Apathy, gods best friend

[Chuff]

I’ll go out on a limb here and state that most people in the UK are agnostic and completely apathetic to the question of gods existence, and this trend is definitely increasing with the younger generations.

Most people cannot be bothered to think about or even consider the question, and would rather the subject not be brought up while they get on with their thoroughly secular lives.

Of course this is preferable to an alternative of fundamentalist religiosity, but my concern is that this complete and utter indifference allows the faithful to carry on as though they are representative of the majority when they most certainly are not.

Schooling(a particular pet subject of mine) – A high proportion of schools in the uk are faith based, and this tradition is increasing rather than diminishing. Not to mention we have just seen government approval for funding of the very first ‘Free Schools’ which are to be run by groups with creationist beliefs. Due to the churches grip on the school system it is very difficult to avoid sending your children to a faith school, where they are free to deliver Christian biased views to children of any denomination.

Politics – At present, the Church of England is granted privileged access to Parliament. The Church of England is represented in the UK Parliament by 26 bishops (the Lords Spiritual) and sit alongside Peers in the House of Lords, they have the right to vote and debate, The Lords Spiritual have seats in the House of Lords and debate government policies affecting the whole of the United Kingdom. The Church of England also has the right to draft legislative measures (related to religious administration) that can then be passed into law by Parliament.
They influence our national way of life. They acquired this right solely by virtue of their religion, their gender and their position in the hierarchy of one particular denomination of one particular Church. They are unaccountable to the public.


The UK may have once been founded as a Christian country, but it is now very much a multi-cultural, secular society. I believe that the Christian Church no longer deserves to hold its privileged position as they are no longer representative of the populace.

Unfortunately this situation is unlikely to change any time soon, because nobody cares. People are ignorant to the fact that major decisions directly relating to their lives are being directly influenced by powerful members of a self-righteous religion that they do not belong to.

Apathy unfortunately is the norm, and apathy is most certainly gods current best friend

[jonb]

The good old c of e has never had anything to do with god, other than to use it as a justification for keeping the hierarchy in place. Of course most people are indifferent to philosophy, most people have no view on agriculture, this is not to say these things are not important, but everybody cannot be into everything.
I will fight to the death for their right to be indifferent.

[Faith No More]

Perhaps some people have become apathetic because they feel powerless to affect any real change?

[Chuff]

The good old c of e has never had anything to do with god

Amusingly correct

Of course most people are indifferent to philosophy, most people have no view on agriculture, this is not to say these things are not important, but everybody cannot be into everything.
I will fight to the death for their right to be indifferent.

Everyone has a right to indifference, but the point I am trying to convey is that this apathy allows people who are motivated to get things done. And thats one thing you have to give to the religious, they are certainly well motivated and unified towards a common cause(usually to further their own influence)

Perhaps some people have become apathetic because they feel powerless to affect any real change?

You've got it bang on, and I think that is also the reason why so few people bother to use their vote at election time.

I don't want to feel powerless. I want to effect change

[jonb]

but the point I am trying to convey is that this apathy allows people who are motivated to get things done. And thats one thing you have to give to the religious, they are certainly well motivated and unified towards a common cause(usually to further their own influence)

No I read the situation differently, yes religious groups do tend to be tight and can get things done, but there are many different groups with many different views and actually they all council each other out. In britain, true if one set of these nutters got the upper hand like in the southern USA, Italy, Saudi, we would have a problem, but in britain their disunity makes them irrelevant, and as such this allows most of the population to sit back and say religion is irrelevant.
Change is happening slowly it is true, but the movement still seems to be in the right direction. Having said that old men like me can get complacent, so a kick up the pants, once in a while saying things are not moving fast enough or might seem to be moving in the wrong direction is a good thing to do to us.

[Tobie]

The whole House of Lords is ridiculous, it just allows the main parties to give whoever they want a parliament seat for life. At the very least, there should be a referendum on the "lords spiritual" and the existence of the house of lords itself, but as recent events show, the Tories won't allow such a thing to happen.

There is no definite figure on the proportions of various religious affiliations. The 2011 census hasn't been published, and there are various surveys that have given a wide spread of statistics. One in particular is interesting, which was done by The Guardian newspaper in 2006. The results showed that 63% of people asked were not religious, but a third of these still identified with christianity.

[Chuff]

The whole House of Lords is ridiculous, it just allows the main parties to give whoever they want a parliament seat for life. At the very least, there should be a referendum on the "lords spiritual" and the existence of the house of lords itself, but as recent events show, the Tories won't allow such a thing to happen.

There is no definite figure on the proportions of various religious affiliations. The 2011 census hasn't been published, and there are various surveys that have given a wide spread of statistics. One in particular is interesting, which was done by The Guardian newspaper in 2006. The results showed that 63% of people asked were not religious, but a third of these still identified with christianity.

I am really looking forward to the census results, I would imagine we'll see a decrease in Christian, an increase in Islam, a decrease in 'don't know' and an increase in Atheist.

[Tobie]

The whole House of Lords is ridiculous, it just allows the main parties to give whoever they want a parliament seat for life. At the very least, there should be a referendum on the "lords spiritual" and the existence of the house of lords itself, but as recent events show, the Tories won't allow such a thing to happen.

There is no definite figure on the proportions of various religious affiliations. The 2011 census hasn't been published, and there are various surveys that have given a wide spread of statistics. One in particular is interesting, which was done by The Guardian newspaper in 2006. The results showed that 63% of people asked were not religious, but a third of these still identified with christianity.

I am really looking forward to the census results, I would imagine we'll see a decrease in Christian, an increase in Islam, a decrease in 'don't know' and an increase in Atheist.

I'd expect between 25-30% No religion, and around 65% christian.

[Minimalist]

On the one hand, Chuff, you state:

I’ll go out on a limb here and state that most people in the UK are agnostic and completely apathetic to the question of gods existence, and this trend is definitely increasing with the younger generations.

and on the other,

chooling(a particular pet subject of mine) – A high proportion of schools in the uk are faith based, and this tradition is increasing rather than diminishing.

Allowing that both statements are correct, it would seem that whatever the schools are doing is not having the effect they want.

[pgrimes15]

On the one hand, Chuff, you state:

I’ll go out on a limb here and state that most people in the UK are agnostic and completely apathetic to the question of gods existence, and this trend is definitely increasing with the younger generations.

and on the other,

chooling(a particular pet subject of mine) – A high proportion of schools in the uk are faith based, and this tradition is increasing rather than diminishing.

Allowing that both statements are correct, it would seem that whatever the schools are doing is not having the effect they want.

Minimalist has got it spot on. It often amuses me that the UK with its established church, Lords Spiritual, compulsory religious observance in schools, head of state as head of c of e, is one of the most secular countries in the world.

Regards

Grimesy