Britain's religious views

 

               A few days ago, our classes were honed in on the diverse religious changes throughout Britain now and her history. During a lecture from our guest professor Dr. A. Hunt, atheism is the new largest religious group. However, according to the 2021 religious census in Great Britain, less than half of the population is still Christian, about forty-six percent. Meanwhile, those claiming that they are non-religious or atheist according to this source have been rising in younger generations—raising this percentage to thirty-eight percent. This leveling out with Christianity is very surprising for such a religiously backed country.

               But what exactly is being non-religious or atheist?  In accordance to the required text with this class, atheists “…hold that the solution to most problems is not God but rather ‘extending the scientific method of rational inquiry into all aspects of life’.”. This same text also states that people claiming they’re non-religious are not always atheist and sometimes believe that “…the various deities and gods associated with it [religion]—are a projection of humankind’s own aspirations and yearnings.”.

               An article came out early last year, taking a deeper dive into the views of those who claim that they are non-religious here in Britain. A Christian based think tank group took surveys and found that “…51 percent of those who say they have no religion say that they definitely don’t believe in God. Just like any religious group, those who describe themselves as non-believing vary in their degrees of non-belief, and also in what kind of God they don’t believe in!”.

              

 

               Luckily, this country is very open to religious and spiritual differences. In fact, of the remaining 16 percent of people from the initial source, most of those are some type of Muslim, Hindu, or other Islamic denomination. I think that in this sense of religious tolerance, Britain is more like the U.S. than we are led to believe. I have understood that there have been significant changes in the church since the separation of state, but really I have not learned about modern European countries’ cultures in all of my schooling. And not because of a lack of interest, but rather a lack of prompting during the busy work sections of the public school system.

              

               This study abroad has really made me realize that in no grade or specific class, do students ever led to directly study modern civilizations. We are certainly prompted to learn about things such as past civilizations during select history classes, but we never do focus on upcoming and modern ideologies or things that are considered “history in the making”. Yes, it will inevitably come into conversation with great educators, but until a teacher decides to sacrifice class time to further educated, then it does not come into question. Because I have been lucky enough to have a few of these teachers, I can show eternal gratefulness from this point in time, however I wish that I could have seen the true value of that time and information in the past.

               While we are advised on this trip to not compare other countries and cultures to our own, I think that it is actually rather essential to at least look at the similarities. Although it will highlight the differences, it will also lead to a stronger sense of connection to people. Those of you reading this who know me well understand that I fear very few public situations because “people are just people” and they’re not out to hurt you. Many people tell their children that things like spiders are more scared of them than they are of the spider, and I strongly believe that this is how people need to begin to view each other as well. There will rarely be someone out in public trying to harm or target you, the world is so wrapped up in itself that it is hard to do anything more than people watch— much less attempt to harm you. People may find you asking for directions as rude or strange, and they may not be completely honest with the answer to your inquiry, but they will certainly not harm you for asking or existing.