The British Religion in Numbers website is an online resource of survey and other data. You can see
charts on church numbers and belief such as:
It useful since
many religious debates get down to questions of how many or how large or
is this typical? And of course trends are
important.
And one trend at least has
gotten some recent attention based on results from the first stage of the 2015
British Election Study. This is a survey
of more than 20,000 people conducted by a team of academics from Manchester,
Oxford and Nottingham universities.. Apparently, as reported in Christian
Today, the results show that in roughly the last five decades, the number of
people reporting no religion in Britain:
“has grown from just 3 per cent of the
population to nearly half, according to a new survey. “
It’s roughly a 1% change a
year going from 3 to 50% in 40 years.
Similar trends are reported in the US and even in the US South there is
movement. The Public
Religion Research Institute's recent report noted that 14 percent of Alabamians
describe themselves as "religiously unaffiliated." That’s a long way
from Britian but as a local
paper worried “In a state that put the King James Bible in "Bible
belt," that's downright shocking.” Let's see 30 years of 1% for Alabama would put them up to Britain.
And it is more of a trend
for young adults aged under 25. In Britain nearly two-thirds define themselves
as "nones", or people with no religious affiliation.
Part
of the turn off is attributed to disgust with male-dominated church leadership who’s
orthodoxy abides traditional discrimination against women and homosexuals. One notes that Pope Frank and others are on
to this issue and searching for ways to mitigate the orthodox image at least. One worries that this is just a kinder, gentler form of orthodoxy. After all if its God's word and you're infallible. Well there may be a ceiling effect.
Another reaction was noted on NPR with a segment by MONIQUE PARSONS (October 16, 2014) called: Interfaith
Chaplains Revitalize An Old Role On College Campuses.
The broadcast started by noting that a third of young Americans report no religious
affiliation – well behind the Brits, I guess, but hope still bubbles in chaplain's
offices according to the report. And why not? There was free pizza for the casual drop in! The real innovation noted was the pull and
soft sell of the new, trending Interfaith Councils aspect. “Come in and shop. Try on my religion. It goes well with your hair color.”
At USC's interfaith council there was a noted a mix of Muslim
students, Catholics, a Sikh, an agnostic and a few unclassified or hybrid
identities.
VARUN SONI provided examples of some hybrid ID :
· I'm a Zen Christian,
· I'm sushi. I was like,
what's sushi? Oh, my mom is Sunni and my father is Shia, so I'm sushi.
· I'm a Hin-Jew,
· I'm a Jew-Bu.
These may evoke a degree of tolerance mixed and respect for difference, win-win overlap with occasional bumps into ritual, observance conflicts & paradox. We do know that interfaith marriages, which in part produce these hybrids, are on the rise in the U.S. but there seems to be a wrinkle. According to one study, interfaith couples are more likely to keep their separate religious affiliations than ever before (40% keep there's compared to 20% 40 years ago - gee, less
But what about the professionals? The chaplains and the organizations that employ them. Are they bystanders, facilitators, and
participants with their own agendas?
Hard to say. Certainly they continue to churn out graduates who then
seek jobs. And the show made clear that
campus chaplain offices are dynamically reconfiguring their approach to connect
with those trending hybrid identities.
I don't know if this is as much of phenomena in Britain, but the Chaplin at USC is an interesting example. Hi is named Soni. Turns out he is not a trained clergyman. He's a Hindu with a law degree and a PhD in religious studies. Well at least he’s found a career path. Indeed as reported, he is not the only one on the new Interfaith chaplaincy cruise path:
I don't know if this is as much of phenomena in Britain, but the Chaplin at USC is an interesting example. Hi is named Soni. Turns out he is not a trained clergyman. He's a Hindu with a law degree and a PhD in religious studies. Well at least he’s found a career path. Indeed as reported, he is not the only one on the new Interfaith chaplaincy cruise path:
“In a way,
chaplains like Soni are more like interfaith cruise directors than traditional
pastors. Soni oversees 100 student religious groups and 50 chaplains of
different faiths, including a new atheist chaplain to serve secular students.
At Yale, a Catholic laywoman runs the religious life office. At Emory, in
Atlanta, a school affiliated with the Methodist Church, an Imam recently made
the shortlist for chaplain. Seminaries are taking note. At the Claremont School
of Theology in Southern California, a student practices piano inside the
chapel. There's a big cross up front, but also symbols from other faiths. The
school has partnered with local Muslim, Buddhist and Jewish seminaries. It's
also created new degree programs to reach millennial's interested in ministry.”
Some of the activities at USC mentioned included invites to star athletes
to talk about spirituality or actor Rainn Wilson to give a lecture on his Bahai
faith. There's also a popular lunch series with professors called "What
Matters To Me And Why?" Sounds like
it could be a mix of Philosophy and Psychology, but Interfaith offices lay some
claim to that turf too now less oriented around God and more around the big,
existential questions of meaning and purpose, of significance and authenticity.
Religions have historically crafted simple memes to appear to address these Big Questions and in the process pull shop-oriented people into a religious, cultural identity . That’s evolving and perhaps there will studies of where the interfaith path takes us. In the meantime it is a bit of an opening for the Humanist message about life's big questions. Along with the free pizza some humanist teachings seem like a good addition to the interfaith discussions.
Religions have historically crafted simple memes to appear to address these Big Questions and in the process pull shop-oriented people into a religious, cultural identity . That’s evolving and perhaps there will studies of where the interfaith path takes us. In the meantime it is a bit of an opening for the Humanist message about life's big questions. Along with the free pizza some humanist teachings seem like a good addition to the interfaith discussions.
