Orthodox and Unorthodox Beliefs

The nation's beliefs - according to the Sun

Populus questioned more than 1,000 people aged 18 or over across the country about their beliefs on behalf of the Sun. The results were as follows:

• 70% believed in a god or some form of higher power. 
• 62% agreed it is important for children to be raised with a belief in God. 
• 29% believed in the devil. 69% don't. 
• 44% prayed once a week or more, 13% less than monthly and 8% once a year.
• 65% attended church at some point each year.  71% believed in the existence of the soul and 53% believed in an afterlife. 
• 51% would willingly lay down their life to defend their beliefs. 
• 43% believed they have been contacted by the dead or contacted the dead themselves. 
• 17% said they had more faith and belief in astrology and star signs than organised religion. 76% disagreed. 
• 22% had experienced fortune-telling and 21% had 'experienced' astrology. 
• 18% had experienced tarot cards and 16% each psychics/palm reading, although 63% had experienced none of these. 
• 9% believed in magic, 90% didn’t believe. 
• 32% believed in karma, 34% believed in ghosts and 3% believed in vampires. 
• 37% believed in restless spirits. 
• 68% believed in fate.

Some of the results analysed by age...

• Older people were most sceptical. Of those aged 65 or over, 19% said they believed in ghosts, compared to 48% of 18-24 year olds.
• In every age group except one, 40% or more of respondents said that they believed in karma, but only 14% of people over 65 believed in karma.
• 15% of the under-34s said they believed in magic, compared with 9% average.
• 44% of 18-24 year olds said they believed it is possible to contact or be contacted by the dead compared to 16% of people aged 65 and over.
• Only 21% of the over 65s said they believed in restless spirits compared with 37% of the population over 18.

Some of the results analysed by gender...

• Belief in ghosts - 30% of men, 38% of women
• Belief in contact with the dead - 24% of men, 40% of women
• Personal experience in fortune-telling, astrology, tarot cards and psychics/palm reading - 27% of men, 45% of women
• Belief in restless spirits - 30% of men, 43% of women
   

Reported in The Sun June 20th 2005

Superstition

A survey of more than 1,000 people conducted by National Savings & Investment found that women are twice as likely as men to believe in superstition. Half of women think ignoring rituals such as walking underneath a ladder can change their luck for the worse. But less than a quarter of men admit to being superstitious.

The research showed that the English are more cynical than those in Scotland with 36% of English people believing in ancient rituals and omens compared to 44% of Scots.

Reported in the Daily Mail, September 27 2005.

Haunted homes ‘spook’ potential buyers

A poll commissioned by Lloyds TSB  found that a fifth of the 2,000 homebuyers sampled would only contemplate buying a house in which things went bump in the night if an exorcism or "new-age cleansing" took place.

Television programmes such as Most Haunted have spooked potential homebuyers so much that half of them now believe in ghosts and say they would not buy a house if they thought that they were sharing it with a spirit. Even knowing that a person had died of natural causes in a house put off 39% of buyers, while a cemetery next door would make 47% think twice.

Jon Pain, the author of the report, said it showed that since Most Haunted - in which a team seeks out ghosts in places across the British Isles - started in 2003, public awareness of "spooks and superstitions" had grown steadily.

Reported in the Sunday Telegraph, August 21, 2005


Belief in the Paranormal

A survey carried out by Consumer Analysis Group for Living TV - at the time the largest survey on paranormal beliefs to date - showed that nearly two in three people believed in the afterlife, and nearly a third believed in reincarnation.

Of the thousand interviewed: 

• 36% believed in God or a higher power
• 47% believed in intelligent life on another planet 
• 57% believed in ghosts 
• 67% believed in the power of psychics

The survey author, Jan Walsh observes: “The minds of the British public are open to all kinds of other-worldly phenomenon."   Although these results do not fit with a range of other surveys which consistently show a much higher belief in God, this survey and others do show that  for many Britons, belief in the supernatural or in aliens appears to have taken over from orthodox beliefs.

Quoted in the Baptist Times June 13th 2002

Tempting Faith?

A survey of belief among 992 adults conducted for the launch of the Channel 4 series 'Tempting Faith'  showed that three out of four Britons call themselves spiritual or religious. The survey revealed that 74% of the population said they had some form of religious or spiritual belief. Of these:

•  45% said they personally believed in a god 
• 16% in a spirit or soul 
• 13% in a life force. 
• More than half - 56% - of those brought up with religion are now lapsed, with almost a quarter saying they do not believe in it and another quarter saying they cannot be bothered or do not have the time. 
• New or alternative religious groups - such as Islam, Buddhism or New Age groups - were perceived to be growing faster than traditional Christian ones by those surveyed with formal religion being seen as exclusive but not completely dead. 
• 42% thought religious groups offer something relevant only to those who attend or believe, but only 9% think that all religious groups are outdated with nothing to say in the modern world 
• A third of those taking part claimed to attend a religious group, with a quarter actively praying to a god or faith. 
• Only 50% believed they have a sense of purpose in life. 
• Women and those from the upper social groups were significantly more spiritual, more likely to recognise the importance of formal religion and feel certain of their purpose in life.

Reported in the Sunday Express 14th November 1999

Spiritual Longing and the Paranormal

A survey of the attitude and lifestyle of 8000 adults by researchers from Leeds University  revealed a longing for spiritual understanding. It also found however, that belief in the paranormal had taken over from conventional religious beliefs.
Some survey results showed; 

• 50% believed in telepathy , 55% in 'second sight' 
• 67% in astrology and 15% in abduction by aliens.

'People are still looking for explanations of things', said Sheila Byfield of the agency Ogilvy and Mather, part-sponsor of the report. 'Once they used to explain things through God, but now they turn to other more quirky things. People do need something to believe in.' The Evangelical Times commented on the survey at the time as follows; 'Other findings of the survey appear to reveal a nation which is in practice essentially materialistic, taken up with technology and television rather than moral and spiritual issues. This apparent contradiction can be explained. The switch from conventional religion to the paranormal may betray a desire for religion without strings. Belief in the paranormal is essentially amoral, that is, it has no moral implications. It makes no demands upon its adherents, requires no obedience, implies no love, involves no self-denial. It provides that mystical dimension to life that people seem to need, without requiring any change in lifestyle. At the heart of such beliefs lies an often undetected fatalism, which can take many forms. It is seen in existentialism; 'Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die.' It is seen in astrology, where the stars hold men's destiny. It is seen in some conventional religions, like Islam. It is seen in hyper-Calvinism which so emphasizes God's sovereignty that it robs man of all responsibility to God. Such beliefs may make life bearable, but can never make it fruitful or satisfying. By contrast, Jesus said, 'I have come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. (John 10:10).

Survey results reported in The Times 5th October1997.
 

Youth Belief & Prayer

Nearly half of all city-based young teenagers believe in God. The study of urban 13 to 15-year-olds for a Church of England commission found prayer gave them a greater "sense of purpose".

Spirituality and Well-Being in Young People claimed that 75 per cent of those who pray daily – among the 30,000 teenagers questioned - had purpose and found life worth living. But over half of the 48 per cent of youngsters who never pray had thought of killing themselves.

Reported in the Mirror July 5 2005