Poll: Most Brits Believe Religion Does More Harm Than Good

Britain has been a "post-Christian" culture for sometime. The result of this poll seems only to confirm this.

Most Britons believe religion does more harm than good: poll
Dec 23 1:55 PM US/Eastern

An overwhelming number of Britons believe religion does more harm than good while non-believers outnumber believers by nearly two to one, an ICM poll suggested.
Eighty-two percent of the 1,006 adults questioned for the left-leaning Guardian newspaper in the run up to Christmas said they saw religion as a cause of division and tension between people compared to 16 percent who disagreed.

At a time when Britain's multi-cultural, multi-faith model, their outward symbols and culture are under the microscope after last year's home-grown Islamist extremist suicide bombings, 63 percent said they were not religious.

Some 33 percent said they were religious. Older people and women were the most likely to believe in a god: 37 percent of women said they were religious compared to 29 percent of men.

But there was still good news for Christian leaders who complain that the true meaning of Christmas is being increasingly eroded by the forces of consumerism and consumption.

Fifty-four percent of Christians questioned said they planned to attend a religious service over the festive period.