Religious more likely to be patriotic than atheists
The following is taken from a new report on patriotism based on a survey of a weighted sample of 2,086 British. The research was carried out by Demos. You can view the entire report here.
Here’s some snippets and key findings:
People who are religious are more likely to be patriotic than are those who self-define as atheists or non-believers. This finding is significant for a number of reasons – but most importantly because it shows that:
A strong identity aside from the national or civic does not necessarily conflict with patriotism and public pride but supports greater feelings of national esteem
In order for a person’s religious identity to contribute to, and support, feelings of patriotism it does not necessarily have to be a religion that is in some way ‘national’ or even majority
Our polling shows that 88 per cent of Anglicans and Jews agreed that they were ‘proud to be a British citizen’ alongside 84 per cent of non-conformists and 83 per cent of Muslims – compared with 79 per cent for the population as a whole.
Religious faith also influences optimism about Britain’s future – although here the results are a little less clear-cut, with differences between different faiths in how they respond to the statement ‘Britain’s best days are behind her’.
Almost 50 per cent of Anglicans agreed with the statement – compared with a baseline of 45 per cent, making members of the Anglican Communion marginally more pessimistic about Britain than the population as a whole.
However, significantly, British Muslims were less likely to agree – only 31 per cent believe that our best days are behind us – than either Anglicans or the population as a whole. This optimism in British Muslims is significant as – combined with their high score for pride in British – it runs counter to a prevailing narrative about Muslim dissatisfaction with and in the UK.
While it is true that there are significant challenges to integration for some in the British Muslim community – and justified concern at the levels of radicalism and extremism in some British Muslim communities – overall British Muslims are more likely to be both patriotic and optimistic about Britain than are the white British community.
Other key findings included:
British Muslims are more likely than secularists to strong agree with the statement ‘I am proud of how Britain treats gay people’ (almost 20% of Muslims and less than 10% of people no religion).
14% had attended a Church of England service in the last 6 months and 15% had attended another type of religious service.
Only 35% agreed that they took pride in their faith.
Almost 4 in 5 respondents believed that people in Britain are less proud of their religion than they were 50 years ago.
As I say, you can download the report here, but I feel I’ve extracted most – if not all – the pertinent stats relating explicitly to religion.
Tags: Religion Society
November 21st, 2011 at 2:12 pm
While I don’t doubt this, I do not believe any importance can be read into it. It comes across as a tad self-serving, like when atheists re-post studies suggesting atheists are smarter than religious people or whatever nonsense :-p
November 21st, 2011 at 6:17 pm
Lol @ Nicholas comment.
November 21st, 2011 at 7:54 pm
It was your headline Stuart that particularly caught my eye (Religious more likely to be patriotic than atheists…) and I wondered what could explain this finding.
One of the possible problems with the headline apears to be that the original question to which this statistic is attributed was: “Are you proud to be a British Citizen?” Is pride the same thing as patriotism? One can be less proud of one’s country and yet still be a patriot surely?
But assuming the finding still stands, there are some references in the paper that may point to an answer:
Firstly, it seems that having pride in a close community is a good indicator of pride in the State. The Churches provide a community that atheists generally lack.
Secondly, patriotism seems to be correlated with political viewpoint, with those on the right being more likely to express patriotism than those on the left. There’s a great quote in the paper:
“The left does not do patriotism well. Those on the left have no positive explanation for it nor a positive vision of where it might lead.” .
Is it perhaps likely that those describing themselves as religious tend to be more likely to be ‘conservative’ wheras atheists tend to lean more leftwards? Just an idea. I have no problem with being proved wrong!
Thirdly, the trend among those describing themselcves as religious is very much towards the older generation, and this correlates with significantly higher patriotism being expressed amongst older people.
I should also add that the %age difference between believers and non-believers in terms of the specific question appears to be slim!
I do wish they had published the full data from which they gleaned their cvomments!
Any other thoughts?
November 22nd, 2011 at 8:53 am
Hi Simian, not sure I would draw a big distinction between pride and patriotism; aside from that, you raise valid points.
November 22nd, 2011 at 11:34 am
You’ve got it all here – lies, damned lies, and statistics; and patriotism the last refuge of the scoundrel.
