Religion: More harm than good

2006-12-23 16:53

Phil Hazlewood

London - An overwhelming number of Britons believe religion does more harm than good while non-believers outnumber believers by nearly two to one, an ICM poll for The Guardian newspaper suggested on Saturday.

Eighty-two percent of the 1 006 adults questioned for the left-leaning newspaper in the run up to Christmas said they saw religion as a cause of division and tension between people compared to 16% who disagreed.

At a time when Britain's multi-cultural, multi-faith model, their outward symbols and culture are under the microscope after last year's home-grown Islamist extremist suicide bombings, 63% said they were not religious.

Some 33% said they were religious. Older people and women were the most likely to believe in a god: 37% of women said they were religious compared to 29% of men.

But there was still good news for Christian leaders who complain that the true meaning of Christmas is being increasingly eroded by the forces of consumerism and consumption.

Fifty-four percent of Christians questioned said they planned to attend a religious service over the festive period.

Richer people were more likely to go to church at Christmas: 64% of those in the highest income bracket said they would attend a service compared with 43% of those in the lowest economic band.

People are waking up

Writing separately in The Sun tabloid, the Church of England's second-highest cleric, Archbishop of York John Sentamu, was optimistic about the implications of Christmas church attendance.

"People are waking up once more to the true meaning of Christmas and making space in their lives to feel a part of it," he said.

"Something is bringing people back into church and I have a great hope it's because people are beginning to look past the commercial message of Christmas."

But in general, The Guardian survey confirmed the overall decline in religious observance in recent years, particularly in Christian denominations: only 13% said they visited a place of worship at least once a week.

Forty-three percent said they never attended. Non-Christians attend religious services most regularly (29%).

Although Britain is Protestant, with its monarch Queen Elizabeth II the "defender of the faith", only a small minority (17%) described it as a Christian country.

Instead, 62% said Britain was better defined as a "religious country of many faiths".

Queen Elizabeth's eldest son and heir, Prince Charles, has reportedly signalled he wants to be known as "defender of faiths" when he succeeds to the throne.

The Guardian, which in 2000 challenged laws that prevents non-Protestants from acceding to the British throne and the right to advocate republicanism, coincided with strong comments from the leader of the world's Anglicans.

Endangered the lives

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams said Christians faced being chased out of the Middle East because of the hostility created by the Iraq war, leading their countrymen to see them as "supporters of the crusading West".

Williams wrote in The Times that the "short-sighted" and "ignorant" policy on Iraq of Britain and its allies had endangered the lives and futures of thousands of Christians in the region.

- SAPA