Decline of Christianity and Rise of Islam in the UK

Britain Is No Longer a Christian Country and Should Stop Acting As If It Is, Says Judge

Baroness Butler-Sloss

THE TELEGRAPH: A major inquiry into the place of religion in modern society has provoked a furious backlash from ministers and the Church of England

Britain is no longer a Christian country and should stop acting as if it is, a major inquiry into the place of religion in modern society has concluded, provoking a furious backlash from ministers and the Church of England.

A two-year commission, chaired by the former senior judge Baroness Butler-Sloss and involving leading religious leaders from all faiths, calls for public life in Britain to be systematically de-Christianised.

It says that the decline of churchgoing and the rise of Islam and other faiths mean a "new settlement" is needed for religion in the UK, giving more official influence to non-religious voices and those of non-Christian faiths.

The report provoked a furious row last night as it was condemned by Cabinet ministers as "seriously misguided" and the Church of England said it appeared to have been "hijacked" by humanists.

The report, by the Commission on Religion and Belief in Public Life, claims that faith schools are "socially divisive" and says that the selection of children on the basis of their beliefs should be phased out.

It also accuses those who devise some RE syllabuses of "sanitising" negative aspects of religion in lessons and suggests that the compulsory daily act of worship in school assmblies should be abolished and replaced with a "time for reflection". Read on and comment » | John Bingham and Steven Swinford | Monday, December 7, 2015

My comment:

This report has 'liberal' written all over it. But more than that, it is so yesteryear, so passé, so old hat!

Times are moving fast; the Zeitgeist is changing. Witness yesterday's political earthquake in France, witness Marine Le Pen's remarkable triumph over old, stodgy, slow-moving established parties.

The growth of Islam in France, the UK, and the West in general, which has been encouraged and allowed to happen by the West's traditional political élite, is fuelling a backlash. And, if I am not greatly mistaken, this is not a temporary phenomenon. Marine Le Pen's stunning victory will embolden the right-wing across Europe to rise up against this growth of an alien 'culture' in its midst.

We couldn't depend on traditional parties to safeguard our Judaeo-Christian culture; so now it's the turn of the so-called 'far-right' to do it instead.

The growth of the 'far-right' is every mainstream politician's nightmare. But they have only themselves to blame for this outcome. People have been telling them for a long, long time that they are uneasy with this alien ideology in their countries. But they wouldn't listen. The result is the fast growth of the 'far-right'.

Baroness Butler-Sloss' solution might have been paid heed five or ten years ago. Now, however, and at this juncture, our traditional Judaeo-Christian culture is fighting back. Therefore, many of the suggestions and conclusions in this out-dated report will surely have to be consigned to the dustbin of history.

The fightback has begun. We are living in very interesting times.

RIP, Baroness Butler-Sloss. – © Mark

This comment appears here too.

Christian Pastor Slammed after Calling Islam ‘Religion of Hatred’ and Likening Gay People to Paedophiles

Shocking sermon: Steve Crosthwaite

MIRROR: Pastor Steve Crosthwaite has been criticised for the 'disgusting' Sunday sermon in which he also criticised same-sex relationships

A Christian church leader has been slammed after calling Islam a ‘religion of hatred’ and likening gay people to paedophiles in a ‘disgusting’ Sunday sermon.

Pastor Steve Crosthwaite, of Wythall's Hollywood Christian Life Centre in Birmingham, told his 60-strong congregation ‘homosexuality is wrong’ and criticised same sex relationships.

During his 30-minute sermon, branded ’highly offensive’ by a local minister, pastor Crosthwaite said: "Islam is not a peaceful religion. Islam is a religion of hatred, the Birmingham Mail reports.

"Islam teaches there are permissible sins. For a Muslim to tell you 'I love you, I'm a peaceful guy' and it be a lie, well, Allah forgives that sin.

"For a Muslim to go out and kill someone, to commit murder in the name of Allah, well, that's a permissible sin.

"Islam is not a peaceful religion, but we're not allowed to say that are we? In our multicultural society we're not allowed to say things like that."

