No more religious debate

[Fidel_Castronaut]

I have always been an atheist, as have a growing minority of British folk (according to various studies and census data). I was never indoctrinated and my parents taught me (crucially) how to think and not what to think. I was also put off ever being religious by attending a CofE primary school which had a fundamentalist head teacher who, honestly, turned more of the children into out and out atheists than Christians.

I think a lack of belief in a god or gods isn't really the cause, more apathy. If you ask the average person on the street they're still nominally 'Christian', but very few will know why, or have even stepped into a church aside from funerals, weddings and the odd christening. The question never really comes up as to why one is an atheist/Christian except in the census, and the 2001 recorded over 14% actively identify as such (at least). I think, due in part to various religious scandals and the prevalence of famous atheists and scientists (in the UK like Dawkins, Hitchens, Brian cox, Carl Sagan, etc) the 2011 census will see this number rise substantially.

If push came to shove, you'd 9 times out of 10 get a response of "well, guess I'm an atheist" anyway. Most Christian religions in the UK are dying out (excluding 'black' Christian churches which are actually growing), including Methodism, which will be dead a buried here within the next 20 years or so if current trends continue, with the Anglican CofE not far behind.