November 22nd, 2011 at 12:12 pm
I think it’s logical as Christianity, and most other religions, hold community and helping others very highly. Logical extension being taking pride in your community and extended community, meaning your country. In other words patriotism.
In my experience secularists, especially socialists, tend to be out for self, leaving the dead hand of the state taking care of the less well off rather than people supporting each other. Thus communities break down, as we have seen since we, as a nation, turned from religion to worshipping the state.
November 22nd, 2011 at 12:54 pm
Gregg,
Do you mean Atheists? Or are you making a separate comment about Secularists?
November 22nd, 2011 at 1:20 pm
I mean both atheists and secularists. In this context I didn’t think I needed to state ‘atheist’. Obviously I was wrong.
November 22nd, 2011 at 3:07 pm
But there is a significant difference Gregg. An atheist is someone who does not believe there is a god or gods, or denies the existence of God(s). A secularist is someone who believes in the separation of Church and State. One can believe in God and still be a secularist – indeed many people self-identify as such.
This may sound pedantic to you, but I think one of the big issues we have when trying to understand how other people think about things is muddling terminology – so that people end up apparently debating over the same point, but in fact find that they are debating quite different points.
That aside, what is your evidence that atheists are more likely to be just out for themselves? Many Humanists are atheists, myself included, and yet our core value is concern for the interests and welfare of fellow humans. Apart from belief in the Christian God and we are very similar to Christians.
I’m here to learn, but also hopefully to enlighten. It’s far too easy to make derogatory remarks about outsiders amongst likeminded people, and to make unjustified comments about people who do not share our beliefs. I don’t think this attitude is beneficial for our civilised society as a whole.
November 22nd, 2011 at 3:58 pm
Simian
I fully understand the difference between atheist and secularist. As it is a blog rather than an academic paper I am stating my views and opinions based merely upon experience. That means having the privelege of making sweeping generalisations and, if I so wish, talking gibberish.
“This may sound pedantic to you..” Yes, you are quite correct it did. Lighten up and stop taking yourself so seriously. I take neither you nor I overly seriously, and if you didn’t you may enjoy life a little more.
Are you a primary school teacher by any chance?
November 22nd, 2011 at 5:14 pm
Gregg
In your attack on Simian you forgot about your evidence for atheists being selfish.
November 22nd, 2011 at 5:48 pm
Primary school teacher?
Sadly not Gregg…! In fact my job could not really be much more different, but I sort of take that as a compliment. Actually I’m on a semi-sabbatical at the moment, as my body and brain could not keep up with the constant excessive demands put upon them by my job, and something had to give, hence my time for this, which I find quite therapeutic…
Precision in the use of the English language is something for which I continually strive, and I would love to teach, if only the pay was just a little more attractive. I think we tend seriously to undervalue the key role played by those who teach at Primary level. It’s where we ‘learn how to learn’ and has a major influence on our later development and fulfillment of our potential..
As to lightening up. Well, point taken Gregg. But underlying many of the topics we discuss on these threads are really important themes, and I think they do deserve to be taken seriously. I think the answer is to incorporate both humour and seriousness. But given the wide cross section of contributors to this blog, it’s just not always possible to get it right…
And in case you were concerned, I really do enjoy life – Well, much of the time anyway!
November 22nd, 2011 at 5:51 pm
As we’re talking gut reactions here from now on, might I suggest that religious people, having a tendency to worship, might find it easier to switch to the patriotic mode more easily than the secularist/atheist? I’m assuming here that the original thesis holds some water, which I doubt.
November 22nd, 2011 at 5:53 pm
…religious people, having a tendency to worship, might find it easier to switch to the patriotic mode
As it happens, I think that’s a really interesting thought.
November 22nd, 2011 at 6:22 pm
A great response Simian, thanks for taking the time. I’m in a flippant mood today.
I agree completely with your comments about primary school teachers, it truly is a vocation and I greatly admire those who go into it.
I can recommend teaching English if you ever feel a semi-sabbatical in foreign parts would be your thing. My wife and I taught in Mexico in 1990. We got accomodation and pocket money but what a fantastic experience.
Take care.
November 22nd, 2011 at 6:32 pm
Marvin
It wasn’t an attack, it was banter.
