The numbers show that although
Christianity is still the main religion in Britain -- over 50% of the
population describe themselves as such -- nearly half of all Christians in
Britain are over the age of 50, and, for the first time ever, fewer than half under
the age of 25 describe themselves as Christian.
By contrast, the number of people under
25 who describe themselves as Muslim has doubled over the past ten years: one
in ten under the age of 25 are Muslim, up from one in 20 in 2001.
If current trends continue -- a Muslim population boom, combined with an
aging Christian demographic and the increasing secularization of British
natives -- Islam is set to overtake Christianity in Britain within the next 20
years, according to demographers.
A new report published by the Office
for National Statistics (ONS) on May 16 offers additional analyses of the 2011
census data previously published in December 2012.
In the 2011 Census, Christianity was
still the largest religious group in England and Wales with 33.2 million people
(59% of the population). The second largest religious group was Islam with 2.7
million people (5% of the population). The proportion of people who reported
that they did not have a religion reached 14.1 million people, a quarter of the
population (25%).
Although the overall population of
England and Wales grew by 3.7 million between 2001 and 2011 to reach 56.1
million, in 2011, there were 4.1 million fewer people who reported being
Christian (from 72% to 59% of the population). By contrast, 1.2 million more
people reported being Muslim (from 3% to 5%), and 6.4 million more people
reported no religion (from 15% to 25%).
The new report, however, shows that the
number of British Christians is actually falling at a far faster rate than
previously thought. The earlier analysis of the statistics showed a roughly 15%
decline in the number of Christians over the past decade, but the ONS found
that this figure had been artificially influenced by the recent arrival of
Christian immigrants from countries such as Nigeria and Poland.
According to the new report, the number
of white British Christians actually fell by 5.8 million people between 2001
and 2011; this decline was masked by an increase in the number of Christians
not born in Britain during that same period, but who were there due to
immigration.
In the 2011 Census, Christians had the
oldest age profile of the main religious groups. Over one in five Christians
(22%) were aged 65 and over, and nearly one in two (43%) were aged 50 and over;
only one quarter (25.5%) were under the age of 25.
By contrast, Muslims had the youngest
age profile of the main religious groups. Nearly half of Muslims (48%) were
aged under 25 (1.3 million) and nine in ten (88%) were aged under 50 (2.4
million).
The number of Muslims increased in all
ethnic groups, but there was a particular jump among Asian Muslims. Pakistani
Muslims increased by 371,000 (from 658,000 to over a million) and Bangladeshi
Muslims have grown by 142,000 (from 260,000 to 402,000).
Just over half of all Muslims (53%) in
2011 were born outside Britain. The numbers have almost doubled in a decade
with a rise of over half a million (599,000) from 828,000 to 1.4 million in
2011. A similar pattern can be seen for the number of Muslims born in Britain,
where there was also a rise of over a half a million (560,000) from 718,000 to
1.2 million in 2011.
Muslims also had the lowest levels of
economic activity (55%), compared to Christians (60%). The numbers are somewhat
deceiving, however, as age is a major factor in economic activity. As most
Christians in Britain are from an older demographic, this means that a large
proportion of Christians not participating in the labor force are
"retired" (69%).
By contrast, Muslims had the youngest
age profile and were the most often economically inactive because they were
"looking after home or family" (31%) or because they were
"students" (30%). According to the census data, only 13% of Muslims
in Britain were "retired."
In an interview with The Telegraph newspaper, Fraser Watts, a professor
of theology at Cambridge University, said it was "entirely possible"
that Christians could become a minority within the next decade. "It is
still pretty striking," he said, "and it is a worrying trend and
confirms what anyone can observe -- that in many churches the majority of the
congregation are over 60."
David Coleman, a professor of
demography at the University of Oxford, said the findings showed that
Christianity is declining with each generation. "Each large age
group," he said, "as time progresses, receives less inculcation into
Christianity than its predecessor ten years earlier."
Coleman contrasts the decline of
Christianity through the generations to what happens among Muslims. "We
have a Muslim faith where most studies suggest adherence to Islam is not only
transmitted through the generations but appears to get stronger," he said.
"Indeed, there seems to be some evidence that the second generation
Muslims in Britain are more Muslim than their parents."
In a recently published study, Coleman
predicted that up to 40% of the population of Britain will be foreign or from a
minority ethnic group within 50 years if current trends continue. By that time
the white British population will be on the verge of becoming a minority.
According to Coleman, the combined
population of ethnic minorities will exceed white Britons in about 2070; the
non-white population could increase to 24 million and other whites to seven
million by 2050.
The moment that the white British
become a minority will symbolize a huge transfer of power. Coleman says it will
underline a changed national identity -- cultural, political, economic and
religious. "An older white population would need to co-exist with a
younger ethnic population, arguably required for its support," he said.
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| Radical Muslims will exterminate soon-to-be minority white English in Britain? |
Separately, it recently emerged that
nearly one-third of all children born in England and Wales now have at least one
foreign-born parent. In 2011, 224,943 babies had either one or both parents
born outside of the United Kingdom -- 31% of the total. This is a substantial
rise on the figure in 2000, when 21.2% of babies had at least one
non-British-born parent.
As Mohammed was by far the most popular
name for baby boys born in England and Wales in 2011, many of these
foreign-born parents would appear to be Muslim.
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| Fanatic Muslim women of Britain. |
Sir Andrew Green, the director of
Migration Watch, a think tank that focuses on immigration, summed it up this
way: "This is the clear result of the Labour Party's mass immigration
policy which is changing the nature of our society at a speed which is
unacceptable to the public who of course were never consulted."
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| Anjem Choudary and his Islamist mob calling British Muslims to have more babies. |
