GREAT BRITAIN, December 15, 2023 (Atlas Obscura): October 25, 2022 has been called Britain’s “Obama Moment”: On that day, Rishi Sunak became the country’s first ever non-white Prime Minister. But Britain’s current head of government represents an even bigger change. As a practicing Hindu, Sunak also is Britain’s first non-Christian PM. And although Sunak won his post via an internal poll among Conservative Party Members of Parliament rather than a general election, on that last point at least his tenure is timely and symbolic. Because, as confirmed by the published results of the 2021 census, England is—for the first time in more than almost 1,500 years—no longer a majority Christian country. The big winner is not any other religion, but “no religion.” This is, in other words, also England’s “Dover Beach” moment, when the Sea of Faith retreats in a “melancholy, long, withdrawing roar.” [That’s in reference to poem, https://poemanalysis.com/matthew-arnold/dover-beach/, about the loss of faith in the mid 1800s due to the advent of science.]

In late November 2022, the UK’s Office for National Statistics published results for the religion question from the census (which covers England and Wales, but not Scotland or Northern Ireland). The ONS website also offers the results in the form of an interactive map, allowing for a cartographic exploration of the latest religious statistics for England and Wales. Two responses showed a marked increase: those who said they were Muslim, and people saying they were Hindu, which was up from 1.5 percent to 1.7 percent (818K to 1 million). London remains England’s most religiously diverse region. Christian is still the most common response (40.7 percent, 3.6 million), but 25.3 percent (2.2 million) identify with other religions, up from 22.6 percent (1.8 million) in 2021. The third most popular response in London was “Hindu” (5.1 percent, up from 5 percent). Harrow, in Northwest London, has the highest share of Hindus in England and Wales (25.8 percent, up from 25.3 percent).

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https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/less-christianity-england

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