The future of religion in Britain: a rise in Islam as Christianity declines. And then there’s magic …
by Ruth Peacock, Religion Media Centre:
A leading academic predicts Britain will see the continuing decline of Christianity, the resurgence of fundamentalism, the rise of non-religion, the emergence of British Islam and a flourishing interest in “magic”.
Professor Linda Woodhead, speaking at the Religion Media Centre’s annual lecture in London, gave the context to the 2021 census results on religion, which are due to be published next month or in November.
She said the census was expected to show a fall in those identifying as Christian in England and Wales — from 72 per cent in 2001, to 59 per cent in 2011, — to perhaps below 50 per cent this time.
Second, she said a steady rise in the number identifying as “none”, having no religion, increased from 15 per cent in 2001, to 25 per cent in 2011, with predictions that this could rise to 33 per cent this time.
And third, a steady rise in the number of those identifying as Muslim went from 3 per cent in 2001 to 5 per cent in 2011, and would perhaps increase to 8 per cent this time.
Woodhead, the F. D. Maurice professor and head of the department of theology and religious studies at King’s College London, has written widely on religion in society.
During her lecture at St Bride’s Church, Fleet Street, she offered four predictions for the future of religion in the coming decades, building on work from the 1970s and 1980s that had proved remarkably prescient.
Her method for analysing which religious movements and phenomena would survive, was to judge them against five signs of vitality: intellectual understanding of the metaphysical, continuing institutional practices, community and belonging, ethics and values, and spirituality connecting with the sacred.
She used this method to understand four trends in the religious life of people in Britain, to suggest which would thrive or die. The trends identified are: fundamentalism, winning the battle, but losing the war; Muslims finding their place, or Islam finding its place; magic and the decline of religion; and the fire sale of the churches and the growth of non-religion.
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