[Closed] Interesting reading - our changing country

It's heartening to see religion on the decline. Although I think the number of non-religious is obviously much much higher, but we're starting to see people take the question more seriously. I think many are too apathetic to even care so put the 'default' of CofE or similar, etc.
I know I did for years.
With any luck religion will be reduced to a niche hobby within my lifetime.

I have no useful contribution to make. 8)

Id like to think the decline of religion was due to a general increase in scientific awareness, however im worried that actually more people choose to worship at the shrine of xfactor on a saturday night than can be arsed to go church on a sunday morning

the history of humanity is a story of migration and gene flow, long may it continue!

So if those trends continue,

The predominant faith in the UK is going to Islam inside this millennia?

Cougar - and all the implications

[img] [/img]

innit?

Did you know that disco record sales were up 400% for the year ending 1976? If these trends continue... AAY!

[img] [/img]

Sleepwalking maybe? 🙂

cougar and tyger are you worried you are slowly turning brown?

[url= http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/society/census-confirms-only-seven-white-people-left-in-britain-2-2012121152998 ]These figures prove that if you live in an area with a high percentage of brown-skinned foreigners then after two years you start to go brown too[/url]

Not worried at all. Just thought it was curious.

I'd like to be a bit browner. Not too brown, but I am well practiced in the use of AK47s. And explosives.
Who is this "Ally" chap anyway?

Nope 🙂

So if those trends continue,

The predominant faith in the UK is going to Islam inside this millennia?

13% of usual residents were born outside the UK.

Excellent, my wife's finally received some recognition!

I wonder what the figures will be like in the next 10 years?

I'd like to be a bit browner.

Me too. But then I'm Scottish descent so I need a tan just to get white.

kimbers - Member
cougar and tyger are you worried you are slowly turning brown?

Kimbers - Are you making the sweeping presumption that all muslims are 'brown'...

I'm olive skinned. What colour am I going to turn?

I'm olive skinned. What colour am I going to turn?

Black olive or green olive?

Or do you mean you have very oily skin?

Do olives even [i]have[/i] skin? I've never seen one peeled ...

A lot of Polish have settled here - nice people on the whole

tyger - Member
Cougar - and all the implications

such as?

A lot of Polish have settled here - nice people on the whole

Around here they're very snooty, and have odd ideas about food and personal hygiene.

I think they might be French Polish.

It's heartening to see religion on the decline

The predominant faith in the UK is going to Islam inside this millennia?

I think theres a change in how people state their faith or lack of faith. Its becoming more popular to declare yourself atheist whereas previously people might state themselves to be christian /catholic / C of E as a description of their background rather than as a declaration of faith. Taking northern ireland as an example - nearly 50% or the population declare themselves protestant and nearly 50% declare themselves catholic but less than half the population actually go to church, so that declaration is about something other than adherence to faith.

Similarly someone from a minority faith background is likely to identify themselves by that distinction regardless of when they practice that faith

Arguably even as atheists most of us still live within a cultural, legal and moral framework that is broadly christian in its origins and traditions.

"I sometimes see people at night who are drunk and wearing hardly any clothes. There are a lot of drugs." Norwich comes out well.

so we are more 'multi-cultural' and less 'religious ' -- win win 8)

13% of usual residents were born outside the UK.

"I sometimes see people at night who are drunk and wearing hardly any clothes. There are a lot of drugs." Norwich comes out well.

Highest percent of atheists as well so what would you expect 😉

[quote=bencooper ]> A lot of Polish have settled here - nice people on the whole
Around here they're very snooty, and have odd ideas about food and personal hygiene.
I think they might be French Polish.
You don't see so much of the Kiwi Polish around these days.

I have no useful contribution to make.

Proper lol. 😆

Just to add on the religion question, that the result is partly due to the very leading question "What is your religion" A parallel survey was run without the presumption of religiosity and found substantially different figures

(the same survey also memorably found that only 48% of respondants who identified themselves as Christian believe in a god.)

Cougar - Member

So if those trends continue,

The predominant faith in the UK is going to Islam inside this millennia?

It's not even certain that the predominant species in the UK will be human tbh. But, in the spirit of the thread,

[img] [/img]

Is there a higher expected birth rate with different nationalities?

mrs DD and I had dd in Lincoln County Hospital at the weekend.The 4-bed shared ward in which mrs DD and dd spent their first night was 25% Oirish/English and 75% Eastern European.

