Three in five British adults say miracles are possible

Three in five UK adults say they believe some form of miracle is possible, a survey commissioned by the BBC has suggested.
Nearly half of those questioned on behalf of BBC Local Radio admitted to praying for a miracle at some time.
However, when it comes to the miracles of Jesus, nearly half say they do not believe he did miraculous things.
Market research firm Comres surveyed 2,002 British adults by telephone between 16 and 26 August.

The survey suggested:

   62% of British adults believe some form of miracle is possible today
   Nearly three-quarters aged 18-24 say they believe some form of miracle is possible today, more than any other age group
   43% say they have prayed for a miracle
   37% of British adults who attend a religious service at least monthly say they believe the miracles of Jesus happened word for word as described in the Bible
   Half of this group say they have prayed for a miracle which was answered in the way they had hoped
   But 37% of Christians have never prayed for a miracle

A miracle is regarded by many as a fortuitous event believed to have been caused by divine intervention, prayer or worship.


https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-45679730


I am shocked, I thought the UK had mostly outgrown this sort of thing  

Would be interesting to know their sample if they collected that data. Out of about 60/70 people I know on talking terms in RL, around 5 or 6 are religious. 2 Christians and the rest Muslim.

Every single dataset since the 90s, be it BSA surveys or the census, has shown all religious beliefs except Islam and minority BME Christian sects as in steep decline.

But I suppose believing in miracles =/= believing in the rest of the religious guff. Also, as you point out, not really clear what one defines as a ‘miracle’, so interested to know if they have examples.

The 18-24 category surprises me, though I suspect that links more into the growth of ‘spiritualism’ rather than religious conviction.

Do the survey on people leaving church...

That word is not a patent owned by one religion, it is still a gap answer of superstitious magic to make a pathetic attempt to explain why one got lucky.

My biggest problem with miracles is the constant misuse of the word itself.  'It's a miracle I wasn't killed in that car crash' or 'I got such a good deal on this new furniture...it was a miracle'.

As far as I know, no one has defined 'miracle' better than Hume ('a transgression of a law of nature by a particular volition of the Deity, or by the interposition of some invisible agent'), and he pretty much destroyed the idea that they happen.

Boru

(September 30, 2018 at 6:26 am)Pandæmonium Wrote: Would be interesting to know their sample if they collected that data. Out of about 60/70 people I know on talking terms in RL, around 5 or 6 are religious. 2 Christians and the rest Muslim.

Every single dataset since the 90s, be it BSA surveys or the census, has shown all religious beliefs except Islam and minority BME Christian sects as in steep decline.

But I suppose believing in miracles =/= believing in the rest of the religious guff. Also, as you point out, not really clear what one defines as a ‘miracle’, so interested to know if they have examples.

The 18-24 category surprises me, though I suspect that links more into the growth of ‘spiritualism’ rather than religious conviction.

I tend to agree with you; it depends what is meant by the vague term 'miracle', and using the definition they've used of 'a fortuitous event believed to be caused by divine intervention... ', that suggests not just theism to me but any type of superstitious/woo/spiritualist thinking; anything that reads supernatural meaning into coincidences or good luck.

It's not a huge surprise to me, even the 18-24 bracket. I know this is not the most balanced sample of British people , but I'm currently watching Big Brother and the youngest one there is talking with a straight face about the Big Brother house being possibly haunted, and he's 18, and others are talking about positive and negative energy and being psychic etc, also with a straight face. So there are those demographics out there and it is pretty normalised/casual in society, and fed into by the media, so yeah, not a huge surprise.

(September 30, 2018 at 7:43 am)emjay Wrote:

(September 30, 2018 at 6:26 am)Pandæmonium Wrote: Would be interesting to know their sample if they collected that data. Out of about 60/70 people I know on talking terms in RL, around 5 or 6 are religious. 2 Christians and the rest Muslim.

Every single dataset since the 90s, be it BSA surveys or the census, has shown all religious beliefs except Islam and minority BME Christian sects as in steep decline.