Crosthwaite gave the sermon, called 'Judging Others', at a 58-year-old place of worship that boasts of "unashamedly following Jesus”. » | Mike Lockley | Tuesday, July 14, 2015

2067: The End of British Christianity

THE SPECTATOR: Projections aren't predictions. But there's no denying that churches are in deep trouble

It’s often said that Britain’s church congregations are shrinking, but that doesn’t come close to expressing the scale of the disaster now facing Christianity in this country. Every ten years the census spells out the situation in detail: between 2001 and 2011 the number of Christians born in Britain fell by 5.3 million — about 10,000 a week. If that rate of decline continues, the mission of St Augustine to the English, together with that of the Irish saints to the Scots, will come to an end in 2067.

That is the year in which the Christians who have inherited the faith of their British ancestors will become statistically invisible. Parish churches everywhere will have been adapted for secular use, demolished or abandoned.

Our cathedral buildings will survive, but they won’t be true cathedrals because they will have no bishops. The Church of England is declining faster than other denominations; if it carries on shrinking at the rate suggested by the latest British Social Attitudes survey, Anglicanism will disappear from Britain in 2033. One day the last native-born Christian will die and that will be that. » | Damian Thompson | Saturday, June 13, 2015

Is the UK Still a Christian Country?

The number of people calling themselves Christian
is declining in the UK

BBC AMERICA: Are we losing our religion? The answer for the UK seems to be "Yes", while the answer for the developing world is a resounding "No".

That was the conclusion of a recent analysis by the Pew Research Center in the US.

It suggests that in the UK, if current trends continue, the proportion of the population identifying themselves as Christians will fall from 64% in 2010 to 45% by 2050, while the proportion of Muslims will rise from 5% to 11%.

The proportion of the population claiming no religion in the UK - the "unaffiliated" - will also rise significantly, from 28% to 39%.

Pew's research also suggests there are likely to be more Muslims than Christians in the world by 2070, with Islam's share of global population equalling that of Christianity at just above 30% each by 2050.

Equally eye-catching is its conclusion that by 2050, under half of the population will be Christian not just in the UK, but also France, the Netherlands, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Australia and New Zealand, while Muslims will make up about 10% of Europe's population, up from 6% now, thanks to higher birth rates.

However, Christianity globally will continue to grow, with the number of Christians projected to rise significantly in sub-Saharan Africa in particular.

According to demographer Conrad Hackett at Pew, in 1910 some 66% of the world's Christians lived in Europe. Now that has fallen to about 25%. » | Caroline Wyatt, Religious affairs correspondent | Monday, May 25, 2015

'Conspiracy of Silence' about Christianity in Britain Boosting Jihadis – Archbishop

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Young Muslims being ‘seduced’ by lure of martyrdom while politicians ‘fight shy’ of recognising importance of Christianity, says Archbishop of York

A “misplaced sensitivity” towards atheists and followers of other religions has led to a “conspiracy” of silence by politicians of all parties about the Christian roots of British society, the Archbishop of York has claimed.

Dr John Sentamu suggested that the abandonment of strong moral principles, rooted in the Bible, in favour of “vague” notions about values was partly responsible for the radicalisation of Muslim youths who were being “seduced” by the lure of extremism.

He said a youthful “yearning for something more idealistic” was being exploited by groups like the so-called Islamic State (IS), also known as Isil and Isil, who offered a “false utopia” and even the prospect of death.

But government programmes intended to prevent radicalisation are, he said, doomed to fail if they did not offer young people something “worthwhile and exciting” to live for.

His remarks came in a strongly worded Easter message, penned for the Yorkshire Post, hitting out at consumerism and the vagueness of politicians.

It comes just days after David Cameron was criticised by figures on both left and right over an Easter message which made no reference to Jesus and suggested the teachings of Christianity could be summed up as “all about change, responsibility, and doing the right thing”. » | John Bingham, Religious Affairs Editor | Friday, April 03, 2015

Christianity On Course to Be Minority Religion in UK

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Global study predicts one in nine Britons will be Muslim by 2050 but UK set to become of least religious countries in the world overall

Christians will be a minority in the UK by the middle of his century amid surging growth in atheism and Islam, an authoritative new study charting the future of the world’s religions predicts.

According to projections by the US-based Pew Research Centre, the proportion of the British population identifying themselves as Christian will reduce by almost a third by 2050 to stand at just 45.4 per cent, compared with almost two thirds in 2010.

