Census: 4 Million Less Christians Than 10 Years Ago.

[Gromit]

25% increase in people with no religion.

Is this very good news?

[jno]

hard to guess what no religion means. It may mean they just don't want to say. Only 29,000 atheists and 32,000 agnostics declared themselves.

Druids heavily outnumber scientlogists.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/datablog/interactive/2012/dec/11/census-religion

[pdq1]

They were the people who voted for Tony Blair and he never answered their prayers.

[ChillDoubt]

Given the results of the previous census, it may mean we have 4 million more Jedi....

[emmie]

depends, some people may consider themselves Christian, baptised in church etc, but don't go to church. I do think that it's a good thing, however what will take it's place.

[boxtops]

Perhaps people are being a bit more honest - I know several who would put down Christian, but don't actually follow the faith.

[emmie]

boxy agree, i was baptised CofE, however once old enough to know my own mind, i decided that there was no point in pretending to follow any faith.

[naomi24]

Perhaps some of that 4 million have finally seen the light, but maybe others are saying 'mind your own business'.

[boxtops]

Look at the number of people who put Jedi, you can't tell me they all have light sabres in their wardrobes :-)

[emmie]

exactly, can never understand why putting your faith is on any form

[emmie]

now satanists, they could present a problem, Jedi, now that might be fun to join,

[boxtops]

em - it's just for surveys like this, and to prove equality and diversity - we have to do it at work to make sure we're not discriminating.

[Snafu03]

see I dont understand your works philosophy on discrimination boxy, its counter-productive.

If they decide they have too many christian/muslim/whatever staff who have been given the job on personal merit then it means future recruiting MUST discriminate against the best candidate if they belong to one of the over-subscribed ethnicities or religions.

[jake-the-peg]

//it means future recruiting MUST discriminate//

Does it?

Or do you mean you think it has to because that reinforces your predudices.

Perhaps it means they're not doing enough to attract suitable candidates from other backgrounds.

Before you right must, especially before you shout it in capitals - perhaps you really ought to think about whether you've considered all the other options other than the first thing that popped into your head

[AB Editor]

"Is this very good news?"

I'd say so.

[boxtops]

OMG ^^ there's a man with a light sabre in his wardrobe, LOL

[naomi24]

Jake, why do you instantly accuse Snafu03 of prejudice? It stands to reason that if one group is sidelined in favour of another simply because they are not the preferred option, then the ‘best’ candidate for the job is not necessarily going to be chosen.

[emmie]

boxy, some time ago i was asked if i wished to participate in a survey to do with the census. I agreed and a young lady showed up. We had a very nice quite long conversation about the census, reasons for it, and it all went swimmingly, until i asked if she thought it was of any use. There was more to it than that, but i don't have space to go into all the conversation, but after much talk, reflection, we both concluded that not only is the census deeply flawed, it is a total waste of money, it doesn't reflect a true head count, that people lie, that people are more transitory than ever, that many don't fill it in, that many can't speak the language to fill it in, or wish to let it be known they exist. If it is supposed to be that local authorities can plan their budgets, how many to cater for in schools, housing, not exactly sure how it works if you have a rapidly expanding populace. Local authorities have long complained that bringing in so many people so quickly puts enormous pressure to find those resources, so not sure how the census can give a true representation of those here.

[jake-the-peg]

I don't believe I did accuse him of prejudice in the manner that I suspect you mean.

The prejudice was the prejudgement that the data *must* be required for positive descrimination without considering other options.

That's the sort of prejudice I was refering to

[emmie]

best candidate for the job should get the job, irrespective of gender, creed, colour or indeed faith. What makes me cross is that the there are those who think positive discrimination is a good thing, that you must have a total cross section of society in your business, no matter that they don't actually fit the requirements of that business.

[Old_Geezer]

They've probably all been on a diet.