POPULATION
63,047,162 (July 2012 est.)
GDP PER CAPITA
$36,600 (2011 est.)
RELIGIONS
Christian (Anglican, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist) 71.6%, Muslim 2.7%, Hindu 1%, other 1.6%, unspecified or none 23.1% (2001 census)
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United Kingdom
The United Kingdom is closely linked with the Church of England, which is established in England and has a small role in the UK government; the Presbyterian Church of Scotland is the non-established "national church" of Scotland, while Wales and Northern Ireland have no established church. The Church of England emerged out of the decision of King Henry VIII (1509-47) to separate from the Roman Catholic Church. This led to over a century of struggle between Puritans and Catholics to determine the doctrinal form the new Church would take. British control of Northern Ireland has generated Catholic-Protestant violence, particularly during the Troubles (1968-98). Immigration from former British colonies has given Muslims and Hindus an increased, though not always integrated presence in society. UK law grants freedom of religion, prohibits the inciting of religious hatred, and funds faith-based schools. The monarch is required to not be Catholic nor married to a Catholic. Though largely Christian, much of the population is unobservant.
ESSAYS ON UNITED KINGDOM
From the Arrival of Christianity to the Glorious Revolution
Christianity arrived in Roman Britain during the first centuries CE and Celtic Christian communities, largely cut off from mainland Catholicism, flourished around the Irish Sea following the collapse of the Empire. Catholic missionaries succeeded in converting the Anglo-Saxon rulers of England to Christianity by the seventh century, and Catholicism remained the dominant religion of the country until the Reformation in the sixteenth century. Conflict over the relative authorities of the monarch and the pope led King Henry VIII to declare himself head of the English clergy in 1531, depriving the Roman Catholic pontiff of any formal authority in England. The period that followed, known as the English Reformation, was marked by escalating conflict between Catholics and Protestants, which lasted until the rule of Queen Elizabeth I (1558-1603). Attempts to introduce new liturgical services to Scotland in 1637 resulted in the Bishops’ Wars (1639-1640), a rebellion that ended with Scottish religious independence and an officially Presbyterian Scotland. Royally endorsed persecution led Puritans to emigrate to the New World in large numbers and to become an important Parliamentarian contingent in the English Civil War (1642-1651). Oliver Cromwell’s re-conquest of Ireland (1649-1653) was fought largely along religious lines, and its heavy-handed tactics along with the subsequent marginalization of the majority-Catholic population kindled longstanding anti-English sentiment among the Irish. The Glorious Revolution of 1688 replaced Catholic King James II with Protestant monarchs William III and Mary II, securing Protestant predominance and marking the end of the long period of religious-political turmoil in England.
From the Acts of Union to the Second World War
Scotland and England were officially united in 1707 under the Act of Union, which unified their governments but maintained the distinction between the Presbyterian Church of Scotland and the Church of England. Religious conflict in the new Kingdom of Great Britain centered on the rights of non-Anglicans, who were banned from holding public office. The severe exclusion of Roman Catholics in particular became increasingly problematic after the formation of the United Kingdom in 1801, which included the overwhelmingly Catholic Kingdom of Ireland. Though most of the direct restrictions on Catholic political participation were lifted by 1828 through a process known as Catholic Emancipation, this did not mollify growing Irish nationalism, which led first to various failed attempts to secure autonomy for Ireland, and eventually to the partition (1921) and independence (1922) of Ireland. Northern Ireland, which officially opted to remain a part of the United Kingdom, became the site of an ongoing and often violent struggle between Catholics and Protestants. The nineteenth and early twentieth centuries also marked the high tide of the British Empire, which at its height governed over a fourth of the global population. The British generally tolerated the enormous religious diversity within the Empire, though religious concerns contributed in part to several important rebellions, such as the Indian Rebellion of 1857. The strain of the Second World War (1939-1945), together with the rise of anti-colonial sentiment, led to the rapid decline and dismantlement of the Empire following the war’s end in 1945.