It was a Daily Mail Reader's wet dream.

(I was the only partner in at 0900 the next morning. I mean...wtf were the rest of them doing? Working or something?)

Well, Bradford city centre sure doesn't look like it did 20 years ago so somethings changing fast. I blame the charity shops 🙂

On the subject of birth rates, etc, I read a while back that in Israel the birth rate for Muslims was way higher than for Jews. IF, that's true then that's going to be a difficult one to solve if they are democratic.

I think the Northern Irish Catholics were out sprogging the left leggers at one stage too but have since started using contraception. Maybe by the time the Free State's economy recovers and they get a referendum, they'll be able to return the six counties to where they belong? Doubt it though.

You always get high birth rates where there is poverty. When people become richer, and women get better educated and enter the labour force, then birth rates go down. Demographic transition. The disparity in Prod/Catholic and Israeli/Palestinian birth rates mostly reflects the disparity in economic opportunity.

The predominant faith in the UK is going to Islam inside this millennia?

the same survey also memorably found that only 48% of respondants who identified themselves as Christian believe in a god

theres no surprise there - I know people who are life-long regular church-goers, active in their church too not just making up the numbers, and quite open about the fact they don't believe in god.

If you look at the states where there is a very high level of church attendance - a large proportion of those church goers are there out of social politeness, not faith. It was illustrated when there was the stooshie about a radical preacher at a church that Obama was supposed be a member of. Of course Obama was never at those surmons - he'd done what a lot of people do choose a church where the congregation is so big no one will notice that you're not there.

There are churches that are growing in the UK too

Indeed but overall it is a dying faith as science and rationalism replaces secularism.

I dont think either side will lever fully "win" but the role of religion as central to everyone's life is a thing of the past and the church goers need to get used to this fact and their declining influence.

DP

Is there a higher expected birth rate with different nationalities?

tyger - Member
There are churches that are growing in the UK too

A growing church. Must be cos of all rain.

My local church has just had an extension - horrible double glazed conservatory thing bolted on the side, so they can pack in more non-believers....

More mosques then 🙂

Caught a bit of Jeremy Vile on R2, talking about this - and first caller said that we were "witnessing the slow holocaust of the white race".

Is it wrong that I burst out laughing?

I also would like to get a post in.

UKIP supporters cant be far off, then the arguments, and all that Guff

Hi Mum

tyger - Member

There are churches that are growing in the UK too

yup the catholic church in hammersmith has seen its congregation swell massively thanks to the polish immigrants

Indeed. I'm a left footer, and frankly, nowadays, there's bloody loads of us. Not only because our traditional Oirish, breeding-like-rabbits ways (I've done my bit), but because of the Eastern European Influx. The church is packed to the rafters on a Sunday!! The school has had to expand to cope with the numbers. They're here to stay too!

Would I rather have more of them? Or more UKIP members? Hmmmmmmmmmm...... let me think......

@bencooper - my favourite was 'the bloodless genocide of white britain'

I like to imagine people who phone in to Jeremy Vine as:

[img] [/img]

Its not wrong you laughed but one wonders why they gave that sort of tosh air time - was it for a "lively" debate by simply letting an idiot rant- often works on here too 😉

Did someone ask him how many of us were being killed?

UKIP are too bust getting in a froth about gay marriage and stealing the more "taditional" [ ie a small step away from being a racist bigot*] Tories

* not all Tories are racist bigots or are anywhere near the rght of their party on these issues.

"David Cameron's proposal has the potential to rip apart the traditional rural Tory vote. While Ukip wholly respects the rights of gay people to have civil partnerships, we feel the prime minister's proposals will present an affront to millions of people in this country for whom this will be the final straw.

The division between city and rural is absolutely huge. In my village pub in Kent they are just completely against."

Farage believes the gay marriage issue will serve his party well by highlighting the impact of the European court of human rights on Britain and by showing Ukip can rally support around a touchstone issue. "Ukip is not a one-issue party," he said. "But the gay marriage case is closely interwoven with the European court of human rights, as is so much of our life. Ukip will be seen to be a party campaigning not just about who governs Britain but about how we think that Britain should be governed."

I like how he wrongly links the issue to the European court which is not part of the EU and we would still be bound by it if we left the EU anyway.

Lifer - exactly my mental image too 🙂

Have you heard Down The Line?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p005hgtj

I haven't but thanks for the link.

i know a fw folk who heard it and did not realise it was a spoof