Seeds of a UK Pagan Explosion?
The Church of England, believing that the youth of Britain were spiritual seekers looking to fill their “God-shaped holes” took a survey to find out the best way to “fill” their needs. The results were startling (to the COE), teens and twenty-somethings had no inkling or attraction to the Church of England or indeed towards religion at all. So what do these young people believe in? According to a Times news story on the survey, the kids believe in what’s around them.
“…young people do not feel disenchanted, lost or alienated in a meaningless world. “Instead, the data indicated that they found meaning and significance in the reality of everyday life, which the popular arts helped them to understand and imbibe.” Their creed could be defined as: “This world, and all life in it, is meaningful as it is,” translated as: “There is no need to posit ultimate significance elsewhere beyond the immediate experience of everyday life.” The goal in life of young people was happiness achieved primarily through the family. The researchers were also shocked to discover little sense of sin or fear of death. Nor did they find any Freudian guilt as a result of private sensual desires.”
Sounds like these young adults, if they ever do find a religion, won’t find it in the dominant monotheisms. But perhaps a decentralized, sin-free, family of faiths that put an emphasis on community and the natural cycles of the world might do a bit better. Will the UK be a Pagan nation in a couple generations?
2 responses so far
Yes, pagan and Muslim.
Hasn’t the UK been pagan for ages, despite the political advantages of declaring oneself Christian, participating in their rituals and claiming to have their beliefs, like the grinning f?hrer and his US chief? Unfortunately, that political lie is causing problems now, but you can see our feelings in the civil liberties and green backlashes against destructive laws.