1st year lecture 5 religion and the church in the uk
TRANSCRIPT
RELIGION AND THE CHURCH
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.
Recent trends
• Increased diversity• Less formal practice• Fewer attend church• Fewer say they belong to a religion• More outmarriages (interfaith marriages)
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
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
History
Until 1530’ Britain was CatholicRallied Protestantism in 16th CenturyHenry VIII needed the agreement of the pope to divorce from Ann Boleyne1533 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)
Reformation
• The church of England Independent from Rome and the Pope
• Dissolution of monasteries• Confiscation of goods• Prosecution of Catholics
Catholicsm vs ProtestantismCatholics 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
Confession of Sins
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
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.
Contemporary Issues 2
• Conservatism• Disagreement
– Ordination of women priesthood– Religious remarriage of divorced couples– Gay marriages
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
Freedom of religion issues
• Working Fridays• Working Sundays• Official uniforms• Equal treatment of religious signs
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".
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
Religious diversity
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%
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
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
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
David Cameron in a Sikh Temple2013
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)
Jews
• Violent persecution in the Middle Ages(York massacre 1190)
• Expelled by Edward I in 1290
• Allowed back in 1657 in exchange for finance
• 60 percent of school-age Jewish children attend Jewish schools
• High educational achievement
Cameron on a visit to a Manchester Mosque, 2013
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)
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?
Educational achivement by religion
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
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
• British media has been criticised for propagating negative stereotypes of Muslims and fueling islamophobia
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