Religion does more harm than good?
A poll reported in yesterday’s Guardian newspaper claims that most people in Britain think religion does more harm than good.
The poll also reveals that non-believers outnumber believers in Britain by almost two to one. It paints a picture of a sceptical nation with massive doubts about the effect religion has on society: 82% of thosequestioned say they see religion as a cause of division and tension between people. Only 16% disagree. The findings are at odds with attempts by some religious leaders to define the country as one made up of many faith communities.
The Guardian report continues:
Most people have no personal faith, the poll shows, with only 33% of those questioned describing themselves as “a religious person”. A clear majority, 63%, say that they are not religious - including more than half of those who describe themselves as Christian.
Older people and women are the most likely to believe in a god, with 37% of women saying they are religious, compared with 29% of men.
The faith communities in the UK have been living off the 2001 Census figures, in which some 72% of people in England and Wales claimed to consider themselves Christians. The secularists have been claiming for ages that the Census figures do not record any kind of reality other than the default position of many when faced with a form that asks what their religion is: “Church of England“. Now this poll adds fuel to their particular fire, which is that the religions have unjustly gained a privileged position in British society and that they, the secularists, are unjustly kept away from the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party of the government’s consultations with faith community representatives.
I suspect that this poll highlights a problem with polls: the answers they get depend on the wording of the questions they ask. Many years ago I took a course on social surveys as part of my sociology degree; one of the things we learned was that it is extremely difficult to ask questions that do not presuppose a particular answer.
Of course, the Census faces exactly the same problem and the religious question in the 2001 England and Wales Census was badly constructed.
Religion and faith are complex matters. Those who do not habitually think about faith and religion may assume that someone asking them about their faith wants to know what religion they belong to, what place of worship they attend. But formal attendance at a place of worship does not necessarily define one’s beliefs. People may have spiritual beliefs without belonging to any formal religious group; likewise people may formally belong to one or other religious group without believing what that group formally believes.
A final point: humanists and secularists are given to implying that their organizations “represent” those who do not have any particular religion or who do not consider themselves “religious”. This is an invalid claim. People who do not have any particular belief or religious affiliation may not, because of that, consider themselves to be actively atheist or secularist. Religion, faith, belief may just not be part of their lives. It’s a “non thing” for them; it does not imply an active commitment to what the humanists and secularists themselves believe.
Blogged with Flock
Technorati Tags: religion, non-believers, Christian, Christians, secularists, Church of England, humanists, atheist
Start Slide Show with PicLens Lite
No related posts.
2 comments
The term religious carries other implications of piety and devotion, almost obsession, which I find makes me hesitant to use the word about myself, and I definitely am a firm believer in the Baha’i Faith. The fact that half those who called themselves Christians declined from calling themselves religious shows that you can’t equate a person not calling them self religious with a person not believing in a Faith.
It is concerning, however, that “82% of those questioned say they see religion as a cause of division and tension between people.” It can’t help that the name “Muslim” is used frequently in news reports as part of a the description of somebody, even if their faith is not related to (or is even dissociated from) their actions.
Like you, James, I’m hesitant to use the word “religious” of myself. I don’t think of myself as “religious” although, like you, I’m a firm believer in the Baha’i Faith.
On your second point, I think religion can be divisive and it can produce tension between people - but only if they are ignorant of the other person’s religion or fearful of it. I think religious leaders have an important job to by ensuring that the followers of their faiths are well informed of their own faiths and of other people’s faiths and that people of different faiths can meet each other in circumstances that promote good relations.
Leave a Comment