{"id":121,"date":"2021-10-23T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-10-23T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sciencefocus.com\/?p=100070"},"modified":"2021-10-23T12:16:08","modified_gmt":"2021-10-23T10:16:08","slug":"fewer-people-are-believing-in-god-but-its-not-because-of-science","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/rss_feed\/fewer-people-are-believing-in-god-but-its-not-because-of-science\/","title":{"rendered":"Fewer people are believing in God \u2013 but it\u2019s not because of science"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Prof Linda Woodhead MBE\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Saturday, 23 October 2021 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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Britain is one of the most secular countries in the world. Belief in God has been declining, along with other indicators of religion, since polling began. In 1961, when a question about God was included in a survey by the National Opinion Polls, 91 per cent of Britons expressed belief. By 2018, according to the British Social Attitudes survey, that had fallen to 55 per cent of the population<\/a>, with 26 per cent affirming that they\u2019ve never believed.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, these figures show that a majority of Britons still believe, whether confidently or tentatively. Belief in God has declined less sharply than other aspects of religion, like belonging to a church and taking part in its rituals. Organised religion has been losing followers quicker than God!<\/p>\n

This suggests, contrary to a common view, that losing faith in God is not the main reason people leave organised religion. It\u2019s just as often the other way around \u2013 people who don\u2019t belong to a religion are less likely to believe in God. If your family isn\u2019t religious and you\u2019re raised without any meaningful contact with a religious group, you\u2019re less likely to believe.<\/p>\n

So the main reason for declining belief is that fewer people are enculturated and socialised into belief. They\u2019re not brought up with the \u2018plausibility structures\u2019 (the wider sociocultural norms and frameworks of meaning) that are found in more religious societies.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not only that talk about God has also become rare in schools, universities, workplaces and the media, it may even be taboo and stigmatised. People who believe in God often worry about being viewed as weird or unintelligent. Confident atheists reinforce these negative views.<\/p>\n

There are philosophical objections to belief as well, like the so-called \u2018problem of evil\u2019, which asks how an omnipotent and benevolent God can allow evil and suffering. This isn\u2019t an issue for those who believe there are many gods and spirits (who are not all-good or all-powerful), but it is a problem for some forms of monotheism.<\/p>\n

Spiritual pluralism<\/h2>\n

In Britain today, confident atheists and confident theists remain minorities in society. They may be the most vocal, but they\u2019re outnumbered by people who are agnostic, or keep an open mind, or believe in unseen forces and powers, or God and gods \u2013 or who just think it likely that there\u2019s \u2018something more out there\u2019.<\/p>\n

Although it\u2019s likely that the downwards trend in belief will continue, it\u2019s not inevitable. Belief in God isn\u2019t a static thing, and the way that people experience and understand God changes. It\u2019s true that Christian plausibility structures for a certain kind of monotheism have been declining. But increased religious pluralism, tolerance and the way that new forms of spirituality have entered into mainstream culture offer new kinds of plausibility and new ways of encountering the divine.<\/p>\n

The most likely scenario for belief in Britain is increased diversity, with contention between a range of different religious, non-religious and atheistic approaches.<\/p>\n

Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n