In a recent piece in this column we quoted General Dannatt, Chief of the General Staff of the British Army, and his idea that we have to offer "Life after death" to British soldiers that are sent to fight abroad.
At the end of 2006 (23.12.06) a Guardian/ICM poll revealed some interesting facts about attitudes to religion in Britain. The majority of those polled stated that religion does more harm than good, with 82% stating that religion caused division and tension between people. Ordinary people, it seems, are more sensible than top generals.
The poll revealed that most people in Britain have no personal faith. The big majority, 63%, declared they were not religious. Of those questioned only 13% stated that they visited a "place of worship" at least once a week, while 43% declared that they never went to any religious service.
There was one curious statistic that revealed that the well-off people were more likely to go to church at Christmas than the lower paid. Of those in the "highest economic categories" 64% were planning to go the Christmas mass, while only 43% of the lowest paid group had the same intention.
A spokesperson for the Church of England tried to put a gloss on the situation, saying that one had "to bear in mind that society has changed. It is more difficult to go to church now than it was. Communities are displaced, people work longer hours – it's harder to fit it in…"
We can be sure that all those Middle England Tories squeezing into their local parish churches are about to mount a campaign for a shorter working week, oh… and also wage increases for the lower paid so they can join their higher income bracket fellow countrymen in raising attendance figures on Sundays.
General Dannatt, you have an uphill struggle on this one! Maybe he should turn his attentions to upping the number of monks rather than soldiers. In 2006 the total number of monks in England and Wales stood at 1,345, many of whom were over the age of 60. In the year 2004 only 12 men answered the call. The number of nuns also was dwindling standing at 1,150. In 1982 100 women entered a convent, but by 2004 that figure had fallen to a mere 7! Maybe they also need to acquire a belief in "Life after death".
