I lived in the UK for 3 years (2000-2003), and can confirm that the anti-faith bias there is very strong indeed. On many occasions, people looked at me like my head came to a point when they learned I was a Christian. (This most often came up when discussing Tony Blair or American politics.) The most common response was, "Oh, that's just because you're an American, and everyone knows what they're like! But if you lived here, you'd know better.) And the British media (both print and TV) are unremittingly hostile to Christianity (although, interestingly enough, not to Islam or Hinduism, of which there are strong minorities in the UK).
Interestingly enough, although the Church of England is in free fall, the English Catholic Church is growing.
As a data point, the church I attended in Cheltenham where I lived (Saint Benedict's) was filled to overflowing every Sunday morning, and the parish activities were well supported.
After Mass, a huge percentage of the people would stay afterward for tea, cookies, and conversation. I made several lasting friendships with my fellow parishoners.
But the neighboring Church of England building was sold while I was there, and converted into a disco. (I think they call them "clubs" nowadays.)
It would have been nice if there had been some actual research into this. Show me some statistics on depression, assaults, discrimination complaints, and I think this might lend some plausibility. Until then, I have a competing hypothesis. People are good about complaining about just about everything.
Christianity seems to be doing well in Oxford. I estimate that about one tenth of the people in the city are in churches over the weekend. St. Aldates has a thousand or so; St. Ebbes and others also do a thriving business. John Lennox or Alister McGrath can fill a large pub for a lecture during the week. Some of the charismatic and evangelical congregations seem optimistic and outreach-minded. There's some outreach to Muslims and drug addicts. It seems the demographics of Christianity are different from in the US.
'On many occasions, people looked at me like my head came to a point when they learned I was a Christian.'
According to the Church of Englands official figures, 'More than 4 in 10 in England regard themselves as belonging to the Church of England, while 6 in 10 consider themselves Christian.'
But now we know that Christians are lying once more, and exaggerating their numbers to make themselves look more important.
As we all have now been told, Christians are such a minority that there is a very strong anti-faith bias.
'Seven in ten (72%) of the population agree that Church of England schools help young people to grow into responsible members of society and 8 in 10 (80%) agree that they promote good behaviour and positive attitudes.'
Why would the Church of England lie so blatantly about the number of people in the UK who declare themselves to be Christian and support Christian schools to an extent not dreamed of in the US?
6 comments:
I lived in the UK for 3 years (2000-2003), and can confirm that the anti-faith bias there is very strong indeed. On many occasions, people looked at me like my head came to a point when they learned I was a Christian. (This most often came up when discussing Tony Blair or American politics.) The most common response was, "Oh, that's just because you're an American, and everyone knows what they're like! But if you lived here, you'd know better.) And the British media (both print and TV) are unremittingly hostile to Christianity (although, interestingly enough, not to Islam or Hinduism, of which there are strong minorities in the UK).
Interestingly enough, although the Church of England is in free fall, the English Catholic Church is growing.
As a data point, the church I attended in Cheltenham where I lived (Saint Benedict's) was filled to overflowing every Sunday morning, and the parish activities were well supported.
After Mass, a huge percentage of the people would stay afterward for tea, cookies, and conversation. I made several lasting friendships with my fellow parishoners.
But the neighboring Church of England building was sold while I was there, and converted into a disco. (I think they call them "clubs" nowadays.)
It would have been nice if there had been some actual research into this. Show me some statistics on depression, assaults, discrimination complaints, and I think this might lend some plausibility. Until then, I have a competing hypothesis. People are good about complaining about just about everything.
Christianity seems to be doing well in Oxford. I estimate that about one tenth of the people in the city are in churches over the weekend. St. Aldates has a thousand or so; St. Ebbes and others also do a thriving business. John Lennox or Alister McGrath can fill a large pub for a lecture during the week. Some of the charismatic and evangelical congregations seem optimistic and outreach-minded. There's some outreach to Muslims and drug addicts. It seems the demographics of Christianity are different from in the US.
'On many occasions, people looked at me like my head came to a point when they learned I was a Christian.'
According to the Church of Englands official figures, 'More than 4 in 10 in England regard themselves as belonging to the Church of England, while 6 in 10 consider themselves Christian.'
But now we know that Christians are lying once more, and exaggerating their numbers to make themselves look more important.
As we all have now been told, Christians are such a minority that there is a very strong anti-faith bias.
'Seven in ten (72%) of the population agree that Church of England schools help young people to grow into responsible members of society and 8 in 10 (80%) agree that they promote good behaviour and positive attitudes.'
Why would the Church of England lie so blatantly about the number of people in the UK who declare themselves to be Christian and support Christian schools to an extent not dreamed of in the US?
Steven declared:
But now we know that Christians are lying once more, and exaggerating their numbers to make themselves look more important.
What is your evidence for the claim that they are "lying" and "exaggerating their numbers"?
How is the claim that 6 in 10 "consider themselves Christian" inconsistent with anything said in the article (or by B. Prokop)?
Post a Comment