Editing Secularization (section)

===Britain===
====History====

In Britain, secularization came much later than in most of Western Europe. It began in the 1960s as part of a much larger social and cultural revolution. Until then the postwar years had seen a revival of religiosity in Britain.<ref>Callum G. Brown, ''The Death of Christian Britain: Understanding Secularisation, 1800-2000'' (2009) pp 170-92.</ref> Sociologists and historians have engaged in vigorous debates over when it started, how fast it happened, and what caused it.<ref>Jeremy Morris, "Secularization and religious experience: arguments in the historiography of modern British religion." ''Historical Journal'' 55#1 (2012): 195-219.</ref>

Sponsorship by royalty, aristocracy, and influential local gentry provided an important support system for organized religion. The sponsorship faded away in the 20th century, as the local élites were no longer so powerful or so financially able to subsidize their favorite activities. In coal-mining districts, local collieries typically funded local chapels, but that ended{{when|date=March 2016}} as the industry grew distressed and the unionized miners rejected élite interference in their local affairs. This allowed secularizing forces to gain strength.<ref>Steve Bruce, "Patronage and secularization: social obligation and church support Patronage and secularization: social obligation and church support," ''British Journal of Sociology'' (2012) 63#3 pp 533-552.</ref>

====Recent developments====

Data from the annual [[British Social Attitudes Survey|British Social Attitudes survey]] and the biennial [[European Social Survey]] suggest that the proportion of Britons who identify as Christian fell from 55% (in 1983) to 43% (in 2015). While members of non-Christian religions – principally Muslims and Hindus – quadrupled, the non-religious ("nones") now make up 53% of the British population.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/news/britain/21728600-only-15-call-themselves-anglicans-dont-bet-church-losing-its-official-role-any-time|title=A majority of Britons now follow no religion|date=9 Sep 2017|newspaper=The Economist|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171013065031/https://www.economist.com/news/britain/21728600-only-15-call-themselves-anglicans-dont-bet-church-losing-its-official-role-any-time|archive-date=2017-10-13|url-status=live}}</ref> More than six in 10 "nones" were brought up as Christians, mainly Anglican or Catholic. Only 2% of "nones" were raised in religions other than Christian.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/may/13/uk-losing-faith-religion-young-reject-parents-beliefs|title=Nearly 50% are of no religion – but has UK hit 'peak secular'?|last1=Sherwood|first1=Harriet|date=2017-05-13|work=The Guardian|access-date=2017-09-01|last2=correspondent|first2=religion|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170831194722/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/may/13/uk-losing-faith-religion-young-reject-parents-beliefs|archive-date=2017-08-31}}</ref> People who were brought up to practice a religion, but who now identify as having no religion, so-called "non-verts", had different rates of leaving the religion of their upbringing, namely 14% for Jews, 10% for Muslims and Sikhs, and 6% for Hindus. The proportions of the non-religious who convert to a faith are small: 3% now identify as Anglicans, less than 0.5% convert to Catholicism, 2% join other Christian denominations, and 2% convert to non-Christian faiths.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Bullivant |first=Steven |date=2017 |title=The "No Religion" Population of Britain: Recent Data from the British Social Attitudes Survey (2015) and the European Social Survey (2014) |url=https://www.stmarys.ac.uk/research/centres/benedict-xvi/docs/2017-may-no-religion-report.pdf |access-date=2024-03-27 |website=[[St Mary's University, Twickenham]]}}</ref>

In 2018, [[Pew Research Center]] that large majority (89%) of those who were raised as Christians in the United Kingdom still identify as such, while the remainder mostly self-identify as religiously unaffiliated.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2018-05-29|title=Being Christian in Western Europe|url=https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2018/05/Being-Christian-in-Western-Europe-FOR-WEB1.pdf|access-date=2021-01-21|website=Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project|language=en-US}}</ref>