The newly released Census results for Scotland show that the proportion of the Scottish population who identify as non-religious is 37%, an increase of nine percentage points since 2001. This figure for the non-religious is higher than that in the Census results for England and Wales, which showed a figure of 25% non-religious. The results also show that Christianity is in decline in Scotland, with 54% of Scots identifying as Christian, a decrease of 11 percentage points since 2001. The British Humanist Association (BHA) welcomes the new figures.
The Census results for England and Wales released last year showed a drop in the number of people ticking ‘Christian’ from 72% in 2001 to 59% in 2011, and an increase in the number of people ticking to say they have no religion from 15% in 2001 to 25% in 2011. However, there are various other surveys on religion and belief which show even higher figures for the proportion of the non-religious. For example, the latest British Social Attitudes Survey, published earlier this month, found that 48% of Britons claim not to belong to a religion.
The Humanist Society Scotland Chair Anders Östberg commented, ‘The Census result suggests that many more people say they belong to a religion than is the case. The government will use census data to justify maintaining faith schools, and the funding of religious patient support services in the NHS, while religious groups will use it to lobby for their own institutions, and promote greater separation in our already dangerously divided society.
‘It’s also time the Scottish government to recognise that there is no longer any justification for religious representation on local authority education committees. It doesn’t reflect the way most of us live these days, and it simply isn’t right that unelected religious representatives can decide local educational policy’.
BHA Head of Public Affairs Pavan Dhaliwal commented ‘It is time that policy-makers recognise the decline of religion, by ending the privileged position which religion still enjoys in many public institutions and areas of public policy. For example, Church of England bishops still have the automatic right to sit in the House of Lords, and the number of state-funded religious schools is still on the increase. In an increasingly secular and non-religious society, all forms of religious privilege are anachronisms and should be abolished.’
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For further comment or information contact Pavan Dhaliwal, Head of Public Affairs at pavan@humanists.uk or on 0773 843 5059.
Scotland’s Census 2011:
http://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/en/news/articles/release2a.html
Previous BHA news articles about the 2011 Census results for England and Wales:
https://humanists.uk/2013/05/17/new-2011-english-and-welsh-census-figures-on-religion-released/
2013 British Social Attitudes Survey shows 48% of Britons non religious:
https://humanists.uk/2013/09/10/2013-british-social-attitudes-survey-shows-48-britons-non-religious/
Visit the Census Campaign website: http://census-campaign.org.uk/
View our analysis of the Census results for England and Wales: http://humanists.uk/campaigns/census-2011/census-2011-results/
Read other surveys and statistics on religion or belief: https://humanists.uk/campaigns/religion-and-belief-surveys-statistics
The British Humanist Association is the national charity working on behalf of non-religious people who seek to live ethical and fulfilling lives on the basis of reason and humanity. It promotes a secular state and equal treatment in law and policy of everyone, regardless of religion or belief.