For those who don’t want to read it. From 1964 to 2005 people attending services has dropped from 74% to 31% and people saying they don’t belong to a religion has gone from 3% to 38%.
“Those who ‘do not belong’ have first shed the practical and theoretical underpinnings of their religion, before finally overcoming social pressure to state ‘your’ religion. There are many who are not at the later stages of this secularisation process, so they still say they ‘belong’, although they are in the process of forgetting & discarding the physical and mental aspects of what they say they belong to. Sociologists know that if they count heads and ask about beliefs, more people say they belong to a religion, and say they have the beliefs of a particular religion, than actually do. People over-state their own religiosity; that’s why statistics from polls will often give higher percentages of ‘believers’ than will head-counting and deeper investigations.”
Religion is declining in the UK.
For those who don’t want to read it. From 1964 to 2005 people attending services has dropped from 74% to 31% and people saying they don’t belong to a religion has gone from 3% to 38%.
Interesting. From the link: