General News Is the UK a Christian country?

Any party that panders to a certain religion would not get my vote. Also, I thought the UK government was supposed to be secular, not a theocracy.

 

Officially, England is an Anglican country. The UK as a whole is neither religious officially or in practice. The British government, though somewhat tainted by English links to the Anglican Church, is still a secular government in its larger duties.



Christians are still a majority, but most Christians believe weakly and many are merely Christian by formality (baptised as such and not observant). And further breaking it down, the Catholic community brings the Protestants to being merely the largest minority or a very slim majority, and Anglicans among them don't constitute the whole of that. So Britain has no single majority religion, no matter how it's presented.

And even if a country is almost entirely of a single religion, that still doesn't justify giving it a special place in the eyes of the government.

 

Technically I suppose it is, since for some reason they insist on keeping it linked...

Having said that, it certainly doesn't act like it most of the time...

 

The UK is a Christian country it isD)! Just look at the flag(s)... two crosses combined.

 

Was that supposed to be sarcasm?

Australia and New Zealand aren't British colonies, even with the Union Flag in the corner.

 

In fairness to Cameron (and I'm not often fair to Tories) his remarks were more concerned with the UK's Christian heritage. It doesn't come across in the BBC story, but he did infact accept that we are now a muti-cultural society and said that he wasn't putting Christianity on a pedestal above other religions or belief systems that are practiced in the UK.

Is the UK a Christian country? Personally, I don't think it is now. I think we are increasingly secular in our outlook and it's a nominal point that the majority still considered themselves Christian in the UK census. As a Christian myself (Church of England), I rather lament that fact, but I accept it as the reality and can see the reasons why it might be the case.

Would the Conservative Party get my vote? Never. I don't support that type of politics.

 

Uhm I thought the question is if it IS and not if it should "stay christian and all blasphemers would burn in hell" ....
so my "yes" is just because I know its considered a christian country nothing more >.>

 

Yes. In the modern sense, I don't believe it's politically "Christian"(just voted that way this time for fun, the irony given the flags struck me) but historically very much so. I was joking, but like any good(or perhaps bad) joke, there was a grain of truth in it.
And aren't you both still in the Commonwealth of Nations, despite your independence? :icon),_razz

 

Sorry, but the BBC article doesn't fully reflect what he actually said. His comments were more substantive and concerned with the UK's Christian heritage. He has made that clear.

 

Since Culturally it is, and England has an established church it is technically

 

I'm not saying they quote mined him, but what I've read in this BBC article is different to what I heard, which was more substantive and concerned with the UK's Christian heritage.

In all honesty, I don't want to defend the man anymore as it goes against the grain, I'm just saying the article doesn't reflect what I've heard. I think it's a big mistake for politicians to talk about religion as it always provokes a furore like this. Besides, the UK's various faith groups have people who are more than capable of speaking up, if they so wish.

 

To clarify further, I think it's important to distinguish between countries with a specific religious agenda, like Israel, and countries with a strong religious tradition and cultural identity, like England. Do I think England can still be said to be Christian? Yes. Do I think it's theocratic? No. (Disclaimer, I am not saying that Israel is theocratic :smilewave)

 

A small majority of people identify as Christian, but the majority do not practice their chosen religion, only 6% attended weekly church services, and only 37% say they believe in God. As things currently stand, the UK is one of the least religious countries in the world.

The UK has a secular population, but we still have a state religion which seems to exert an awful lot of political influence.

 

It really isn't!!

Most of my friends who are "Christians", do not practice it. Only one of them does.

UK is one of the most liberal countries religion wise (Okay I've got no evidence to back that up but it's what I feel)!

I think Christianity might officially be the state religion as the Queen is the head of the state & Christian.

 

How many Christians do you know in the UK?
Plenty. My whole family claims to be christian.

Are they devout?
Some of them go to church and they certainly claim they are, but I don't see much evidence of it.

Are you Christian? NO

Would the Conservative Party get your vote?
Only if their policies accurately reflected what is best for all, and they don;t.