disclosed.
Only 30 per cent of Britons interviewed by pollsters as part of a world-wide project said they would describe themselves as religious, regardless of whether they attended a place of worship.
It compared with 53 per cent who said they were “not religious” and 13 per cent who said they were a “convinced atheist”. The remainder were “don’t knows”.
The study appeared to show significantly different results to other research conducted in 2013 - the British Social Attitudes Survey - which said 52 per cent of the population associated with any religion while 48 per cent described themselves as having no faith.
In the latest study only three European countries surveyed by WIN/Gallup International had a lower proportion claiming to be religious than the UK – Sweden (19 per cent), the Netherlands (26 per cent) and the Czech Republic (27 per cent).
Outside Europe only China (7 per cent), Japan (13 per cent) and Hong Kong (26 per cent) had lower proportions of self-declared religious followers than Britain.
Worldwide just over six out of 10 people (63 per cent) citizens described themselves as religious, while one in five (22 per cent) said they were not and 11 per cent considered themselves atheists.
The poll asked nearly 64,000 people from 65 countries about their beliefs.
• Christianity on course to be minority religion in UK
• Fascinating facts about Britain's churches and cathedrals
Globally people aged under 34 tended to be more religious – with 66 per cent describing themselves as such compared with about 60 per cent for all other age groups.
In the United States 56 per cent of people polled said they were religious, 33 per cent said they were not and 6 per cent said they were atheists, with the rest “don’t knows”.
Jean-Marc Leger, of WIN/Gallup, said: “Religion continues to dominate our everyday lives and we see that the total number of people who consider themselves to be religious is actually relatively high.
“Furthermore, with the trend of an increasingly religious youth globally, we can assume that the number of people who consider themselves religious will only continue to increase.”
Earlier this month a report predicted Christians will be a minority in the UK by the middle of this century amid surging growth in atheism and Islam.
According to projections by the US-based Pew Research Centre, the proportion of the British population identifying themselves as Christian will reduce by almost a third by 2050 to stand at just 45.4 per cent, compared with almost two thirds in 2010.
Read more
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/rel...rlds-least-religious-countries-says-poll.html
jimbo
Britain one of the 'world's least religious countries', says poll
Survey of nearly 64,000 people across the world finds Britain has one of the lowest numbers of people who declare themselves to be religious
By David Barrett, Home Affairs Correspondent
4:00AM BST 13 Apr 2015
Britain is one of the least religious countries in the world, with two thirds of the population describing themselves as atheist or "not religious", a new survey has disclosed.
Only 30 per cent of Britons interviewed by pollsters as part of a world-wide project said they would describe themselves as religious, regardless of whether they attended a place of worship.
It compared with 53 per cent who said they were “not religious” and 13 per cent who said they were a “convinced atheist”. The remainder were “don’t knows”.
The study appeared to show significantly different results to other research conducted in 2013 - the British Social Attitudes Survey - which said 52 per cent of the population associated with any religion while 48 per cent described themselves as having no faith.
In the latest study only three European countries surveyed by WIN/Gallup International had a lower proportion claiming to be religious than the UK – Sweden (19 per cent), the Netherlands (26 per cent) and the Czech Republic (27 per cent).
Outside Europe only China (7 per cent), Japan (13 per cent) and Hong Kong (26 per cent) had lower proportions of self-declared religious followers than Britain.
Worldwide just over six out of 10 people (63 per cent) citizens described themselves as religious, while one in five (22 per cent) said they were not and 11 per cent considered themselves atheists.
The poll asked nearly 64,000 people from 65 countries about their beliefs.
• Christianity on course to be minority religion in UK
• Fascinating facts about Britain's churches and cathedrals
Globally people aged under 34 tended to be more religious – with 66 per cent describing themselves as such compared with about 60 per cent for all other age groups.
In the United States 56 per cent of people polled said they were religious, 33 per cent said they were not and 6 per cent said they were atheists, with the rest “don’t knows”.
Jean-Marc Leger, of WIN/Gallup, said: “Religion continues to dominate our everyday lives and we see that the total number of people who consider themselves to be religious is actually relatively high.
“Furthermore, with the trend of an increasingly religious youth globally, we can assume that the number of people who consider themselves religious will only continue to increase.”
Earlier this month a report predicted Christians will be a minority in the UK by the middle of this century amid surging growth in atheism and Islam.
According to projections by the US-based Pew Research Centre, the proportion of the British population identifying themselves as Christian will reduce by almost a third by 2050 to stand at just 45.4 per cent, compared with almost two thirds in 2010.
Read more
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/rel...rlds-least-religious-countries-says-poll.html
