48% of Brits are atheist or agnostic<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In a new survey by Christian pressure group Theos, 48% of respondents declared themselves to be either agnostic (26%) or atheist (22%). They kept this a\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2008\/03\/48-of-brits-are-atheist-or-agnostic-2.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"48% of Brits are atheist or agnostic\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In a new survey by Christian pressure group Theos, 48% of respondents declared themselves to be either agnostic (26%) or atheist (22%). They kept this a\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2008\/03\/48-of-brits-are-atheist-or-agnostic-2.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Epiphenom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-03-24T22:12:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-01-04T22:40:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Epiphenom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Epiphenom\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2008\/03\/48-of-brits-are-atheist-or-agnostic-2.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2008\/03\/48-of-brits-are-atheist-or-agnostic-2.html\",\"name\":\"48% of Brits are atheist or agnostic\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2008-03-24T22:12:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-01-04T22:40:15+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/#\/schema\/person\/98b4bf21daa886d9eb1d5f0e99643ad1\"},\"description\":\"In a new survey by Christian pressure group Theos, 48% of respondents declared themselves to be either agnostic (26%) or atheist (22%). They kept this a\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2008\/03\/48-of-brits-are-atheist-or-agnostic-2.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2008\/03\/48-of-brits-are-atheist-or-agnostic-2.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2008\/03\/48-of-brits-are-atheist-or-agnostic-2.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"48% of Brits are atheist or agnostic\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/\",\"name\":\"Epiphenom\",\"description\":\"The science of religion and non-belief\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/#\/schema\/person\/98b4bf21daa886d9eb1d5f0e99643ad1\",\"name\":\"Epiphenom\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a9abb71dca9f11ec59b77b1fffa487fa?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a9abb71dca9f11ec59b77b1fffa487fa?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Epiphenom\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/author\/trees\"}]}<\/script>\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"48% of Brits are atheist or agnostic","description":"In a new survey by Christian pressure group Theos, 48% of respondents declared themselves to be either agnostic (26%) or atheist (22%). They kept this a","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2008\/03\/48-of-brits-are-atheist-or-agnostic-2.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"48% of Brits are atheist or agnostic","og_description":"In a new survey by Christian pressure group Theos, 48% of respondents declared themselves to be either agnostic (26%) or atheist (22%). They kept this a","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2008\/03\/48-of-brits-are-atheist-or-agnostic-2.html","og_site_name":"Epiphenom","article_published_time":"2008-03-24T22:12:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-01-04T22:40:15+00:00","author":"Epiphenom","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Epiphenom","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2008\/03\/48-of-brits-are-atheist-or-agnostic-2.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2008\/03\/48-of-brits-are-atheist-or-agnostic-2.html","name":"48% of Brits are atheist or agnostic","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/#website"},"datePublished":"2008-03-24T22:12:00+00:00","dateModified":"2015-01-04T22:40:15+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/#\/schema\/person\/98b4bf21daa886d9eb1d5f0e99643ad1"},"description":"In a new survey by Christian pressure group Theos, 48% of respondents declared themselves to be either agnostic (26%) or atheist (22%). They kept this a","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2008\/03\/48-of-brits-are-atheist-or-agnostic-2.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2008\/03\/48-of-brits-are-atheist-or-agnostic-2.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2008\/03\/48-of-brits-are-atheist-or-agnostic-2.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"48% of Brits are atheist or agnostic"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/","name":"Epiphenom","description":"The science of religion and non-belief","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/#\/schema\/person\/98b4bf21daa886d9eb1d5f0e99643ad1","name":"Epiphenom","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a9abb71dca9f11ec59b77b1fffa487fa?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a9abb71dca9f11ec59b77b1fffa487fa?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Epiphenom"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/author\/trees"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2091"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1486"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1486\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

{"id":1486,"date":"2008-03-24T22:12:00","date_gmt":"2008-03-24T22:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2008\/03\/48-of-brits-are-atheist-or-agnostic.html"},"modified":"2015-01-04T23:40:15","modified_gmt":"2015-01-04T22:40:15","slug":"48-of-brits-are-atheist-or-agnostic-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2008\/03\/48-of-brits-are-atheist-or-agnostic-2.html","title":{"rendered":"48% of Brits are atheist or agnostic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

In a new survey<\/a> by Christian pressure group Theos, 48% of respondents declared themselves to be either agnostic (26%) or atheist (22%). They kept this a bit quiet in their press announcement, preferring to concentrate on the fact that just over half think that Jesus rose from the dead in some way \u2013 although only 30% agree with the Christian belief that he was physically resurrected.<\/p>\n

A 48% \u201cno religion\u201d response is pretty remarkable \u2013 even better than the BHA survey<\/a> last year which concluded that 36% of the population are humanists. Theos blames this on a dodgy sample \u2013 but that doesn\u2019t stop them claiming that the poll shows that the UK is Christian! In fact, in other surveys the numbers of non-believers are a little smaller, but not by much. The latest wave of the World Values Survey, for example, found that 28% of Brits do not believe in god and 40% do not believe in life after death (i.e. are not Christian, Muslim or Jewish).<\/p>\n

Theos scored another own goal back in 2006 with a survey<\/a> in which 42% agreed with Dawkin\u2019s statement that faith is \u201cone of the world\u2019s great evils, comparable to the smallpox virus but harder to eliminate\u201d.<\/p>\n

With enemies like these, who needs friends!<\/p>\n

Hat tip: A Thinking Man<\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"