I have absolutely no evidence, as I said earlier:
“As it is a blog rather than an academic paper I am stating my views and opinions based merely upon experience. That means having the privelege of making sweeping generalisations and, if I so wish, talking gibberish”.
November 22nd, 2011 at 9:33 pm
I apologise for spelling privilege incorrectly in my earlier comment, and repeating the error when I copied into another comment.
November 22nd, 2011 at 10:18 pm
Gregg
Fair enough, it’s not always easy to convey the tone of a comment unambiguously in a post.
I’m even more surprised at your opinion that atheists tend to be selfish, now you say you have no evidence. Is it just an assumption you make? If so, you should get out and meet a few more of them – some of them even have decent morals, and they are not all raving commies either.
For the avoidance of doubt, this is made in the spirit of light hearted banter, with no heavy irony intended.
November 23rd, 2011 at 7:45 am
It is not uncommon for a person to attempt to distance themselves from a previous comment by claiming it was all a joke. As far as the right to speak gibberish goes, this is a curious way of evading responsibility for remarks made, as it is done by admitting something worse. But of course, there may be a perfectly reasonable explanation for talking gibberish – in the spirit of your earlier enquiry Gregg, you’re not a Pentecostalist are you?
November 23rd, 2011 at 8:37 am
Oh dear we are all taking things very seriously aren’t we?
I didn’t say atheists are all selfish so please stop pretending I did. I said that the growth of atheism, secularism and socialism have contributed to the breakdown of community and patriotism.
That does not mean that all atheists/agnostics are selfish. As I said there is a growing tendency for the state to provide services that previously communities and families provided. If you care to read my comment properly I said “especially socialists”, that does not mean that all secularists/atheists are socialists. I defy anybody to argue that the growth of secularism/atheism and the ever more overpowering nanny state are not connected.
What that means, for those who still don’t understand, is that individuals helping out of the goodness of their hearts, has been replaced by the welfare state. Interestingly Simian gives a great example of what I mean when he says that he would love to be a primary school teacher but it doesn’t pay enough. Money, money, money.
I will not even dignify Hocus Pocus’s remarks with a response.
November 23rd, 2011 at 9:48 am
There’s little doubt that the practice of praying for rain, for example, has indeed suffered with the evolution of the pejoratively labelled “nanny state”. Perhaps Gregg would like to go back to those days when we all thought that diphtheria was caused by a sore throat?
November 23rd, 2011 at 9:57 am
“Perhaps Gregg would like to go back to those days when we all thought that diphtheria was caused by a sore throat?”
I think you need help Hocus Pocus. Have you got a headache after making that one up?
November 23rd, 2011 at 12:27 pm
Interestingly Simian gives a great example of what I mean when he says that he would love to be a primary school teacher but it doesn’t pay enough. Money, money, money.
Lighten up Gregg! I said “…if only the pay was a little more attractive…” I’m not asking for much, but you’re probably aware that primary school teachers are shockingly badly paid. I’m not asking for a fatcat salary. Just something to live on half decently, and something that adequately recognises the significant effort I put into becoming qualified.
November 23rd, 2011 at 12:40 pm
Just as I said Simian, just as I said.
If £21,000 to £30,000 is poor pay to you then you really are money obsessed. Very sad.
November 23rd, 2011 at 12:49 pm
Yes, your turn to lighten up a bit Gregg – the reference to diphtheria was to illustrate just how much things have moved forward since the days where people only had themselves to rely on. The break up of families probably has more to do with values emanating from the advertising industry, and a preoccupation with technology, than any purported worship of the state; indeed hatred of the state, whist accepting the hand-outs, would be more prevalent in my view.
November 23rd, 2011 at 1:38 pm
Hocus Pocus, when you can string a cohesive comment together I might respond.
November 23rd, 2011 at 1:45 pm
I take that back Gregg. It’s been a while since I looked at teacher’s salaries, and the current figures are a great improvement on what I expected.
I would still maintain however, that this underestimates the dedication and ability required to be an excellent primary school teacher. And it’s not about the actual amount earned as much as sufficient reward for the job. I would say the same thing about many medical staff. They do a very responsible and often very stressful job, and yet they often get paid less than those who have far less demanding jobs.