The UK Right-Wing parties are going hard today on how the UK is a Christian country. The thing is we're actually an A-Religious country. 30% say they have no religion when asked. 30% were brought up in a faith but haven't though about it since they were 10. 20% know what to do in a place of worship, but only ever go for weddings and funerals. Which leaves 10% who are just getting old.
It's not that we're Atheist. We're A-Religious. We're simply not interested and don't care.
An old Buddhist story.
Six monks were talking
The first said "The flag moves"
The second, "It's the wind that moves"
The third, "It's the mind that moves"
The fourth, "What flag?"
The fifth, "What wind?"
The sixth, "What mind?"
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/apr/05/the-guardian-view-on-britains-religious-right-using-and-abusing-faith-in-the-pursuit-of-power
> Britain’s religious right: using and abusing faith in the pursuit of power
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/05/there-is-no-revival-of-christianity-in-britain
> Humanists UK says we must recognise non-religious people as a community with a positive, ethical worldview that deserves equal standing in the public square
> six in 10 people aged 16 to 34 identify with no religion. Furthermore, this is not a “phase” of youthful rebellion; 94% of those raised without religion remain non-religious as adults.
> Church of England’s identity falls to just one in 10 of the general population
> We must stop treating the non-religious as a demographic absence and recognise them as a community with a positive, ethical worldview
@jbond I've somehow been given to understand that UK folks are kind of lightly christianized tree-worshipping druids or something. With really fine old church architecture.
Edit to add: which actually sounds quite appealing to me. And choral music can be nice!
Most English people became apatheists but couldn't be bothered to show up to their initiation ceremony (which is correct)
@doctormo Good word. I haven't come across that one before.
This is pretty much what I was trying to get at with
"A-Religious".
@jbond " The thing is we're actually an A-Religious country. 30% say they have no religion when asked. "
In the last (2021) Census the proportion of people saying they had no religion was 37.2%. The proportion saying they were Christian was 46.2%, so more than those of no religion but still a minority.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_the_United_Kingdom
I do feel some sympathy for Atheists. But I hate the way the Theists get to define us in their terms. As if there are only two choices. Believe in God or Believe there is no God. I choose the third way. There is no Belief.
@jbond @Sine_Nomine @marjolica
I’m an atheist. I don’t do religion. I do science. So I pray to Athea, Goddess of Contradictions, for lo, she is the G.O.A.T. Contradictions are the building blocks of the universe. They are what reality is made of.
@jbond @LevZadov @Sine_Nomine @marjolica Everything is in entropy.
There is no God. God was constructed to ensure our 'bad' actions would be judged. God is a political device.
@SpaceLifeForm I don't think Agnosticism goes far enough. It's still a philosophical position defined in theist terms. It's still a belief about gods. In this case that it's impossible to say if they exist or not.
The real position of the majority of the secular western world is that we simply have no interest in the question.
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