But I suppose believing in miracles =/= believing in the rest of the religious guff. Also, as you point out, not really clear what one defines as a ‘miracle’, so interested to know if they have examples.

The 18-24 category surprises me, though I suspect that links more into the growth of ‘spiritualism’ rather than religious conviction.

I tend to agree with you; it depends what is meant by the vague term 'miracle', and using the definition they've used of 'a fortuitous event believed to be caused by divine intervention... ', that suggests not just theism to me but any type of superstitious/woo/spiritualist thinking; anything that reads supernatural meaning into coincidences or good luck.

It's not a huge surprise to me, even the 18-24 bracket. I know this is not the most balanced sample of British people , but I'm currently watching Big Brother and the youngest one there is talking with a straight face about the Big Brother house being possibly haunted, and he's 18, and others are talking about positive and negative energy and being psychic etc, also with a straight face. So there are those demographics out there and it is pretty normalised/casual in society, and fed into by the media, so yeah, not a huge surprise.

I could care less what it is used for, it is a misused word sure, but still just another sappy meaningless word people use to justify getting something important or minor.

There is no magic to getting a parking spot or surviving a plane crash. It is still a word used based on ignorance, selection bias and sample rate error. 

It still amounts to focusing only on the times where conditions favored you, and ignoring all the times those similar conditions don't favor you or others.

(September 30, 2018 at 7:49 am)Brian37 Wrote:

(September 30, 2018 at 7:43 am)emjay Wrote: I tend to agree with you; it depends what is meant by the vague term 'miracle', and using the definition they've used of 'a fortuitous event believed to be caused by divine intervention... ', that suggests not just theism to me but any type of superstitious/woo/spiritualist thinking; anything that reads supernatural meaning into coincidences or good luck.

It's not a huge surprise to me, even the 18-24 bracket. I know this is not the most balanced sample of British people , but I'm currently watching Big Brother and the youngest one there is talking with a straight face about the Big Brother house being possibly haunted, and he's 18, and others are talking about positive and negative energy and being psychic etc, also with a straight face. So there are those demographics out there and it is pretty normalised/casual in society, and fed into by the media, so yeah, not a huge surprise.

I could care less what it is used for, it is a misused word sure, but still just another sappy meaningless word people use to justify getting something important or minor.

There is no magic to getting a parking spot or surviving a plane crash. It is still a word used based on ignorance, selection bias and sample rate error. 

It still amounts to focusing only on the times where conditions favored you, and ignoring all the times those similar conditions don't favor you or others.

I know... I totally agree.

(September 30, 2018 at 5:18 am)zebo-the-fat Wrote: Three in five British adults say miracles are possible

Three in five UK adults say they believe some form of miracle is possible, a survey commissioned by the BBC has suggested.
Nearly half of those questioned on behalf of BBC Local Radio admitted to praying for a miracle at some time.
However, when it comes to the miracles of Jesus, nearly half say they do not believe he did miraculous things.
Market research firm Comres surveyed 2,002 British adults by telephone between 16 and 26 August.

The survey suggested:

   62% of British adults believe some form of miracle is possible today
   Nearly three-quarters aged 18-24 say they believe some form of miracle is possible today, more than any other age group
   43% say they have prayed for a miracle
   37% of British adults who attend a religious service at least monthly say they believe the miracles of Jesus happened word for word as described in the Bible
   Half of this group say they have prayed for a miracle which was answered in the way they had hoped
   But 37% of Christians have never prayed for a miracle

A miracle is regarded by many as a fortuitous event believed to have been caused by divine intervention, prayer or worship.


https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-45679730


I am shocked, I thought the UK had mostly outgrown this sort of thing  

I was also shocked that Hillary Clinton lost the election, contrary to most predictions.  Survey "by telephone" -- does that mean landlines, mobile, or, both?  And, what percentage of Brits have each type?

If this is a reasonable gauge, it shows you can believe without being a dick about it. Unlike the believers in the U.S..