The British Social Attitudes Survey is one of the largest annual polls of opinion in Britain and is commissioned by the National Centre for Social Research. The latest edition will be published later this month, and will look at religious attitudes in Britain.
The NSS has had a sneak preview and can reveal that it shows a further dramatic lurch away from religion by Britons. It also shows a deepening suspicion of people with strongly-held religious beliefs.
When asked whether they believed in God, 18% said that they definitely don’t; 19% said they didn’t know whether there was a God and there was no way to find out; 14% said they didn’t believe in a personal God, but did believe in some higher power; 13% said they sometimes believed in God and sometimes didn’t; 18% said they had doubts but overall believed in God; 17% said they had absolutely no doubt that God exists.
When asked to assess their own religiosity, 7% said they were “very or extremely” religious; 30% said they were somewhat religious; 22% said they were neither religious or non-religious whereas 26% said they were “very or extremely non-religious”.
