Big jump in non-religious scots, says new research

Less than a quarter say they follow a faith, new statistics show

The number of Scots who say they are not religious has risen to almost threequarters, according to new research.

Just under a quarter (23.6%) said they were religious, while 72.4% said they were not, figures released by the Humanist Society Scotland showed.

This was up from a similar poll in 2011 when just over half (56%) said they were not religious while 35% said they were.

The Humanist Society said the new findings raise concerns about official statistics on adherence to religion in Scotland. It suggests the way in which census data and other studies of religion are being carried out gives higher figures of faith due to the way the question is framed.

In the latest Social Attitudes Survey in 2016, people were asked whether they “regard yourself as belonging to any particular religion”. Almost six in 10 (58%) said they didn’t while just over four in 10 (41%) said they did.

Gordon MacRae, chief executive of the Humanist Society Scotland, said: “These new findings raise concerns about the official statistics on the adherence to religion in Scotland.

“We know that many people identify with a particular religious community, usually due to family ties but are not themselves practising that religion.

“These latest finding would suggest there could be as much as a 15% difference between ‘official statistics’ and the reality of religion’s place in the Scottish public daily lives.

“This raises major questions about key policy decisions made by government regarding special rights given to religious bodies under law. For example, the right of Scotland’s churches to hold the balance of power on local education committees.

“We need a new consensus in Scottish politics that respects and protects individuals’ right to freedom of religion and belief and separating this from policy making.

“Scotland’s democracy needs to get to a place where we stop blurring the lines of church and state.”

The Rev Norman Smith, convener of the Church of Scotland’s mission and discipleship council, said: “The Church of Scotland is well aware that formal church membership has declined.

“Yet as our own research shows, the role of spirituality in people’s lives remains important. As a church we are not driven by numbers.

“It is no accident that people of faith across the country are over-represented in volunteer activities.”

A spokesman for the Catholic Church added: “The Humanist Society Scotland response to the latest poll is confused, yet not surprising.

“The question “are you religious” does not lend itself to a binary ‘Yes/No’ answer since religiosity tends to exist on a sliding scale rather than at either end of a stark spectrum.

“That 72% of Scots describe themselves as not “religious” should not be read as implying, they have ‘no religion’.”