This part 1 & 2 of the lecture on religion in the UK. The course covers the origins of present religious make up of British society with its diversity

1. RELIGION AND THE
CHURCH

2. Religious Profile
• Britain is a Christian state and most people
living in Britain are Christian.
• One of the most religiously diverse
populations in Europe.
• British free to choose their religious beliefs.
• Christianity main religion,
• Large communities of Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus
and Jews, and smaller communities of Baha'is,
Buddhists, Jains and Zoroastrians.

4. Recent trends
• Increased diversity
• Less formal practice
• Fewer attend church
• Fewer say they belong to a religion
• More outmarriages (interfaith marriages)

5. Recent trends (2)
• Immigration and demographic change has led
to religious diversity.
• Some religious groups have higher birth rates
than others.
• Church going steadily declines

6. CHURCH OF ENGLAND
• Church and State never dissociated
• The Church of England is the
Established (Official) Church
• Variety of Christian Denominations:
Methodists, Baptists and the United
Reformed Church

7. •Until 1530’ Britain was
Catholic
•Rallied Protestantism in 16th
Century
•1533 Act of Supremacy:
•Monarch = Head of Church
•Henry declared to be “The
only Supreme Head on earth
of the Church of England.”
•England broke from the
Roman Catholic Church to
form the Anglican Church.
•= Reformation
Henry VIII (1491 1547)
HISTORY

8. Henry
VIII
And his wives

9. Number 1
Catherine of Aragon
•Married for 16 years
•Gave him a daughter:
Mary
•Annulment marriage
without the consent of the
pope

10. Number 2
Anne Boleyn
• the Pope would neither allow
divorce nor accept the remarriage
•Act of Supremacy :
•Married Anne in 1533
•Gave birth to a girl, Elizabeth (later
Queen for England).
•1536 Accused of adultery then
beheaded.
•11 days later Henry married this
third wife.

11. Number 3
Jane Seymour
• Jane was from an old and noble family.
• She gave birth to a son in 1537,
Edward, who would become King after
his father.
• 12 days later she died.
• Henry waited two years before
marrying again.

12. Number 4
Anne of Cleves
• Henry saw a picture of Anne of
Cleves and he agreed to marry!
• She didn't speak any English and
didn't know who he was.
•Divorce six months after marriage.
• 20 days later Henry married again
• He is said to have found her
repulsively ugly, and called her a horse!

13. Number 5
Katherine Howard
• A cousin of Anne Boleyn
•Was previously, secretly
engaged to probably more
than one man.
•Accused of adultery &
beheaded in 1542.
•The following year Henry
VIII married again

14. Number 6
Kathryn Parr
•Kathryn had already been married
twice, but both husbands died.
•Kathryn was rather a nurse than a
wife.
•When Henry died in 1547, Kathryn
quickly married Thomas Seymour
(her fourth husband).

15. Divorced, beheaded, died
Divorced, beheaded, survived.

16. Back to Reformation
• The church of England Independent
from Rome and the Pope
• End of celibacy
• Dissolution of monasteries
• Confiscation of goods
• Prosecution of Catholics

17. Catholicsm vs Protestantism
Catholics Protestants
Pope Heads the church, Vicar of Christ No human is infallible and
Jesus alone heads up the
Church
Big Fancy
Cathedrals
“humanity must discover its unity
and salvation” within a church.
All Christians can be saved,
regardless of church
membership.
Saints Pray to saints (holy dead people)
in addition to God and Jesus.
acknowledge saints, but don’t
pray to them
Celibacy & Nuns Catholics only Priests/Pastors can marry
Scripture Tradition & bible Only the word of god
Interpretation Only the pope can interpret the
bible
Individual Interpretation
Confession of sins To God through priests To God through Jesus

18. Confession of Sins

19. Protestantism
• All men predestined by God to be doomed or
saved after death
• God’s decision not to be altered by human deeds
• God’s grace not to be bought by confession
• Individual alone in the eyes of God
• Catholicism : a series of intermediaries between
God and man Vs Individual responsibility

20. Protestantism vs Catholicism

21. Contemporary Issues 1
• The Monarch retains the title Defender of the
Faith and is still the Supreme Governor of the
Church
• The Church of England has a legislative role
– Twenty-six bishops (including the two
Archbishops) sit in the House of Lords and are
known as the Lords Spiritual.

