U.K. Favors Public Faith

A recent BBC poll found that most of the population wants the United Kingdom’s traditionally Christian values to play a significant role in public life. 

February 25, 2009 — A recent BBC poll found that a majority of United Kingdom residents believe the nation’s laws should be influenced by Christian values.

Of 1,045 people questioned for the ComRes/BBC poll, 70 percent of Christians and 79 percent of Muslims agreed with the statement, “Our laws should respect and be influenced by U.K. religious values,” which have been shaped for centuries by Christianity. 

Hindus also favored religion having a strong role in public life, with 74 percent agreeing with the statement. Overall, 62 percent of respondents want religious values to play an important role in public life.

And while some religious leaders have worried that Christianity was being supplanted by secularism, the poll found that 91 percent of Muslims and 73 percent of Christians believe religion “has an important role to play in public life.”

The findings contradict recent moves to remove faith from the public sphere. Militant atheists are advertising on London buses to rid the public from religious influence. And Christian leaders have decried recent political moves that they say seek to elevate gay rights above religious freedom.

But the poll suggests that Muslims, Hindus and other non-Christians-who were polled in much smaller numbers-prefer that some kind of religious framework influence national life, even if it is not based on their own religion, the Daily Telegraph reported.

Of the 1,045 people surveyed, 599 were Christian, 27 Muslim, 10 Hindu and 316 cited no religion.