[UK] The secular generation

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Tequila
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22 Feb 2013, 8:24 am

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The Secular Generation

Census data and surveys show that religious affiliation in the UK is declining — and that today's younger generation are the most secular group of all. What does this say about the way our outlook on the world is changing?

A poll carried out earlier this month on behalf of Marie Curie added further weight to a trend that has been establishing itself for a while: people in the UK are becoming increasingly non-religious. Of the 2,601 questioned for the survey, 53% said they were Christian while 37% said they had no religion. This is by no means groundbreaking news in itself for these results are more or less in line with almost all other credible studies carried out on the matter. However, it is yet another reminder that the numbers point in a downwards direction for religious belief; indeed, the 2011 Census shows that just 59% of people identified as Christian, down from 72% in 2001.

But perhaps the most interesting thing about pretty much all the data pertaining to this topic is that young people (by which I mean those commonly collected into the ’18-24 year olds’ group by statisticians) are consistently proving to be the most secular group of society.

The graph below shows data from five large surveys that have been conducted in the past five years; specifically, it depicts the percentage of 18-24 year olds (with the exception of the 2011 YouGov-Cambridge University survey, which includes responses from those up to 35 years old) who identify as non-religious compared to all older age groups polled (in most cases, up to 97). On average, almost 15% more young people claim to be non-religious than members of society as a whole, to the point where the number of secular young people is now pushing 50%. Similarly, those in the older age groups tend to be more likely to identify as religious.

I rather suspect that this definitely does hold true for the majority of people in this country, but that equally it's not a universal picture either.

GGPViper
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22 Feb 2013, 9:12 am

Tequila wrote:

I rather suspect that this definitely does hold true for the majority of people in this country, but that equally it's not a universal picture either.

Actually, it is... Religiosity is declining world-wide, according to this Gallup study.
http://www.wingia.com/web/files/news/14/file/14.pdf

(You might want to download it rather than opening the PDF in a browser, as the tables might not show up properly otherwise.)

Here is my summary, based on page 6 of the study:

77 percent of respondents were religious in 2005. That percentage has dropped to 68 percent in 2012. The majority have gone from being religious to non-religious members of a denomination rather than defining themselves as atheists, though.

Oh, and interesting tid-bit: Unlike the big 3 (Christians, Muslims, and Hindus) The majority (54 percent) of the people who identified themselves as Jews in the study also identified themselves as not religious. (See page 4). Food for thought...

Furthermore, here is some US data from Pew with a similar trend.

If the changing racial composition of the US wasn't enough, this is another demographic nail in the coffin of the contemporary GOP.

Or in layman's terms, the Tea Party movement is:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrjwaqZfjIY[/youtube]

and:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McAeQiLmEYU[/youtube]

Last edited by GGPViper on 22 Feb 2013, 10:57 am, edited 1 time in total.

TallyMan
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22 Feb 2013, 9:32 am

You will also likely find that a high proportion of those claiming to be Christian (or Muslim etc) simply do so out of habit when faced with a census. My father considers himself to be a Christian yet he owns no bible, never prays, never goes to church, never watches any religious programs on TV, never speaks of religion at all... but he is a Christian.

I think a lot of people maybe confuse the word Christian with being a moral person, my father certainly does. It also seems to be somewhat hereditary - his parents were Christians so he is too (sort of :lol: )

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Tequila
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22 Feb 2013, 9:35 am

Would you not say that religiosity is most seriously declining in mainly Western countries? In many African, Asian and South American countries, for instance, religion seems to be having an even greater hold rather than a lesser one

TallyMan
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22 Feb 2013, 9:40 am

Tequila wrote:

I'd say that the more westernised Asian countries are the less religious they are e.g. South Korea and Japan, but I may be wrong. Those countries with poorer education tend to be more religious too IMO. I imagine that a lot of kids growing up in poor parts of Africa and South America never get taught any science and very little about the natural world, so likely never hear about evolution etc and just get a Sunday school version "God created the Earth and mankind" and they simply grow up believing that.

