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Yet another survey shows that religious thinking and
prayer is widespread in our beloved post-Christian
country.
Twenty
million adult Britons (42%) say they pray (outside of
church/religious services). One in six adults (18%)
prays every day; one in four (26%) prays at least once a
week and 13 million adults (27%) pray at least once a
month. Even among those with no religion, around one in
eight (12%) pray sometimes. One in three adults in the
UK (16 million) agrees with the statement ‘there is a
God who watches over me and answers my prayer’. The same
number of people agrees that ‘praying makes me feel
better’. After praying, people most often feel peaceful
and content (38%), strengthened (30%), close to God
(22%), reassured/safe (21%), happy/joyful (19%). One
in four people (12 million adults) believe that prayer
changes ‘what happens in my life’ and ‘what happens to
other people I know’. 6.5 million people (32% of those
who pray) have seen the effects of prayer in their own
lives. 10 million people (50% of those who pray) believe
prayer ‘changes the world’; equivalent to one in five of
all UK adults.
The 42% of UK adults who pray mainly about family and
friends (68%), thank God (41%), pray for guidance (32%),
healing (26%) and about worldwide problems e.g. poverty,
wars and disasters (25%). However, young people are
less likely than their elders to pray; just a quarter
(27%) of 16-24 year olds admit to ever praying. (The
full report “Prayer in the UK” is at
www.tearfund.org.
At the same time a report from the Mental Health
Foundation “Keeping the Faith” urges mental health
centres to meet patients’ spiritual needs. Patients
should be told about available spiritual resources such
as churches. Dr Andrew McCulloch, CEO of the
Foundation, said that spirituality was not a substitute
for medication, but it could reduce dependency upon it
over time. What a great contrast to the traditional
attitude of mental health practitioners that religion is
pathological. The report states that spirituality is
“an expression of an individual’s essential humanity and
the wellsprings of how she or he lives their life and
deals with the crises that can leave us drowning rather
than waving.”
So, Richard Dawkins, you have a long way to go. But if
these facts depress you too much you could seek solace
in prayer. I recommend it. You’ll probably say that all
this shows religion is a crutch for the inadequate. But
it takes some believing that 42% of Britons are
inadequate! Could it not be that it isn’t inadequacy
that causes religious belief, but rather the reality of
God out there, who has created us human beings as,
amongst other aspects, spiritual beings? That’s just as
valid an interpretation of the data as yours, Richard -
in fact, more valid.
However, since it’s nearly Christmas, Richard, I’ll
share something which will encourage you, but not me.
Only one in eight Britons knows the details of the
Christmas story, according to the think tank Theos.
Don’t get too excited, though. 73% know the basic
Christmas story, the angel appearing to Mary, the birth
in Bethlehem, etc. And 48% knew John the Baptist was
Jesus’ cousin. 22% knew the holy family fled to Egypt to
escape Herod’s evil intentions. However, younger people
knew less about the facts. One interesting little
footnote. Only 5% of atheists could answer all the
questions correctly. Could it be that rather a lot of
atheists have made up their minds without knowing the
facts?
Which brings me to the greatest atheist nation on earth
– China. After 58 years of militant government atheism
and anti-religious persecution 31% of Chinese regard
themselves as religious. 40 million are Christians. 50
million Bibles have now been printed by China’s only
authorised publisher, Amity Printing. One Bible a second
is produced and soon the capacity will be one million
Bibles a month. |
