The future of religion in Britain is in black majority churches and Islam, according to a leading expert in religious trends.
For white British people, it is particularly bleak. Leaders who can inspire and build congregations are few and far between.
“Most ordained ministers are good, well meaning people with the leadership ability of bank managers,” says Professor David Voas, who specialises in population studies at Essex University.
Statistics show that Islam and newer forms of Christianity are overhauling the Church of England as white Britons lose their taste for worship.
He says: “The future of religion in Britain is to be found in Islam and the black majority churches. Muslims already contribute ten per cent of British births; within several decades people of Muslim heritage will form ten percent of the population, even if immigration came to an abrupt halt tomorrow.
“If even half are observant, they will form a substantial proportion of the religiously active population. Ethnic minority Christians will have another large share.”
Categories: CHRISTIANITY, Europe and Australia, ISLAM, Islam, Religion
Or, put another way, the future of religion in Britain is looking bleak, as more people turn to reason and evidence. Atheism is an unstoppable force.
@Al, More like the golden age of Britain is about to begin again under the guidance of His Holiness. Atheism is like a plastic apple, all Shiny from the outside, but hollow inside.
@KhalidS
You sound like you want Britain to become a Muslim country.
We’re going to have to agree to disagree on the merits of atheism – you’ll never convince me otherwise with fairy stories. The modern world is becoming ever more secular, less religious, more reason and evidence based than ever before. The momentum is quite simply unstoppable.
@AL,
I am not saying it, the article does. Have you ever thought why churches are being deserted quicker and quicker, and mosques are being built and filled with worshipers even more quicker, I think church goers have had it with the fairy tales, and just because Christians have this prejudice towards Islam, they become Atheists. Just Google the fastest growing religion in the world?, and then Google the fastest growing sect in Islam?
I do not believe in fairy tales, I believe in Facts, Logic and rationality. And btw, stop mixing secularism with atheism. And like i said, I dont know what momentum you are talking about., but the facts say, Islam is by far the fastest growing religion in the world despite of the whole world not leaving a single stone un-turned in maligning Islam and the Holy Prophet.
@AL,
And just to clarify my point, I want all countries to become Secular. Mosque/Church-State should always be separated. That is the only solution towards peace and harmony.
@KhalidS
Two responses to one comment!? I am honoured!
“I do not believe in fairy tales, I believe in Facts, Logic and rationality.” – In that case you must be an atheist, or at least an agnostic.
“And btw, stop mixing secularism with atheism.” – I didn’t.
“And like i said, I dont know what momentum you are talking about.” – Really?! The correlation between ever improving living conditions and education, and a decline in religion is supported by overwhelming evidence and is well documented. And let’s not forget that in many of the less developed parts of the world, pluralism of religious views is forbidden. Publicly declaring yourself an atheist can result in persecution, imprisonment, and even the death penalty. To be fair, I’d pretend I was religious too if I was faced with that!
Let’s not forget what happened when a number of countries in which Islam is the dominant religion petitioned the UN to obtain a world ban on the “denigration of religion”, and in particular Islamophobia. The UN not only told them to get lost, it highlighted that atheists, humanists, and free thinkers are amongst the most discriminated against group in the world. And yet despite this, some researchers predict the world will be predominantly atheist in the next 25 years.
@AL,
I forgot about clarifying my point in the first comment, and one cannot edit ones comment, hence the 2nd comment.
ThankGod you said 25 years, and not year 2100 or something, because that is what they always do, give you an estimate of something which you can never prove. In 25 years I will be 50 plus (if i make it hopefully lol) Christianity has made Religion look all abracadabra, no wonder with all the advancements in science in the last century or so, Christianity does look very weak against the onslaught of science, and specially in the field of seeing is believing or proving is believing. But on the other hand, I would argue that seeing is believing is an absurd idea altogether, and even science cannot prove so many things but do believe that they should exist in order for the existence of this or that and so on and so forth. I cannot go into details, because this is not the right forum. All I can say is that, where science stops, religion starts and enhances our ability to dig deeper into science and discover new stuff. There is a very very long list of Scientists, astronomers, astrophysicists, physicians, biologists, chemists, alchemists, economists, social scientists etc, all founding fathers of modern science, and all happened to be practicing Muslims. Its the Christian side of scientists which have abandoned Christianity and for good reason.
@AL,
“In that case you must be an atheist, or at least an agnostic”
I am a believing and practicing Muslim. And I have an advantage above all non-believing people when I die.
No one knows whats gonna happen when we are dead, right?
