This is the fifth lecture on Religion and the Church in the UK. It covers various aspects of religious diversity, and religious freedom in the UK as well as the birth of the Anglican Church

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. History
Until 1530’ Britain was Catholic
Rallied Protestantism in 16th
Century
Henry VIII needed the
agreement of the pope to
divorce from Ann Boleyne
1533 Act of Supremacy:
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.
Henry VIII (1491 1547)

8. Reformation
• The church of England Independent
from Rome and the Pope
• Dissolution of monasteries
• Confiscation of goods
• Prosecution of Catholics

9. 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

10. Confession of Sins

11. 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

12. 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.

13. Contemporary Issues 2
• Conservatism
• Disagreement
– Ordination of women priesthood
– Religious remarriage of divorced couples
– Gay marriages

14. 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

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

16. 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".

17. 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

18. Religious diversity

19. 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%

20. 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

21. 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

22. 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

23. David Cameron in a Sikh Temple
2013

24. 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)

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

26. • 60 percent of school-age Jewish children
attend Jewish schools
• High educational achievement

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

28. 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)

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

30. Educational achivement by religion

31. 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

32. 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

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

34. Comment on the
following