Humanists

Opinion Polls

www.humanists.freeserve.co.uk

BRITISH BANISHING FEARS ABOUT DEATH AND GODS

The British people are banishing fears about judgement and punishment after death, and belief in God.

An opinion survey by the respected opinion poll organisation YouGov was conducted between December 16th and 18th 2004 of 1,981 adults online. The data was weighted to conform to the demographic profile of British adults as a whole.

It found that in 1968 more than three quarters of people, 77%, said they did believe in God, but in 2004 that figure had fallen to 44%.

For the first time in the long recorded history of Britain only a minority now believe in the existence of God. 3% believe in more than one god and 10% in “some kind of Supreme Being”.

About half a century ago more than half of Britons believed in a life after death. Today fewer than half imagine that their souls will outlast their corporeal bodies.

Similarly only a minority believe in Heaven and even fewer believe in the Devil.

More than half (63%) said they would prefer not to get married in a church or other place of religious worship or did not mind whether they did or not.

A clear majority held that “the government should encourage the parents of children of all faiths, including Christians, to send their children to the same schools”.

Young people are significantly less religious than their elders. More than a third describe themselves as either agnostics or atheists.

Click arrow below to return to the top of this page