Christian nationalism in Britain driven by non-church attendees, report finds

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 11 Oct, 12:13 · Archive

Christian nationalism in Britain is being driven largely by people who rarely attend church, according to research by thinktank Theos.

Research by thinktank Theos found that Christian nationalism in Britain is driven largely by people who rarely attend church and are more concerned with defending the country's Christian heritage. The report surveyed attitudes to Christianity and Britishness among UK respondents and identified five different groups.

The group with views most closely resembling Christian nationalism, termed 'identity integrationists' by researchers, accounted for 11% of respondents, making it the smallest group. Although 81% of this group identified as Christian, only 13% attended church weekly, slightly above the 11% average across the population surveyed. Less than a third prayed weekly, while 47% expressed an interest in the Bible.

The group was strongly hostile to immigration and Islam. Just 19% agreed that Christian values required welcoming and supporting asylum seekers, while 30% supported the equal treatment of religions in public life. The Independent reports that a substantial proportion hold racist views, with 42% agreeing that being white is important to being truly British and 70% saying they were proud that Britain 'is predominantly white'.

In contrast, another group termed 'belief integrationists' comprised 13% of respondents and were considerably more religiously observant and less hostile to immigration. Among this group, 31% attended church weekly, 46% prayed weekly and 62% expressed interest in the Bible. Almost half agreed that Christian values required welcoming asylum seekers, while 63% supported equal treatment of religions in public life.

How it is being reported

• Majority of Christian nationalists in Britain rarely go to church, says new reportFar right groups in the UK have frequently used Christian symbolism and languageThe Independent · 11 Oct, 11:41
• Christian nationalism in Britain driven by people who seldom go to church, says reportResearch challenges the notion that the growing visibility of crosses and other symbols reflects a revival of Christianity Christian nationalism in Britain is being driven largely by people who rarely attend church and are more concerned with defending the country’s Christian heritage, according to research. The report, by the thinktank Theos, identified five different groups within the UK in a survey that looked at their attitudes to Christianity and Britishness. Continue reading...Guardian World · 11 Oct, 06:00

In this story: Theos · Britain · United Kingdom

This summary was written by AI from the headlines and standfirsts above, and states as fact only what at least two outlets report. How we use AI · Report a problem