Is there an afterlife or not?, accountability of our deeds or not?, reward?, punishment? heaven? hell? etc.
So when You die, the show is over, no accountability, no reward or punishment, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, right? but that’s your assumption because you cannot prove it because you have never experienced it. And you cannot experiment with it, because its not like Trial and Error kinda experiment, and if you still think that it does not matter, cause once you are dead you are dead, who cares.
But then, what if there is a God! you cannot come back to life and make everything right, now can you? And if you still think, it does not matter, once dead, always dead, then all I can say is that just the mere belief in God “can” make a big difference on the Day.
Like they say. Better to be safe than sorry.
Peace.
ps: I myself do not go with mere belief only, because it makes perfect scientific and religious sense to me.
@KhalidS
“…because that is what they always do, give you an estimate of something which you can never prove.”
– What, like the existence of God?
“All I can say is that, where science stops, religion starts and enhances our ability to dig deeper into science and discover new stuff.”
– Ah, the good old ‘God of the Gaps’. That isn’t proof of god’s existence, and the trouble for religion is, those gaps are getting smaller and smaller as science advances.
I think your attack on Christianity is misplaced – it’s no more or less mumbo jumbo than any other religion. I’m unaware of any established, modern day muslim trail blazers in the world of science and reason, but I’ll take your word for it.
With respect, belief in god is utterly inconsistent with facts, logic, and rationality – that’s why it’s called ‘faith’. And if your god is omniscient, she’ll be well aware you’re hedging your bets in order to get in to heaven – I’m not sure that’s going to go down too well!
Your so called advantage supposes there are just two possibilities after death – the muslim idea of heaven, or nothing at all. Who’s to say the scientologists aren’t right, or the pagans, or the satanists, or the totemists…? The possibilities are infinite. The chances of you choosing the “right path” out of an infinite number or possibilities are just that – infinitesimal.
And the idea that I have to prove there is no heaven is a logical fallacy. (And I thought you claimed to believe in logic and rationality?!) The burden of proof lies with the claimant. It’s like me asking you to prove I can’t run 100 metres in 5 seconds! And if god is the sadistic dictator she’s made out to be, I wouldn’t want to get in to heaven any way. (Seriously, what kind of god dismisses good people who live good lives and do good deeds, just because they don’t worship them!?)
So I’d argue that I’m the one with the advantage – recognising that life is short; that there’s no evidence whatsoever to suggest there’s anything else, so living it to the full, in the moment, and with the right intentions (rather than acting out of some selfish notion of earning a reward later).
It’s a great thing we can disagree and have these discussions on here – in many parts of the world, I’d be imprisoned or killed! Peace.
Atheists have wrong notion about seeing and believing. I see the Sun. I believe there is a Sun. That is no belief. It does not need to be believed because Sun is visible.
Beliefs needs to be in things which are not evident.
The belief of the Atheists that there is no after life (next life) is false because they have not proved it or scientifically practiced that type of life.
Similar for the existence of God Almighty, They cannot prove or disprove that existence. So disbelievers are already divided in two groups, i.e. Atheists and Agnostics.
Secularism is the best that Atheists can get from the Muslims. Religions are all non-political. The sphere of religion should be spiritual only and non-political. Let the politicians, Kings and presidents rule. Religious leaders should keep away from desire to rule and rulers should not disturb the real religious leaders.
There should be a completely separate field for the religious leaders and politicians, never to indulge in others field.
The religious leaders, if given complete freedom, may increase in their following but then they should not yearn to take over (to grab power). Religious leaders should remain with their prayer mat and keep away from any chair (political post) unless it be offer to them in good faith by the rulers.
A very good example is the service provided by prophet Joseph (son of Jacob), both resting in eternal peace with their Lord. Joseph (a.s.) served the king Pharaoh and people of Egypt. That is the best example.
Ahmadis want the Muslims to be good Muslims and the Christians to be good Christians and same for atheists to be good atheists.
Ahmadis do not want that churches may become useless and empty. Ahmadis want the safety and population of churches by good Christians.
The Atheists may be wishing something different. The forecast that Islam will spread in Britain is just based on some data. It may come true or not. It may only be a wishful thinking.
I learnt that George Bernard Shaw (GBS sahib) had predicted that if any religion had the right to rule Britain in future then that religion is Islam. People give their opinion. No harm in that. It is not word from God Almighty.
@AL
You are really good at twisting words. How can you estimate the existence of God? I was saying something totally different. “They Give you an estimate of something which you can never prove” that for sure one cannot live long enough to see that materialize.
