Are we really a Christian country? - Mental health and wellbeing - Home - National Autistic Society

Are we really a Christian country?

I know in a calendrical sense we are, we arrange things like school terms and holidays according to church practices, but is that the same as being a Christian country? Church attendance is dropping especially the CofE, we seem to be default CofE in that if you don't know what religion you are or aren't bothered, it's often still put on forms that require a religious affliation. I've sometime been asked if I really want to put Wiccan down in writing on a form and yes I do, I wonder if others have found similar attitudes?

We seem to be a very religiously and spiritually diverse nation, not all Christian denominations celebrate things like Christmas or Easter on the same days, let alone all the other faiths, and what of those who have no faith or belief, do they deserve to be forced into celebrating something meaningless to them?

Apart from the very observant in non Christian faiths, I've noticed that those of many other faiths are quite happy to celebrate Christian holydays, in Islam, Jesus is seen as a prophet, many Hindu's being basically polytheistic join in and put thier own twist on it.

I know that MP chap got all offended about a public Iftar prayer and food distribution in Trafalgar Square last week and I could for the life of me understand why? I've been to many interfaith events and found them all incredibly welcoming, most people just want to share, not dominate.

I’d say I’m agnostic – I don’t mind going to church (I did so at one point when I was younger) and I’m not opposed to any of the customs, so I wouldn’t mind walking into a church. To me that is very similar to being non‑practising.

I think there is a degree of non‑chalance when completing these questions. It also doesn’t account for the large numbers of people who are indifferent to completing the consensus (and who do not participate) – this skews the overall result. In a way, those indifferent people may pose a threat to the overall social/security of this country if those societal weaknesses are exploited. Just an opinion.

Lots of people might view their type of belief as subjective to them, so they use “other” or “agnostic” as a way to express this, rather than being explicitly linked to one school.

If AI or a super‑computer looked at the make‑up of this country now, all of the people who don’t integrate or engage, or who are here illegally, you’d see we are largely a Christian‑faith‑based nation. I am deeply Christian, although I do not practise or proclaim it; I also see it as necessary to protect those values nationally (without them being associated with political or racial beliefs).