This thread will apply overwhelmingly to British posters. Nationals of other countries are welcome to pitch in, but I doubt it will mean much to you. The British Humanist Association (BHA) has launched a campaign to encourage non-believers and the seriously lapsed to tick the "No Religion" box on the 2011 census with the aim of challenging religious privilege in Britain. According to the organisation, public figures have spent the last 10 years claiming that most people in Britain are religious in order to justify the money spent, or the attention lavished, on these communities. While the statistics show that 37.3 million Britons stated their religion as Christian at the last census, these figures are not reflected in church attendances, which are at an all time low. The argument the BHA has with the census is manifold, but principally it is that it underestimates the number of non-religious people and inflates the Christian population to an unrepresentative level. The official figures show that in 2001 15.1% of respondents did not answer the religion question (which was voluntary) and 7.8% of the people who did said they had no religion. This equates to 22.9% of respondents, some 13 million people who were either non-religious or did not want to answer the question or failed to spot it. The no-religion group exceeded the total combined Muslim, Jewish, Sikh and Hindu populations of Great Britain. Since the last census was carried out, the BHA believes the numbers of the non-religious has increased, and there have been high profile campaigns by atheists such as Professor Richard Dawkins and The Atheist Bus Group. The BHA says it is time for people who never go to church, or who never think about religion to 'fess up. "What people do not realise is that by ticking the Christian box, rather than the No Religion box, which would more accurately reflect their true identity - they have contributed to data used to justify an increase in the number of so-called "faith" schools, the public funding of religious groups, keeping Bishops in the House of Lords as of right and the continuation of compulsory worship in schools" Yes, you fickle and lazy lot..... the humanists blame you for all that..!! While some might argue that humanists have no more place to tell you what to do thatn religious institutions, it will be interesting to see what difference a decade of high profile campaigning has had on the thorny question of religious belief in Great Britain. .
Minor quibble with your math. Assuming that the numbers above are correct (and I have no reason not to)... ...the numbers you came up with here are slightly off. If 15.1% of respondents did not answer the religion question, then it would be 7.8% of only the remaining 84.9% who explicitly said they had no religion. Thus the total percentage of those who did not respond to the question or who indicated they were non-religious is actually 21.72% [15.1 + (84.9 * .078)]. </math nerd> EDIT: I just looked up the numbers myself and it turns out that the 22.9% figure is correct, but your description of what makes up that number is not quite right. 7.8% of all respondents did not answer the religion question and 15.1% of all respondents were non-religious (not 15.1% of only those who answered). In fact, the percentage of those who answered non-religious amongst those who actually answered the question is 16.3%.
Thanks for that, Giuseppe. I shall flagellate myself with long strands of soggy toilet paper in penance.
Yeah, but the Great Spaghetti monster said go ye and make disciples all over the world, so somebody has to do it.
Actually Richard Dawkins said to do it. But, I think it will be revealed that he is only taking orders from the Flying Spaghetti monster, a unicorn named Toby, and Tom Jones.
Are those Catholic Bishops or Anglican Bishops? More importantly, will Jedi be a recognized religion in the census?