The number of Muslims in Britain is predicted to more than double to 11.3 per cent, or one in nine of the total population during that time.

But the reports predicts that biggest change in the religious make-up of Britain in the next three and a half decades will be a major expansion in the number of non-religious people.

They would account for just under 39 per cent, challenging Christians as the biggest faith community in the UK. » | John Bingham, Religious Affairs Editor | Thursday, April 02, 2015

British Christianity: Churches Decline While Islam Grows; Is America Next?

CHRISTIAN POST – OPINION: Gov. Mike Huckabee recently retraced the steps of Pope John Paul II, Margaret Thatcher, and Ronald Reagan with a group of ministers and faith leaders. After touring Parliament, Westminster Abbey, and the Churchill War Rooms, he remarked that both Margaret Thatcher and Winston Churchill were heavily criticized and often dismissed yet they remained steadfast to name and fight evil.

"During two periods of massive global change," Huckabee argued, "if these world leaders had been ambiguous about evil the world would be quite different."

For Churchill, evil was Nazism and fascism. In 1936 he said of Stanley Baldwin's government, "They go on, in strange paradox, decided only to be undecided, resolved to be irresolute, adamant for drift, solid for fluidity, all-powerful to be impotent."

For Thatcher, evil was socialism and communism. She said, "I am in politics because of the conflict between good and evil, and I believe that in the end good will triumph.

"And what a prize we have to fight for: no less than the chance to banish from our land the dark divisive clouds of Marxist socialism." Ronald Reagan alone stood with her, as the only world leader to call the Soviet Union what it was: "the Evil Empire."

Why did they fight, despite their opponents' incessant impotence, ignorance, and impudence?

According to Huckabee, they fully understood what evil is: "Evil creates oppression and takes from the human soul that which is most like God—because freedom, creativity, and joy all come from God. And when a government devalues human beings, it sins against God."

They also knew what is good. Thatcher said, "We want a society where people are free to make choices, to make mistakes, to be generous and compassionate. This is what we mean by a moral society; not a society where the state is responsible for everything, and no one is responsible for the state." » | Bethany Blankley | CP Op-Ed Contributor | Tuesday, December 09, 2014

UK Non-Christian Claims 'Absurd', Senior Tories Say

BBC: The UK is a Christian country and those who deny it are "deluding themselves", two senior Conservative MPs have said.

Attorney General Dominic Grieve and Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith told the Daily Telegraph modern Britain had "Christian heritage".

Deputy PM Nick Clegg has also said it is "obvious" that Christianity is integral to the UK's identity.

A group of public figures recently objected to David Cameron's description of the UK as a "Christian country". Mr Cameron had also said Britons should be "more confident" in defending "Christian values".

Mr Grieve, a patron of the Conservative Christian Fellowship, said atheism had not made "much progress" in the UK.

"Many of the underlying ethics of society are Christian-based and the result of 1,500 years of Christian input into our national life," he said.

"It is not going to disappear overnight. They [theists] are deluding themselves." » | Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Former Archbishop of Canterbury: We Are a Post-Christian Nation

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Exclusive: Former archbishop of Canterbury says Britain is no longer a nation of believers, as Telegraph poll reveals Christians are reluctant to express their faith

Britain is now a “post-Christian” country, the former archbishop of Canterbury has declared, as research suggests that the majority of Anglicans and Roman Catholics now feel afraid to express their beliefs.

In an interview with The Telegraph, Lord Williams of Oystermouth says Britain is no longer “a nation of believers” and that a further decline in the sway of the Church is likely in the years ahead.

While the country is not populated exclusively by atheists, the former archbishop warns that the era of regular and widespread worship is over.

His stark assessment comes after David Cameron ignited a national debate over the place of religion in British public life. The Prime Minister urged Christians to be “more evangelical” about their faith and claimed that Britain should be a more confidently Christian country.

