Rhetoric Race and Religion
From their origins in Alfred the Great’s battles against the “heathen” Vikings to the growth of Army chaplains in the First World War, religion has long occupied a central place in Britain’s armed forces.
But analysis of new Ministry of Defence figures suggests that atheists and agnostics could overtake Christians in the ranks of the military in just 18 years.The number of Army, Royal Navy and RAF personnel declaring themselves as Christians fell by more than 10 per cent in just 18 months.
At the same time the number describing themselves as “secular “ or “no religion” rose by almost nine per cent.It is the latest evidence of a rapid decline in religious faith in Britain. It follows an admission by the Methodist Church earlier this month that it had lost a third of its entire membership in a decade.
But the MoD figures, released under the Freedom of Information Act, show that religious affiliation, particularly to Christianity, is still markedly stronger in the armed forces than wider society.
Nevertheless, if the decline continues at its current rate non-religious service men and women would overtake Christians by 2032.
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