The Moral and Religious Profile
of Britain Today
Professor Linda Woodhead
Lancaster University
AHRC/ESRC Westminster Faith Debates
www.faithdebates.org
1.Moral profile
-moral majority
-moral minority
2.Religious profile
-majority
-minorities
Based on data from:
1. £12m AHRC/ESRC Religion & Society
Research Programme
2. Three surveys on religion and values
designed by me and administered by YouGov,
2013. Each one nationally representative
(9,000 people in total)
3. Own research
Moral profile of Britain
Values consensus
• On personal morality (from abortion to samesex marriage to euthanasia) the overwhelming
majority of British people are liberal
• On socio-political issues matters more are
‘centre-right’ than ‘centre-left’
A values profile of
GB
Paternalist
Vertical axis =
personal morality
Horizontal = sociopolitical views
7% GB
9% GB
Social
(leftwing)
Individualist
(rightwing)
38% GB
45% GB
Liberal
Religious values
• The values of most Christians are close to the
general consensus
Values profile of
Anglicans
compared with
population
NB the
leadership is in a
different place
Paternalist
7% GB
5% CofE
9% GB
10% CofE
Social
Individualist
38% GB
30% CofE
45% GB
56% CofE
Liberal
Church leaders are out of step with the
moral convictions of the British people
Positioned in top left and right quartiles
E.g. less than 30% of Christians under 45 think
that same sex marriage is wrong. A clear
majority under 45 think it is positively right.
The moral minority
A liberal, democratic/egalitarian ‘moral majority’
of >90% of the GB population
A strict moral minority of 8.5%
(on abortion, SSM, euthanasia)
The post-paternalistic moral revolution
• The boundaries of liberalism extended
• Egalitarianism extended to include women,
children, the disabled, LBGT people
• “post-paternalism”
• Read by churches as religio-moral dissolution
• The moral minority remain on the paternalist
side of the divide
• Splits churches between approved moral
minorities and disaffected moral majorities
Religious Profile of Britain
1. Ethnic/cultural majority
2. Ethnic/cultural and religious minorities
Census 2011 (England &Wales)
Source: ONS
Religious by age
Source: Woodhead, YouGov for Westminster faith Debates 2013
90
80
C of E
70
Prefer not to
state
None
60
Catholic
50
Other
40
30
20
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Strength of belief by age
Source: Woodhead, YouGov for Westminster faith Debates 2013
60 to 69
Atheist
50 to 59
Prob no
God
Age
70 and
over
Agnostic
40 to 49
Probable
believer
30 to 39
Definite
believer
under 30
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Proportion of age cohort
70%
80%
90%
100%
The failure of religious institutions in GB to
connect with religious people under 40
The coming apart of Christian institutions and
the spiritual and moral life of the nation
Spiritual creativity, institutional failure
Results in displaced persons – no neat
institutional home
Complex identities
“Catholics”
•
•
•
•
•
•
76% believe in God
54% don’t go to church
52% don’t identify as either religious or spiritual
33% no spiritual practice in private
19% “not influenced by any religion at all”
4% take ANY guidance from religious leaders
(11% from my religion, 8% God)
“Nones” on the run
• 25% practise a spiritual activity in private
• 17% believe in God (22% agnostic, 41%
atheist)
• 11% describe themselves as “spiritual”
• 1% belong to a religious group
• 0% take ANY guidance from religious leaders
(30% from science)
Source: Woodhead, YouGov for Westminster faith Debates 2013
Religious or spiritual or…
Which, if any, of the following
best describes you?
A spiritual person
A religious person
Both spiritual and religious
I would not describe myself, or
my values and beliefs, as
spiritual or religious
None of these
Don't know
Source: Woodhead, YouGov for Westminster faith Debates 2013
11
10
10
51
13
5
Authority –
self not
religious
leaders or
sources
Which do you rely on most?
(CHURCHGOERS)
Own reason and judgement
Own intuition or feelings
Family
Trusted friends
God or 'higher power'
The tradition and teachings of
my religion
Science
A scripture or holy book, e.g.
Bible, Qur'an
The religious or spiritual group
to which I belong
Religious leaders, local or
national
CofE
RC
31
14
11
3
15
20
14
17
3
13
10
17
1
1
7
5
3
5
1
0
2.Ethnic/cultural minorities
Census 2011 (England &Wales)
Source: ONS
Minorities are likely to have much clearer
‘mono-identities’ – Sikh, Muslim, born-again
Christian, atheist etc.
Conditions favouring mono-identities
1.Cultural defence (and attack) in relation to
majority
2.Mobilisation against injustice
3.Strategic opportunities
4.Counter-cultural advantages
View minority identities in GB in relation to a
spectrum of security
Jewish identity: secure
From trying to achieve security in insecure
conditions
to
greater security – room for more complex and
fractured identities to expand.
Muslim identity: insecure
• Race, class, colonial factors make Muslims the
most insecure large group in Britain
• Injustices exacerbate
• Heighted religious identity – from culture to
religion – is a reaction
• vicious cycle of insecurity and mono-identity
Christian minority identity
• Over-60s Christians
plus
• A defensive Christian moral minority
• Daily Mail, Daily Telegraph moaning and
mourning
The defensive Christian minority
• Aim to purify and defend ‘fundamentals’ of
faith
• Conservative family defence
• Anti women’s equality, anti gay
Ironically, reinforces drift from the churches
Atheist minority
Do you believe in a god or some 'higher power'?
Yes, there is definitely a God or some 'higher
power'
Yes, there is probably a God or some 'higher
power'
No, there is probably NOT a God or some 'higher
power'
No, there is definitely NOT a God some 'higher
power'
Don't know
26
23
16
19
17
Definitely no God
18-14
25-39
40-59
60+
21%
22%
23%
14%
Threatened identities
• The two most threatened groups in GB at the
moment are paternalist Xns and Muslims. The
first because privilege draining away, the
second because the most genuinely
disprivileged group
• Their loud voices colour views of religion as
paternalist, mono-identity, intolerant
• Reinforce “new” atheism
Insecurities
• Higher profile of religion
• Decline of scientific prestige
• Masculinity? 5:3 male:female
Govt policies reinforce mono-identities
•
•
•
•
“community” multiculturalism
RE
favouring traditional religious representatives
juridification of religious identity, first under
HR law, since 2006 under equality law
The God-fearing moral minority
A liberal, democratic/egalitarian ‘moral majority’
of 80-90% of the GB population
A strict moral minority of 8.5%
(on abortion, SSM, euthanasia)
A God-fearing moral minority of 3.6%
Conclusion
• Settled majority with clear moral consensus
• Non-Christian minorities, secure and insecure
• Atheist minority
Religious institutions catering better for defensive
minorities than secure majorities
Spiritual creativity, institutional religious failure
An increasingly unchurched country