His remarks, in the run-up to Easter, provoked a furious response from atheist and secular groups, and prompted a succession of senior politicians to give their views, culminating in Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, calling for the disestablishment of the Church of England. » | Tim Ross, Cole Moreton and James Kirkup | Saturday, April 26, 2014

Muslims Must Accept Britain's Christian Values, Says Former Home Secretary

Former Labour home secretary Jack Straw

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Jack Straw says Islamist 'plot' to take over Birmingham schools is product of power struggle within Muslim community as he tells parents to accept Christianity 'permeates our sense of citizenship'

Muslims must accept that Britain is built on Christian values, a former Home Secretary has said, in the wake of mounting evidence that a group of schools have been taken over in a ‘Trojan Horse’ plot by radical Islamists.

It is “inevitable” that many Muslim communities will not integrate with the rest of British society but it must be made clear that attempts to isolate Muslim pupils from the rest of society are unacceptable, Jack Straw said.

The alleged plot by Islamic radicals to take control of a series of schools in Birmingham is the product of a little-understood power struggle between Muslim denominations, Mr Straw, the MP for Blackburn said.

Sir Michael Wilshaw, the head of Ofsted, is to take personal charge of the schools watchdog’s probe into allegations that radical Islamists had sought to infiltrate the governing bodies of secular schools.

It is claimed head teachers were pressurised into segregating pupils, abandoning “un-Islamic” sections of the GCSE biology syllabus and neglecting non-Muslim pupils. » | Matthew Holehouse, Political Correspondent | Monday, April 21, 2014

David Cameron Christianity Claim Backed by Religious Groups

Mr Cameron has spoken of the "peace" he has found in Christianity

BBC: Religious groups have backed Prime Minister David Cameron's assertion Britain is "a Christian country".

Hindu Council UK said it was "very comfortable" with the description. The Muslim Council of Britain said the UK was a largely Christian country.

He said the UK must be "more confident" about its Christianity, a view Downing Street says he has stated before.

It comes after a group of public figures warned the PM risked causing "alienation" with his comments. » | Monday, April 21, 2014

Islam Fastest-growing Religion in UK as Churches Decline

While Christian Churches in the UK are struggling to draw people to worship, the Islamic community there is burgeoning. Some Muslim groups are doing all they can to counter fears the rapid growth is a challenge to British traditions.

David Cameron ‘Fuelling Sectarian Division by Bringing God into Politics'

David Cameron bringing God into politics.

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Dozens of public figures accuse David Cameron of fostering alienation and division with call to view Britain as a Christian country

David Cameron is sowing sectarianism and division by insisting that Britain is still a “Christian country” an alliance of writers, scientists, philo[oso]phers and politicians has claimed.

In a letter to The Telegraph, 55 public figures from a range of political backgrounds accuse him of fostering “alienation” and actively harming society by repeatedly emphasising Christianity.

The group, which includes writers such as Philip Pullman and Sir Terry Pratchett, Nobel Prize winning scientists, prominent broadcasters and even some comedians argue that members of the elected Government have no right to “actively prioritise” religion or any particular faith.

It comes after a series of public statements in which Mr Cameron has been increasingly vocal about his own faith.

Last week, in an article for the Church Times, the Prime Minister said Britain should be unashamedly “evangelical” about its Christianity. » | John Bingham, Religious Affairs Editor | Sunday, April 20, 2014

We Can’t Dissent Against 'New Gay Orthodoxy’, Says Christian Charity

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Biblical scriptures are in danger of becoming too politically incorrect to be expressed in modern Britain thanks to the campaigning of gay rights activists, the Court of Appeal hears

Gay and lesbian rights activists are seeking to be the new “moral enforcers” and it is Christian religious conservatives who now need protection to be allowed to dissent against “the new orthodoxy”, it was claimed.

Core Issues Trust, a Christian charity, is challenging a ban on its London bus advertisement reading: “Not Gay! Ex-Gay, Post-Gay and Proud. Get over it!” It was a response to a bus poster campaign by gay rights group Stonewall carrying the message: “Some people are gay. Get over it!”

Paul Diamond, for the charity, told appeal judges that at the heart of the case was the “ironical” situation in modern British society where ancient Biblical scriptures, which played an important role in forming the nation’s morals, were now in danger of containing views which could no longer be expressed “in a land with a reputation for free speech”.

