A few thoughts on the Pew Research “religion will be big in 2050” poll

As might be expected, the pew research poll that claims a huge growth in religious belief has turned into a bit of a wet dream for many religious folks. For example, here is Fr. Dwight Longenecker (a Catholic priest) claiming “The Facts: Atheism is Dying Out” … It is religion which continues to grow around the world while … Read more

BBC Poll of British Muslims – What does it really tell us about Islamophobia?

So there has been a poll of British Muslims that was commissioned by BBC Radio 4 and the results are now out. There is both good news but also some rather worrying stuff as well. First, what did they actually do? They polled one thousand and that is supposed to be a number that is statistically … Read more

The inevitable decline of religion really is happening

My Daughter was telling me yesterday about a dialog within her RE class in school. The teacher (a “really” Christian lady for the understandable reason that is perhaps a requirement for the role), had been delving into the topic of various ethical questions. One example was of a baby who had been born with no brain, was on life support, and … Read more

How do you feel about “Them” and how do “they” view us? – will it ever change?

Our larger national culture is something that is actually composed of rather a lot of smaller micro-cultures and there are many different types of these micro-cultures within this larger national unit. As an example, this can manifest as distinct geographical variations (North vs South) where each is a distinctly different micro-culture even though in a larger more global context it can … Read more

Perceptions of Non-belief and Morality

Yet another Pew Research poll appears to confirm that in the minds of many, non-belief equates to being wicked and evil. When it comes to what attributes would not be voted for in 2016, the winner was supposedly “Atheism”. Really? Potentially yes, their press release explains … On the other side of the ledger, not believing in … Read more