I am sure we have a total different comprehension of what God should be like, not that God can be comprehended at all. But it is useless to go on when one already has a preconceived notion of God in his/her head and have rejected it already and for the right reasons, because if someone says that he would not believe in God
unless he sees Him with his own eyes, all I should
say is that if God could be seen with one’s physical eyes, He
would not be worth believing at all. This is because
in such case many of His other attributes would be
falsified. He is Incorporeal, for instance, but in this
case He would become corporeal. He is Infinite but
would become finite and so on and so forth.
Moreover, if God were to adopt a corporeal and
finite form for your sake, what is there to guarantee
that you would not reject Him saying that you do
not believe in a corporeal and finite God? and what about the blind people? Would they too not have the right to demand that God should assume some other material form so that they may taste, smell or feel Him? Does this not amount to ridiculing God? . In short, it is the light that reaches the eyes and the heart, not the other way around.
I am surprised you have never heard of Dr. Abdus Salam, in the modern age, the Muslim Nobel laureate. He won the Nobel prize in theoretical physics. You can wiki the details. And about the mumbo jumbos, well, the same website we are on, is full of facts about the contradictions of Christianity in detail from the bible. And the answers in detail as well.
And after death, everything that You supposed I said, is wrong. You cherry pick alot, i am sorry to say but
this is another common trend among atheists, they purposely cherry pick and refuse to see the bigger picture.
I also mentioned, accountability, deeds, reward, punishment, Not just heaven or nothing at all. And again
you missed the whole point. All I said was, If God does not exists, then you do good or bad deeds, it doesn’t matter, if you have killed millions and then committed suicide, or lived like a saint. once you are dead the show is over? no accountability, is this not what is going to happen according to you?? And i Said, But What If God does exists!! whats the dude gonna do who killed millions.
But as usual you avoided to answer that and instead jumped to infinitism lol.
No where Islam mentions that only Muslims will go to heaven. You are free to prove otherwise. And i do not have to prove anything to you regarding
heaven or hell, because, you do not believe in God in the first place. I can easily counter question you and ask, Can you prove God doesn’t exist? but that will be dragging it to infinity as well. I believe in God, You do not, so i believe in heaven and hell(accountability in other words,reward and punishment).
Which should sound pretty logical to an atheist, since in this material world you are accountable to the authorities for your deeds as well. And the One who created, and sustaining all this, would let you go unaccountable, doesn’t sound very logical.
You are right, life’s too damn short. the thing is, I am going for the long term profit.
I don’t know why you call helping mankind, sharing our happiness with them and their grief with us selfish,
when these are the basic tenets of all religions.
On the contrary, having such a belief as
“recognising that life is short; that there’s no evidence whatsoever to suggest there’s anything else, so living it to the full, in the moment” cannot get
more selfish than this honestly.
Indeed, some oppressive and tyrannical regimes have made freedom of speech a crime. But again blaming it to a certain religion without any evidence from the book or history of the Prophet is uncalled for.
Same as Jesus and Christianity are not responsible and neither accountable for what happened in the crusades or for what Hitler did.
Peace.
@KhalidS
Calm down dear. It’s not a good idea to post when angry as it makes little sense.
Lol. That you spotted anger in my previous comment makes little sense.
“The Belief that there was nothing,and nothing happened to nothing and then nothing magically exploded for no reason, creating everything and then a bunch of everything magically rearranged itself for no reason what so ever into self-replicating bits which then turned into dinosaurs = Atheism . Makes perfect sense!”
Cheers mate. It was nice talking to you. I learnt a lot. So thank you for that.
بسم اللہ الرحمن الرحیم
No need to argue who will perish and who will dominate, the Holy Quran has given us a golden principle in this regard, saying من ھلک عن م بینۃ و یحی عن م بینۃ mean let him die who dies because of argument, and let him live who lives to the dent of argument. If the White people of Great Briton has become wise enough to note the hollowness of Christen Religion and turning to Atheism or to Islam logically there would be dominance of Black Church in England, as and when people realized the hollowness of the Christen Religion, naturally they will get rid of it, and if the Islam has more winning argument than Christianity and the Atheism, naturally other two will be vanished and Islam will be Supreme, then Islam will be the Dominant Religion not only in the Great Briton but throughout the World, and no force on the Earth can Stop it.
Let us watch who is dominant in the World of Argument, Whether Christianity, or Atheism or Islam.
Zarif Ahmad
@KhalidS
I wish I could say the same – unfortunately, I learnt nothing from you.
And your “definition” of atheism is incorrect. But hey, why let facts get in the way?!