Recent Developments
The post-war United Kingdom has simultaneously suffered from its age-old Catholic-Protestant tensions and enjoyed a relatively peaceful, though not necessarily integrative, influx of non-Christians into British society. The conflict in Northern Ireland became particularly violent from the 1960s to the early 1990s in a period that came to be known as the Troubles. The signing of the Belfast Agreement in 1998 marked an important achievement in the peace process. However, sporadic violence continues and religion remains the central marker of identity in Northern Ireland, with most of the population living in segregated communities. During the same period, increased immigration from the United Kingdom’s former colonies, particularly Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh, resulted in the rapid expansion of Britain’s Muslim community, which currently accounts for 2-4 percent of the total population. The growing Muslim community is young and mostly concentrated in urban areas, and has faced important challenges, such as high levels of unemployment. Growing fears of terrorism among the general public, particularly following the deadly attacks on London’s transportation system by Muslim extremists in 2005, have also led to incidents of anti-Muslim violence over the last decade. Meanwhile, the Christian population has become increasingly unobservant over the past half-century as the non-religious population has grown significantly.
Contemporary Affairs
The 2010 general election and the increasing divisiveness of the Anglican Communion have been the most prominent contemporary events of religio-political significance in the United Kingdom. The 2010 election brought to office the UK’s first female Muslim MPs. In what may be an indicator of shifting attitudes, British unionist parties failed to collectively achieve a majority of the Northern Ireland general election vote for the first time since the 1921 Partition of Ireland, while the Irish nationalist party Sinn Féin gained electoral ground. Sporadic violence between largely Protestant unionists and largely Catholic nationalists has continued in Northern Ireland. In March 2009, members of the paramilitary Real Irish Republican Army killed two British soldiers, and the following May saw a group of Protestants beat a Catholic to death. In the Church of England, debates over whether to allow gay priests and female bishops within the Church threaten to fragment the Anglican Communion. Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, head of the Church of England and the foremost leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion, has struggled to keep all sides in dialogue with one another but, in his 2010 address to the General Synod of the Church of England, he acknowledged that a de facto schism is likely on the horizon, an event that would have far-reaching consequences for an ecclesiastical structure that spans the globe. In July 2012, the General Synod delayed the vote on the matter of female bishops, as a two-tiered proposal that was put forth was condemned as discriminatory.
Religious Freedom in the United Kingdom
UK law guarantees and protects freedom of religion, and UK society is generally tolerant of religious pluralism. The Church of England is the established church in England. Scotland has no established church, but the Church of Scotland is recognized as the “national church” and has total independence from the government in spiritual matters. Wales and Northern Ireland have no official religion. By law, the monarch serves as the supreme governor of the Church of England and must be a member of that faith; neither the monarch nor his or her spouse may be Catholic. The Racial and Religious Hatred Act of 2006 prohibits “incitement to religious hatred,” and other laws forbid discrimination on religious grounds in employment, education, commerce, and the exercise of public functions. Issues involving the integration of religious minorities into British society have stirred considerable debate. Muslims in particular have tended to form segregated communities, sometimes preferring to employ Sharia law over British law. Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and the 2005 London subway bombings by militant Islamists, British Muslims have experienced increased social hostilities, though they are largely able to practice their faith without restraint. In preparation for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, British counterterrorism and intelligence agencies worked to neutralize potential terrorist threats from militant Islamic cells in London’s Muslim neighborhoods, and societal suspicions of Muslims have increased as a result. In Northern Ireland, hostility between Catholics and Protestants is down from past decades but still manifests itself in various ways, including occasional violence. Most neighborhoods remain religiously segregated, though newer middle class neighborhoods are often mixed.
Religion in the Constitution of the United Kingdom
With no single constitutional document, the 1998 Human Rights Act is the primary legislation outlining religious rights, guaranteeing freedom of thought, conscience, and religion and prohibiting discrimination on the basis of religion. In addition, the Act protects the right of parents to ensure education in accordance with their own religious beliefs. Article 9 of Section 1 does provide for restrictions on the freedom to express religious beliefs, but only in accordance with the law and democratic principles for the sake of public order and safety. Further protection for religious freedom is spread out across several other Acts of Parliament, including the Racial and Religious Hatred Act, Equality Act, and Employment Equality Regulations, which prohibit discrimination on the grounds of religion and make inciting religious hatred illegal. The Act of Settlement of 1688 declares that no Roman Catholic or anyone married to a Roman Catholic may ascend to the throne. As the Supreme Governor of the Church of England, the monarch must be a Church member.
