The make-up of modern Britain: 70% of us claim to be
Christians... and only 1.5% are gay
Three Britons count themselves as
Christian for every one non-believer, according to a major survey.
And nearly seven
in ten said they were Christian, even if they never go to
church.
Fewer than a
quarter said they had no religion and only one in 12 follows another religion.
Devoted:
Seven out of 10 people surveyed see themselves as Christian even if they do not
attend church
The finding that the nation remains
overwhelmingly Christian comes days after it emerged that BBC programme-makers
have been put under pressure to stop describing dates as BC or AD.
Instead, they have been told to use the non-Christian
alternatives Before Common Era and Common Era.
The Corporation’s religion and ethics department has
said that ‘as the BBC is committed to impartiality it is appropriate that we
use terms that do not offend or alienate non-Christians’.
Meanwhile, four
Christians denied the right to wear crosses or act in
accordance with their beliefs at work are taking cases to the European Court of
Human Rights claiming the State is trying to suppress their religion.
...AND ONLY 1.5% ARE HOMOSEXUAL
Homosexuals make up only 1.5 per cent of the population, the
survey found.
One per cent said they were gay or lesbian, while 0.5 per
cent said they were bisexual.
More men than women declared themselves homosexual, with 1.3
per cent of men saying they were gay compared to 0.6 per cent of women who
described themselves as lesbian.
Gay lobbyists and politicians have long claimed that 10 per
cent of the population is homosexual. But the figures from the Office for
National Statistics’ Integrated Household Survey show this is a wild
exaggeration.
Some 94 per cent said they were heterosexual, 4.3 per cent
declined to answer the question or said they didn’t know, and 0.4 per cent said
their sexuality was ‘other’.
The Office for National Statistics’
new Integrated Household Survey, which collects the views of 420,000 people,
found that 69 per cent of people in Britain said they were Christian.
More...
Nearly nine in ten over-65s are Christian. But even in the
least religious age group, 25 to 34-year-olds, more than half – 55 per cent
– profess Christianity.
Fifty-nine per cent of 16 to 24-year-olds and 60 per cent of
under-16s said they were Christian.
Support for other religions breaks down as 4.4 per cent Muslim, 1.3 per cent
Hindu, 0.7 per cent Sikh, 0.4 per cent Buddhist, 0.4 per cent Jewish, and 1.1
per cent who say they follow other religions.
Only 23 per cent of the population said they had no religion.
Christian groups said the findings showed that State agencies which act as if
Christianity was a minority hobby are wildly wrong.
Simon Calvert, of the Christian Institute think tank, said:
‘These figures must come as a shock to the BBC and the political class. It is
about time that this reality, that people want to be identified as Christian,
was reflected not only in the output of our major broadcasters but also in the
policies of the Government.
‘Ministers are still barrelling along with enforcing civil
partnerships in churches and redefining marriage. We can only hope that the
reality will catch up with them and give them pause for thought.’
The Integrated Household Survey was put together from five
ONS surveys which asked the same ‘core questions’ over a year.
