The proportion of atheists within the UK has grown to such an extent that it’s now potential to talk of a “first atheist age”, a gaggle of researchers have stated after publishing the outcomes of a significant examine into atheism.
The 'Explaining Atheism' venture, led by Queen's College Belfast, surveyed almost 25,000 folks in Brazil, China, Denmark, Japan, the UK and the US to find why some people are atheists and why some nations have increased percentages of atheists than others. .
Figures from this examine and former analysis venture Understanding Unbelief (2017-2021) converged with information from the British Social Attitudes Survey and the World Values Survey to substantiate that the UK now has a relative majority of atheists. Christian As we speak requested a breakdown of the numbers, however they’d not been equipped on the time of going to press.
Based on the 2021 British Social Attitudes Survey, whose information was compiled in 2019, greater than half of respondents (52%) stated they didn’t comply with any faith, whereas 1 / 4 stated they didn’t imagine in God.
The 2017 to 2022 World Values Survey discovered that British respondents had been evenly cut up between those that believed in God (47.7%) and those that didn’t (48.5%). 4 a long time in the past, in 1981, three-quarters of Britons stated they believed in God, a transparent image of how a lot religion has declined within the UK.
The 2021 Census of England and Wales confirmed the same decline, with 37.2% of the inhabitants now figuring out as having no faith, down from 1 / 4 in 2011, whereas the variety of folks figuring out as Christian fell to a minority for the primary time, at simply 46. 2% of the inhabitants.
The Explaining Atheism analysis venture concerned a number of UK universities, together with Brunel College of London and the College of Kent.
Commenting on the examine's findings, Dr Lois Lee of the College of Kent's Division of Spiritual Research stated: “Britain is getting into its first atheist age. Though atheism has been outstanding in our tradition for a while – whether or not it was by means of Karl Marx, George Eliot or Ricky Gervais – it's solely now that atheists have begun to outnumber theists for the primary time in our historical past.”
The examine discovered that the strongest affect on religion is parental upbringing and societal expectations relating to perception in God.
“Whereas anti-religious dad and mom would not have a big impact on whether or not their youngsters imagine in God, they strongly affect whether or not their youngsters are morally against faith,” the researchers stated.
It was unusual that the majority atheists and agnostics have some perception within the supernatural.
The “Explaining Atheism” venture lasted three years and was funded by the John Templeton Basis.
Analysis chief Professor Jonathan Lanman of Queen's stated: “Our massive cross-cultural surveys reveal that whereas many elements can affect one's beliefs in small methods, the important thing issue is the diploma to which one is socialized as a theist.
“Many different widespread theories, resembling intelligence, emotional stoicism, damaged houses, and rebelliousness, don’t stand as much as empirical scrutiny.”
