Wednesday 30 September 2020
Brits Becoming Less Religious and More Scientific
The British Social Attitudes Survey 36, published by the National Centre for Social Research towards the end of last year, has some worrying figures for organised religions in the UK and some reassuring figures for rational humanists.
Brits are still rapidly becoming less religious and more tolerant with now well over 50% having no religion, and are much more trusting in science, with just 11% agreeing that science does more harm than good, compared to 24% in 1983. Trust that science does more good than harm is now at 55%, up from 46% in 1983.
On the subject of religious belief (a term which includes no religion and Atheism) The report states (pdf):
Rise of the ‘nones’
Most of the shift in the religious profile of the nation has been towards non-affiliation, with 52% of the public now saying they do not regard themselves as belonging to any religion.
- Of these, most were simply not brought up with a religion, with a smaller minority having lost a childhood faith.
- Those who do not regard themselves as belonging to a religion are increasingly secular, that is, likely to say they are “very” or “extremely” unreligious.
- The number of people with no religion, who were not brought up in one, has increased from 11% in 1998 to 23% in 2018.
That latter point confirms what was predicted - that '|No-belief' is growing exponentially as children brought up by non-believers are most likely to be non-believers themselves. In one generation (20 years) the number of such people has doubled.Figures also show that Christian belief in the UK currently has a 'half-life' of one generation, i.e. believing parents only have a 50% probability of producing believing children and children where only one parent is a believer have only a 25% probability of producing believing children. This is born out by the age profile chart, showing that only 8% of Brits under 45 year of age now identify as Anglican against 33% of over 75's.
And, although Brits are becoming less religious, this is not matched by increased intolerance of those with religious views, as many religious people, especially American fundamentalists assume it would. In fact the reverse is true; the tolerance for other religions is increasing:
Given that religious affiliation often includes in-group vs. out-group cult-like mentality, which is encouraged by each sect's dogmatic insistence that it alone is the one true faith and a divided, 'Balkanized' society, increased tolerance for different beliefs is to be expected in an increasingly secular, less dogmatic and doctrinaire society. Contrary to religiously-inspired paranoia, intolerance is a charcateristic of religious societies, not of secular ones.Little time for religion, but prepared to be tolerant
Most people show little enthusiasm for institutionalised religion, although there is evidence that the public are, in general, prepared to be tolerant of the faith of others.
- Almost two-thirds (63%) believe religions bring more conflict than peace.
- Under half (46%) have some or more confidence in churches and religious organisations, with 21% expressing “no confidence at all”.
- Most people have a positive, or at least tolerant view, of members of other religious groups, but have more reservations about extremism.
Contrary to religious peoples' claims that somehow, the 'Non-affiliated' should not be regarded as non-religious, this new survey shows how this group is becoming more Atheistic over time, with 73% now describing themselves as 'very', extremely or 'somewhat' non-religious; up from 48% in 1998, and only 5% of 'Nones' now describing themselves as 'Religious'; down from 12% in 1998. This confirms the finding of other surveys that non-affiliation is a transitional stage towards Atheism.
Two more charts illustrate the degree to which Brits have not only distanced themselves from religion but have moved significantly towards outright Atheism. The first shows how the proportion of those who don't believe in a god has changed since 1998, from just 10% to 26% in 2018, with a small increase in 'Agnosticism', up from 15% to 18% and falls in all forms of belief in some sort of god.
The second chart shows how belief has changed with double the number in 2018 prepared to say they have never believed in a god (up from 13% to 26%) and a further 16% now saying they have deconverted from belief to Atheism (up from 12% in 1998). By contrast the number professing to have converted from Atheism is just 4% in 2018, unchanged from 1998. Four times as many people have deconverted to Atheism as have converted to belief. The proportion of those who claim they have always believed in a god is down to 35% in 2018 from 48% in 1998. From just under half to over a third now appear to have inherited their belief!The overall picture is one of declining religious beliefs and not only a corresponding increase in non-affiliation and increasingly outright Atheism but a firming of those non-religious opinions and a weakening of belief amongst those who still believe in a god or higher power, of some sort.
The reason for these changes may or may not be the result of the changing view of science, also revealed in the Social Attitudes Survey (pdf), with more people now prepared to trust scientists and to see science as a force for good.The survey found that:
Support for modern science is strong
Attitudes towards the impact of science on our lives are largely positive.
- More than three-quarters of the public (77%) agree that science and technology are making our lives healthier, easier and more comfortable.
- Over nine in ten (94%) of the public believe that medical research will improve our quality of life over the coming decades.
- However, while almost three-quarters (73%) believe that medical research benefits everyone equally, almost one fifth of the public (18%) view such research as mostly benefitting those who are better off.
A majority trust scientists to work in the public interest
Trust in university scientists is higher than in their commercial counterparts.
- More than four-fifths (85%) of people trust university scientists to do their work with the intention of benefitting the public, while two-thirds (67%) trust commercial scientists to work with the intention of benefitting the public.
- However, a degree of scepticism remains about the level of funding transparency, particularly in the commercial sector; while one fifth (19%) trust university scientists “not much” or “not at all” to be transparent about their sources of funding, 35% have this limited level of trust in company scientists to be open about funding sources.
Contrast that attitude towards science and scientists to that of many Americans, where science is distrusted and scientists are assumed to be part of an elite which is probably conspiring against ordinary folk on behalf of shadowy forces seeking to undermine America, and where fundamentalist religious belief is still the norm (albeit decreasing significantly of late).
In American fundamentalist circles, science is frequently seen as a rival to religion which is seeking to overthrow it and replace it with 'materialism'. At the same time, non-belief is seen as amoral and unbelievers to be untrustworthy. It is not possible to say with these figures if there is a causal relationship between the increased trust of scientists and confidence in science in the UK and the decrease in religious affiliation and belief. Does rejection of religion come from an objective assessment of the scientific view of reality or does the acceptance of science come from a rejection of the superstitious belief in magic that religion entails?
Whatever the relationship, this Social Attitudes Survey shows an increasingly rational, scientifically educated, less superstitious and divided and more tolerant and inclusive society in the UK.
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Would love a comparison to the US, as we are so backwards here.
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