People attending Cof E churches seems to be falling,while other religions ,ie Muslim is on the increase.How many of you attend church,and if not why not?,not inc.weddings and funerals.

The last time I went to church was back in May for a Christening in Sheffield.

I did start attending a spiritualist church for a while on a Sunday evening but I've not done that for a while.

As for the reason why not, I don't know is the honest answer, but its probably because nobody else I know goes.

I only do hatches,matches and dispatches.

I think that being a good person and treating all people/animals etc with respect is more important than going to church once a week and then being pious about it is.

I think that religion is there as a crutch,keep your nose clean and help others and you can probably stand without it.

s.g.d.

I'm an athiest.

Churches though, well the historic and/or the interesting ones, should be maintained as part of our heritage.

I'm sure in a 100 years time some of the early mosques (ie. the ones being built now/recently) will be seen as heritage too!

All part of an evolving Britain. And who's to say that many of the Muslims in this country won't slowly become athiest either, as the generations go by?

Over 70% of people in Britain class themselves as Christians but of course not all are regular church-goers.
I'm not sure why the number of those who regularly attend church has declined so much over the last few decades - Maybe people are losing faith in the institution of the church - rather than the Christian faith itself.

Personally, I think the Cof E is suffering from a bit of an identity crises right now - where as Islam and muslims don't appear to have the same hang-ups. -maybe that's partly why Islam is now the world's fastest growing religion.

And because, quite frankly and truthfully, the Islamic world breed like rabbits, while the Western world, well, doesn't.

And 70% of the UK population are not Christians. They may come from a Christian background, they may celebrate Christmas (by giving presents to each other by a tree, surrounded by random fancy decoration, with the odd chocolate stain, with the smell of x-mas pud wafting around, and not a sign of religion) but they're not really Christians.

I think I read somewhere that there are now almost as many practising Muslims as practising Christians in the UK. Doesn't surprise me, despite the fact that only 3% of the population is Muslim!

Whether you're a christian or not - it must be recognised that Christianity forms a large part of the bedrock of British society. It makes up a large part of our cultural identity and much of our freedom and democracy is based around it.

Proud Salopian - If things continue the way that they're going - in far less than 100 years from now, Britain could very well end up an Islamic state and the C of E will not even exist.

It's possible, but then maybe the Islamic faith will actually weaken inside a western nation such as Britain, in much the same way as Christianity has done? That is of course assuming that there will be greater integration, especially in the northern cities, between the Muslim and the non-Muslim British.

According the 2001 census 70% of Britons do see themselves as Christians. -whether or not they attend church on a regular basis.Does 'practising' have to mean attending church?

You're right, there are roughly as many muslims who attend Friday prayers as there are christians who attend church on Sunday.

I suppose that is possible - but then again it took our ancestors centuries to 'tame' christianity.
There's been a sharp increase in immigration into Britain from Islamic countries in the last few years - many of these countries are quite hardline religious societies.

The Concepts and Doctrine Centre at the Ministry of Defence has just completed a study on the outlook for world security over the next thirty years - and it's conclusion looks pretty grim.

Rear -Admiral Chris Parry, the country's top expert on future military threats compared today's mass immigration from the Third world with that of the Goths and Vandals wich destroyed Roman civilization.

Do you think that Christianity and Islam can live together side by side? - Looking at other times in history and other parts of the world right now -personally, I'm not too sure

I will say this for Islamic society though - On the whole it is quite selfless, non materialistic and obviously alot more spirtual. With certain matters - i.e law and punishment - it's straight forward, more simplistic approach, in some ways, make it seem much fairer than that of Western society.

Yes, but many Islamic nations don't treat women very nicely, do they?

You're right many don't - but to be fair some Islamic nations are alot more 'liberal' than others - like Turkey for example.Most muslims all over the world are not hardline followers.They chose to take on the cultural trappings of Koran's message rather than living it out completely.
But this does not represent true Islam - True Islam is more 'by the book' and word for word.

Getting back to Christianity - the high percentage of people in the UK who class themselves as Christians did suprise me - although I wonder how many meant it in a cultural sense rather than a serious devotion to the big man up there.

From what I see, shopping appears to be the main religion for many people in Britain - and celebs such as 'Posh and Becks' are today's deities :)

Shopaholicism (I think that's a word!) will end when debts reach such a level that half the population go bankrupt... :P

Fortunately for me, I'm not a shopaholic and only buy what I can afford.

That includes people like me though I was living with my parents at the time and my dad put me down as christian even though i am certainly not, most people will just put down what their 'heritage' is regardless of whether they believe in the tenets of the religion or not.

According to Christianity, somebody who keeps their nose clean and helps people all their life will be damned in hell for eternity while a mass murderer who kills hundreds then accepts jesus on his deathbed will go to paradise, seems a bit mean to me, maybe that's one reason I don't like it!

Plenty of Vandals still, but there are noticeably fewer Goths around town this year. Has Boots stopped selling black eye-liner?

Good one - lol. It could be a shortage of black eye-liner or perhaps it's all this sunny weather we've been having lately.

apparently eye-liner or guy liner as it is being called is "in"for men this year.

blame the Kaiser Chiefs,Pete Doherty and Pirates of the Carribean.

so everyone who called me names now know that I was just 20 years ahead of my time :D

s.g.d.