Mr Diamond said Christian scriptures only permitted sexual relationships between one man and one woman in marriage and people should be entitled to express that view. He said the case raised the question: “Is the belief that homosexuality is a sin worthy of respect in a democratic society?”

The charity accuses the Mayor of London Boris Johnson of unlawfully using his position as chairman of Transport for London (TfL) to obtain the ban in order to secure the gay vote and advance his 2012 re-election campaign. » | Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Faith Change: Islam Rapidly Grows as Christianity Declines in UK

Christianity's central place in British culture could be increasingly under threat, with church attendance numbers in severe decline. Meanwhile, the nation's second largest religion, Islam, is growing faster than ever; with some studies suggesting it could eventually become the dominant faith. RT's Polly Boiko has the story.

One Country, Two Religions and Three Very Telling Pictures: The Empty Pews at Churches Just Yards from an Overcrowded Mosque
MAIL ONLINE: Two photos show Sunday morning services in churches in East London / The third shows worshippers gathered for Friday midday prayers outside a nearby mosque / The difference in numbers could hardly be more dramatic

Set aside the fact that our Queen is the Defender of the Christian Faith. Ignore the 26 Church of England bishops who sit in the House of Lords.

Pay no attention to the 2011 Census that told us 33.2 million people in England and Wales describe themselves as Christians.

For if you want a more telling insight into religion in the United Kingdom today, just look at these photographs. The story they tell is more revealing than any survey. » | Guy Walters | Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Islam Could Be Dominant UK Religion in 10 Years – Census Analysis

RT.COM: One in 10 people under 25 are Muslim, while Christianity is in decline, the 2011 UK census reveals. An explosion in the Muslim population and an aging Christian demographic could mean Islam will be the dominant religion in the UK in 10 years.

A new analysis of the 2011 census by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that the number of Christians was falling 50 per cent faster than had previously been thought. Earlier analysis of the statistics showed only a 15 per cent decline, but the ONS found that this figure had been beefed up by 1.2 million foreign-born Christians.

Furthermore, the re-analysis showed that the majority of Christians were over the age of 60 and for the first time less than half of young people describe themselves as Christian. As a result the ONS has calculated that in a decade only a minority will classify themselves as Christians in England. Christianity is still the dominant religion in the UK with over 50 per cent of the population regarding themselves as believers.

However, this may be set to change as the British Muslim population has surged dramatically over the past 15 years, increasing by 75 per cent in England and Wales. The 2011 census puts the Muslim population of the UK at around 5 per cent, a total that has been boosted by around 600,000 Muslim immigrants who have arrived in the UK over the past decade. » | Friday, May 17, 2013

RT.COM: ‘White flight’ in UK as mass immigration leads to segregation: New census figures reveal that white Britons are leaving areas where they are in a minority as a leading think-tank warns Britain is “sleepwalking into segregation.” ¶ White Britons are leaving areas where they are in a minority and are being replaced by immigrants and other ethnic minorities, a study by the Demos think-tank has found. ¶ As a result of ‘white flight’, nearly half of ethnic minorities in the UK – about 4 million people – live in communities where whites make up less than half of the population. » | Sunday, May 06, 2013

Related »

Christianity Declining 50pc Faster Than Thought – As One In 10 Under-25s Is A Muslim

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Christianity could be facing a catastrophic collapse in Britain according to official figures suggesting it is declining 50 per cent faster than previously thought.

A new analysis of the 2011 census shows that a decade of mass immigration helped mask the scale of decline in Christian affiliation among the British-born population – while driving a dramatic increase in Islam, particularly among the young.

It suggests that only a minority of people will describe themselves as Christians within the next decade, for first time.

Meanwhile almost one in 10 under 25s in Britain is now a Muslim.

The proportion of young people who describe themselves as even nominal Christian has dropped below half for the first time.

Initial results from the 2011 census published last year showed that the total number of people in England and Wales who described themselves as Christian fell by 4.1 million – a decline of 10 per cent. » | John Bingham, Religious Affairs Editor | Thursday, May 16, 2013

Leap of Faith: Church of England en route to Extinction
Hand-in-hand with the British Monarchy, the Church of England has been a symbol of the UK for centuries. And while the Church still enjoys many unique political and financial privileges - it's current state is less than secure, as RT's Polly Boyko found out.