Study Suggests UK May Be Halting Its Religious Decline

The ongoing decline in religious beliefs in the United Kingdom may be slowing, a new study suggests.

According to this year's British Social Attitudes Survey, the overall amount of Britons who call themselves Christians rose one percentage point in the last year, from 42 percent to 43 percent. 

"It appears that the steady decline of religion in Britain has come to a halt, at least for now," Ian Simpson from NatCen Social Research said. 

The most striking number was the three-point fall in the number of adults under 25 who consider themselves nonbelievers. 

Religious beliefs are still a minority view among younger people, with 62 percent considering themselves nonbelievers. However, that number is down from 65 percent a year earlier. 

The "no religion" trend was once the biggest faith group seven years ago at 51 percent, but it's now lower. The number who are identifying as Christian is now the same as it was seven years ago.

But experts in religious trends are warning that the "levelling off" could just be a sign of a "pause at the edge of the cliff" before the oldest, and most devout members of the population die off.

"If you look at the things that really matter to people – what they do with their babies, how they get married and how they deal with their dead – the rise of non-religious funerals, civil weddings, and non-church baby-namings is very steady as well," Linda Woodhead, one of Britain's leading experts on the sociology of religion.

Woodhead explained that the biggest change within the different religious groups has been a drop in numbers of people considering themselves a part of the Church of England or Anglican.

Still, she remains positive about the future of faith in the United Kingdom.

"We shouldn't be looking to see a collapse in numbers in a few years, we have got to look at the long-term picture. But I can't imagine any factor that would lead this trend to change," she said. 

Source: The Telegraph