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GGPViper
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22 Feb 2013, 9:57 am

Tequila wrote:

Well, if we look at at the countries included in the Gallup study from each of those regions (decrease in religiosity = bold, increase = italic, normal = no change):

Africa:
Ghana 96%/96%
Nigeria 94%/93%
Kenya 89%/88%
South Africa 83%/64%
Cameroon 86%/82%

South America:
Peru 84%/86%
Colombia 83%/83%
Argentina 80%/72%
Ecuador 85%/70%

Asia:
Pakistan 78%/84%
Malaysia 77%/81%
India 87% 81%
South Korea 58%/52%
Vietnam 53%/30%
Japan 17%/16%

Note that some changes are very low (as little as 1 percent), while others are quite pronounced (South Africa, Ecuador and Vietnam).

puddingmouse
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22 Feb 2013, 10:18 am

Religion in general is declining across the world but Islam is expanding, hence the figures for Pakistan and Malaysia.

Tequila
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22 Feb 2013, 10:38 am

puddingmouse wrote:

Religion in general is declining across the world but Islam is expanding, hence the figures for Pakistan and Malaysia.

Isn't Malaysia considered to be one of the less psychotic of the major Muslim countries?

SpiderFan14
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22 Feb 2013, 10:40 am

In the last year I found myself leaning towards Human Secularism (I would get married in a church if my fiance wanted to but on the condition I don't have to convert). I'm from Canada but I wanted to post a SH thing here.

puddingmouse
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22 Feb 2013, 10:41 am

Tequila wrote:

puddingmouse wrote:

Religion in general is declining across the world but Islam is expanding, hence the figures for Pakistan and Malaysia.

Isn't Malaysia considered to be one of the less psychotic of the major Muslim countries?

Less psychotic doesn't necessarily mean less religious - they're Sufis. I used to be an intensely religious liberal Christian.

Tequila
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22 Feb 2013, 10:43 am

puddingmouse wrote:

Less psychotic doesn't necessarily mean less religious - they're Sufis.

Well, no, of course not, but I know which one I'd rather choose.

Aren't the Ahmadis considered to be a bit more open-minded as well? They get an incredble amount of crap from fellow Muslims.

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22 Feb 2013, 10:51 am

GGPViper wrote:

If the changing racial composition of the US wasn't enough, this is another demographic nail in the coffin of the contemporary GOP.

One can only hope ...

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trollcatman
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22 Feb 2013, 11:07 am

From the article and that pdf it looks like it has really picked up speed in the last decade. Though I don't really see the distinction between non-religious and atheist.

Tequila
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22 Feb 2013, 11:13 am

Fnord wrote:

GGPViper wrote:

If the changing racial composition of the US wasn't enough, this is another demographic nail in the coffin of the contemporary GOP.

One can only hope ...

It's a pity your political parties can't be, well, normal. Far better to have a system like Switzerland, where there are 13 political parties in parliament and no particular party dominates, rather than just the two that you have in the U.S or the three we have in the UK (with a smattering of regionalist parties).

TallyMan
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22 Feb 2013, 11:49 am

trollcatman wrote:

From the article and that pdf it looks like it has really picked up speed in the last decade. Though I don't really see the distinction between non-religious and atheist.

My own working definition is an atheist is one who has considered the issues of religion and science and reached the conclusion that there are no gods. A non-religious person is someone who hasn't even thought about these things because they consider religion to be irrelevant to their lives, much like origami or train spotting.

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trollcatman
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22 Feb 2013, 12:23 pm

TallyMan wrote:

trollcatman wrote:

From the article and that pdf it looks like it has really picked up speed in the last decade. Though I don't really see the distinction between non-religious and atheist.

I view it like this: you either currently believe something, or you don't. If you believe in god/gods you are a theist, if you don't you are an atheist. Maybe it's more a cultural or fashion thing for people when deciding to self-identify as atheist or something else. And I think almost everyone will have thought of religion. I've never met anyone that had no opinion on it at all, as far as I know.

What I found surprising in that pdf was the number of people who called themselves for example muslim, but also described themselves as "not religious". It is 20% for muslims, and only 74% of muslims call themselves religious. Makes no sense?
I've met people who called themselves Roman Catholic but said they didn't believe in god. It seems people have different understandings of the meaning of "religious" and "atheist".

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