Religions wax and wane but do not make or break nations

Is Britain no longer a Christian country? On a crude sort of majoritarian definition, it isn’t. According to the 2021 census, less than half of people in England and Wales identify as Christian for the first time. The number stands now at 46 per cent, against 59 per cent in the previous decade.

Similar figures were reported for Scotland earlier this year – 53 per cent in 2011 to 33 per cent now. In terms of plurality, the largest single identification group in England and Wales is still “Christian”, but not far ahead of those who declared “no religion”, now almost four in 10 of the population. Some faiths such as Islam are growing, perhaps for demographic rather than philosophical reasons, but the United Kingdom is becoming a more godless place.

Then again, the decline in Christianity is nothing new. Traditional forms of observance among Christians have been in a long decline for more than a century. Not since the wave of nonconformism that spread around Wales, the Midlands and the north of England in the latter part of the 19th century has there been much of an increase in enthusiasm for the teachings of Christ. The contemporary evangelical branches of Christian churches, often linked with communities with their roots in West Africa and the Caribbean, are an exception. Polish and Lithuanian settled communities have bolstered Catholic services.