The Future Of Religion In Britain...

[agchristie]

This article reminded me of recent comments on another thread concerning more Mosques being given planning consent and the decline in Christian worship. Can the two issues be related and are the trends and reasons in this article a justification for building new Mosques?

http://www.christiantoday.com/article/future.of.religion.in.britain.is.islam.and.black.majority.churches/47716.htm

[mastercraft]

Looks like we're all biting our tongues on this one...

[agchristie]

Mastercraft - maybe AB'ers have slept on this one!

Could be interesting!

[wildwood]

It has already passed the thin edge of the wedge.

[naomi24]

I’ve looked at this question several times and I’m still not sure which angle to approach it from. Anyway, here goes. I don’t think it’s necessarily true that future of religion in Britain is Islam and black majority churches. Whilst the CofE does appear to be in decline, the Happy Clappy varieties of Christianity, much of it imported from the US, are popular. Additionally, adherence to Christianity as a whole cannot be assessed by the numbers of people actively worshipping. I would hazard a guess that very many who consider themselves ‘Christian’ don’t regularly attend any church so whilst a mosque might be considered a visible symbol of the popularity of Islam, a disused CofE church is not necessarily a visible symbol of the decline of Christianity, but simply of the absence of active worshippers in that particular denomination. Since the article lacks factual insight into religion in this country it could be said that non-CofE churches are also well attended, so no, the piece doesn’t offer specific justification for building new mosques over and above any other place of worship.

[jim360]

In the meantime, a poll published by the Times today suggests that atheism is on the rise -- and, critically, people aren't ashamed to "admit" this.

[agchristie]

@ Naomi

Yes, I agree with your very good post considering that the original question was a little confusing so I'm not surprised that you weren't absolutely sure how to respond!

@ Jim

Indeed. As the article suggests, belief in God has 'taken a battering'. I wonder why that is?

[Hypognosis]

Hi agchristie,

Would like to respond but the article you link to causes Safari to freeze. I see the photo and the headline but as soon as I try to scroll down, it 'sticks', there's 30 seconds of the page-loading whorl then it drops me to the phone's homepage.

It could be that the article is on a server that can only cope with a few thousand visitors at once and this story is playing on the TV news, today (you caught it early!)

[Hypognosis]

@agchristie

in ignorance of the details in article but…

"Can the two issues be related "

No. Unless you can prove that the lapsed Christians are converting to Mohammedanism then you have to assume that the increase among the latter is due to those born here plus those who have, lately, moved in.

"and are the trends and reasons in this article a justification for building new Mosques? "

The justifications for more Mosques would have to be
1) Overcrowding in existing mosques
2) Muslim faith forbids praying in private (it doesn't, afaik)
3) Mosques are a money-making enterprise and it is in someone's interest to build them.

As a tool of converting masses of 'aimless, faithless', I'm in no position to comment on their efficacy. In terms of architecture, once built, other radical architecture can hardly be turned down with the excuse of "not befitting the local vernacular", so they serve the purpose of opening the gates to a more wild and varied skyline.

[agchristie]

Hi Hypo,

Thanks for replying, hope I find you.Sorry you couldnt get the link to work but you've commented well.

Many people opposing plans for new mosques seem to think that their voice and sensibilities are not heard or taken seriously enough and in some areas can't understand how approvals are given when there has already been a green light given to a new mosque down the road!

[agchristie]

Hypo, hope i find you well I meant!

[Hypognosis]

Thanks for your good wishes, ag. I'm getting over a heavy cold at the mo, so returning to my 'normal' self, which is the chronic fatigue thing. Hope you're okay yourself?

[agchristie]

Good to hear Hypo that you are picking up, I had a bad bout of flu in November but I'm doing fine thank you.

[tamborine]

If the church sponsored football teams or had bars they might be populated but as it stands giving little out to the community it will fold. Welcome, sleep & feed the destitute would be astart.

Few muslims & sikhs sleep rough coz their worship buildings offer them succour.

[agchristie]

@ tamborine

The link report confirms that the church needs to be doing more and being an attractive proposition to the young in particular is a real task.

[tamborine]

The church should look at mosques & temples to increase its congregation.

[agchristie]

Well, Naomi makes a fair point in that if many folk were rather more active in their support then this would help attendences. There again, the Church should be finding ways to engage with these 'Christians'.

[naomi24]

The Church of England realises it’s out of touch and makes what it sees as an effort to engage with people, but whilst it retains its pomp and ceremony, it will continue to struggle. I go to services occasionally and in my experience the services appear to have reverted to something bordering on Catholicism. It’s a far cry from what I remember from childhood.

[retrocop]

tambo
If you read about the on-going Old Bailey trial about a young male who wanted to cut off a soldiers head he explained to the court what succour he received in the Mosque when his Jehova parents threw him out??

[Hypognosis]

With regard to the pomp and ceremony:

I can understand how, in pre-industrial times, the interior of the local church might be the most uplifting thing that the lower end of society ever set eyes on and would only ever be topped if they went on pilgrimage to some even larger church-owned building. So, a weekly highlight, a social get-together, a sing-song, a bit of drama from the pulpit: practically an entertainment event.

These days, the bling looks like an ostentatious display of wealth. Whilst, on the one hand it is an insult to the poor that church income was spent on baubles instead of providing practical help to the needy, on the other, the church would look spartan without it. A puritanical attitude to church assets also scares the crépe out of people because we all know what killjoys they were, back in the 17th c. Life becomes unliveable if you're in constant fear of infracting rules which they haven't told you about until after you've broken them.

What present-day entity does that remind me of?

[Mamyalynne]

Interestingly the article also states.....

//Roman Catholicism is being significantly boosted due to migration. In addition, at least 5,000 new congregations have started in Britain since the 1980s, mostly from new churches.//


If more worshippers need to worship more places willbe built - so it seems that CofE/Methodist and various other worshippers have stopped attending their places of worship.