22. Contemporary Issues 2
• Conservatism
• Disagreement
– Ordination of women priesthood
– Religious remarriage of divorced couples
– Gay marriages
– Interfaith issues: Euthanasia, Abortion…

23. Euthanasia
• Most religions disapprove of euthanasia.
• Some of them absolutely forbid it.
• Catholics and Muslims are most active in
opposing euthanasia.
• Reasons for opposition:
– God has forbidden it
– Human life is sacred
– Humans shouldn't interfere with God's plans by
shortening human live

27. Coming next…
• Freedom of religion
• Religious diversity

28. Freedom of Religion
• Article 9 Freedom of religion : The right to
freedom of thought, conscience and religion :
• The freedom to change religion or belief, to
exercise religion or belief publicly or privately,
alone or with others in worship, teaching,
practice and observance; and
• the right to have no religion (e.g. to be atheist
or agnostic)
• Role of State: encourage tolerance & all
observe neutrality.
European Convention on Human Rights

29. Freedom of religion issues
• Working Fridays
• Working Sundays
• Official uniforms
• Equal treatment of religious signs

30. Aishah Azmi 2005
• A Muslim teaching assistant
suspended for refusing to
remove her niqab in class
• Mrs Azmi said she was willing to
remove her veil in front of
children - but not male
colleagues.
• Government : barring men from
working with her would amount
to "sexual discrimination".

31. Eweida vs British Airways 2006
British Airways said its uniform
policy was changed in 2007 to
allow Miss Eweida and others
to "wear symbols of faith"
David Cameron :
people "shouldn't suffer
discrimination due to
religious beliefs".
Sikh and Muslim
employees are not
prevented from wearing
religious garments at
work

32. Religious diversity

33. Religious diversity
2011 census:
• Christian (Anglican, Roman Catholic,
Presbyterian, Methodist) 59.3%,
• Muslim 4.8%,
• Hindu 1.5%,
• Sikh 0.8 %
• Jews 0.5%
• Not stated 7.2%

34. Hindus
• Hinduism is the religion of the majority of
people in India and Nepal.
• It has over 900 million adherents worldwide.
• Hinduism has no single founder, no single
scripture, and no commonly agreed set of
teachings.
• Supreme god represented by
multitude of gods
• Believe in reincarnation

35. Hindus
• ‘Britain needs to take inspiration from
Hinduism’ David Cameron, 2015
• Integration of women in public & professional
life and education
•Well established in
professional fields –
law, media, medicine,
engineering,
accounting and
business.
•Vote conservative

36. Sikhism
• 20 million Sikhs in the world, in
Punjab province of India.
• It was founded by Guru Nanak
• Sikh principles:
– keep God in heart and mind at all times
– live honestly and work hard
– treat everyone equally
– be generous to the less fortunate
– serve others

37. David Cameron in a Sikh Temple
2013

38. Sikhs
• Said to be “the best example of cultural
integration”
• Strong work ethic = Succesful businesses
– Second only to Jews in finance
• Integration in communities
• Charities
• Educational achievement
• However remain conservative (eg. Opposed to
interfaith marriages)

39. Jews
• Violent persecution
in the Middle
Ages(York massacre
1190)
• Expelled by Edward I
in 1290
• Allowed back in
1657 in exchange for
finance

40. • 60 percent of school-age Jewish children
attend Jewish schools
• High educational achievement

41. Cameron on a visit to a
Manchester Mosque, 2013

42. Muslims
• 1890 first mosque in UK
• Places of worship and welfare
• Muslim schools granted state
funding
• 13 Muslim MPs 8 of which are
women
• 11 Muslim Peers (House of
Lords)

43. Muslims: 4.8% of the population.
• 42.5% are of Pakistani origin,
• 16.8% Bangladeshis
• 8.5% Indians
• 7.5% other white.
(Turkish; Arab and North-African ethnic origin
and East European Muslims from Bosnia and
Kosovo).
Who are British Muslims?

44. Educational achivement by religion

45. Faith Schools with public funding
• 47 Jewish schools
• 23 Muslim schools
• 10 Sikh schools
• 4 Hindu schools
• Jewish state schools started in first half of the
20th century.
• first Muslim state school in 1998, the first Sikh
school opened in 1999 and the first Hindu
school opened in 2008

46. Terrorist Attacks
9/11 and the 2005 London
Bombings
• 2005 London bombings: a series of
coordinated bomb blasts that hit London's
public transport in rush hour
• 52 people were killed & also the 4 bombers:
British Muslims, three of Pakistani and one of
Jamaican origin motivated by Britain's
involvement in the Iraq War and other
conflicts

47. • British media
has been
criticised for
propagating
negative
stereotypes of
Muslims and
fueling
islamophobia

48. Comment on the
following