As atheists outnumber Christians in the UK, Theos director suggests parenting could reverse the trend
New research from Queen’s University Belfast reveals that atheists now outnumber believers in God in the UK. The university has released interim findings from a three-year global study exploring the rise of atheism.
Nearly 25,000 individuals from the UK, the United States, Brazil, China, Denmark, and Japan participated in the survey, which also integrated data from the British Social Attitudes Survey and the World Values Survey.
The findings challenge the common stereotype that atheists lack meaning, morality, or purpose in their lives. The research also highlights parental upbringing as a significant factor influencing belief in God.
Chine McDonald, director of the religious think tank Theos, commented to Premier on the results, stating that they reflect 50 years of widespread secularization in society. She explained, “This data compilation shows the impact of about 50 years of non-religion being pervasive in our culture, media, and society, where belief in God has become seen as unusual.”
McDonald expressed interest in the future, noting, “Recent research shows that over 50% of immigrants to the UK are Christian, and less than 20% are Muslim. This represents a considerable portion of newcomers to the country who do believe in God.”
She added that this is important because the study found parental influence to be the strongest predictor of both atheism and theism. “If a significant part of society in the future believes in God and raises their children in their faith, we can expect a large number of believers.”
McDonald also remarked, “Christianity has valuable things to offer, but this research shows that many people simply don’t know or don’t have strong feelings about religion because they were never exposed to it growing up.”
Professor Jonathan Lanman of Queen’s University Belfast added, “Our extensive cross-cultural surveys demonstrate that while many factors may play minor roles in shaping beliefs, the key factor is the extent to which a person is socialized to believe in God.”
Lanman also noted that other commonly suggested explanations, such as intelligence, emotional stoicism, broken homes, or rebelliousness, don’t hold up under empirical analysis.
The project was funded by the John Templeton Foundation.