Facts, figures and words

The outcome of any survey depends on at least five things:

1. The question being asked - ask the right question and you will get the answer you want.
2. The sample of people used - select the right sample and you will get the answer you want
3. The nature of the survey process - a face-to-face survey will give different responses to one answered anonymously.
4. The organisation sponsoring the survey - sponsors often want surveys to provide them with the answers they need.
5. The beliefs of the person being questioned - i.e. the thing you should really be trying to find out about.

The Census is held every ten years and the question asked about religion has always been disputed. For whatever reasons, the body responsible refuses to modify it. Census figures relating to religion should therefore be taken with a large pinch of salt - or we would have to believe that "Jedi Knights" are the fourth largest religious group in the UK (2001 Census.)

How many people take part in religious activity?

There is a general consensus from surveys carried out by the Church of England and others that:

• over 90% of the UK population does not take part in any form of regular religious activity.

Christian church attendance continues to fall, despite the growth of pentecostal/evangelical churches and the arrival of significant numbers of Catholics from Eastern Europe and elsewhere, and the average age of those attending continues to rise. Christian churches fill up during major celebrations, such as Christmas, but many in the audience are there for non-religious reasons - even atheists like a good carol, mass or requiem!

Figures from Christian Research (2006):

• 500,000 fewer people attended church in 2006 than in 1998
• 6.3% of people went to church in 2006 - down from 7.5% in 1998
• 29% of churchgoers are aged over 65
• 17% are of ethnic minority background. (About 8% of general UK population are ethnic minorities.)
• 44% of London churchgoers are black

Non-Christian religious attendance is much higher amongst ethnic minority groups.

Social Trends 2008

The Office for National Statistics has produced "Social Trends 2008" which includes the two tables below on pages 189 and 190.

Please click here to see the complete document.

There are some obvious discrepancies in these figures:

1. About 46% said they had no religion (2006).
2. About 62% said that they did not believe in a god (2005).

It is true that some religions do not believe in a creator god (Buddhism for example) but this difference is probably accounted for by the questions being asked and the sample used.

Non-theist belief remains the largest belief.

Study of 13,000 pupils aged 15-19

"Teenage Religion and Values" is the largest ever study of pupils aged 15-19 and was carried out in 1995 by Reverend Professor Leslie Francis and Reverend Dr William Kay, Trinity College, Carmarthen - a church college of the University of Wales.

In response to the statement "I believe in god" Francis and Kay labelled those who disagreed as atheists and those who were not certain as agnostics. Hence 61% of the 13,000 were either atheists or agnostics - non-believers in a god.

Approximately the same number of pupils believe in horoscopes and ghosts as in a god.

From pages 137 and 152 of the Francis and Kay study

The problem with words

As children we tend to ask endless questions: "why?", "what?", "when?", "how?" - as any parent knows only too well!

As adults we question less and we often use words without thinking about their meaning or about the fact that different groups of people may disagree about their meaning.

When it comes to diversity there are endless words that, at first glance seem obvious, but which become very complicated, or even meaningless, after a few seconds' thought

Some people dodge the issues: "well, we may not agree what words mean - but they are useful so we will keep using them?"

Is it possible to communicate using words that mean different things to different people? Is it acceptable to use words with children when we as adults cannot agree what they mean?

Think for a moment about this list:

• Respect. Does this mean that we have to respect all ideas that are sincerely held? Should we respect those whose ideas are abhorrent - Nazis for example? Should we respect someone just because they demand respect? Should people have to earn our respect by what they do rather than what they claim to believe? Is it ever possible to respect an abstract thing - like an idea or belief? Should we be free to criticise all ideas and all beliefs - no matter how sincerely held?
• Tolerance. When we say that we are happy to "tolerate" other views are we really being insulting? Are we really saying: "your views are wrong but I suppose you have a right to them so I will tolerate you?" Is the word of any use at all?
• Difference. Some people do not like the idea that people are "different" - they claim that "we are all the same underneath, we are all human." What is wrong with people being different? Would life be boring if we are not different? Should we not be celebrating difference rather than trying to pretend that we are all the same? Is there anything to be feared in recognising that we are all different and that this is what makes life so interesting?
• Race. Even government legislation has problems with this. Does it mean "colour"? Does it mean the part of the world you or your ancestors came from? Does it mean a certain physical type - as the Nazis tried to show?
• Ethnicity/ethnic background. Is this the same as race? If not, what is it?
• Nationality. This is much easier - nationality is associated with the country you are a citizen of. A person born in Great Britain whose parents may have come from Pakistan is a British citizen. A person born in Great Britain whose ancestors came over with the Romans, Vikings or Norman French is a British citizen.
• Religion. This seems obvious - but is it? Does it include belief in a creator god, a soul and a life after death? Do all religions believe in all three? Is it the name of an organisation that individuals with faith may belong to? There are over 100 religions and sects in the world today believing in over 1,000 different gods.
• Culture. What is "culture"? Do we share a common culture or do we have different cultures? Does someone living in a rural Derbyshire village have the same "culture" as someone living in the City? Do middle class people have the same "culture" as working class people? Does the word help at all if we cannot define it?
• Spiritual. Does this mean different things to just about everyone? Is it limited to religious people? Can non-religious people have "spiritual" experiences?
• Gods. Which god or gods? Are they all the same? Should it be "my god", "a god", "their god", "your god", "our god", "the Christian god", "the Abrahamic god", "the Muslim god", "the Judaist god", "the god of war", "the god of love" etc. rather than just "god"? What are the characteristics of a god? Is a god always a good thing - do holy books indicate otherwise?

The BBC has an entire department dedicated to words and pronunciation but news readers frequently talk of "Serbs, Croats and Muslims" - thus confusing nationality and religion. Perhaps it is even more complicated than that? Is a "Serb" a citizen of Serbia? Is there a Serbian "race"? Is a Serb a "Slav"? What is a "Slav"? Are these just labels - is a Serb simply someone who calls himself or herself a "Serb"? A Muslim is easier to define - a person who has made the intellectual choice to follow the religion of Islam.

One thing is certain - we cannot afford to ignore the meaning for words - and it would be irresponsible to use words with children unless we are absolutely certain what they mean.