A new poll done by the Huffington Post UK and research group Survation reveals that Brits believe religion does more harm than good:

More than half of Britons believe that religion does more harm than good, with less than a quarter believing faith is a force for good, the Huffington Post UK can reveal today. Even 20% of British people who described themselves as being ‘very religious’ said religion was harmful to society, and a quarter of said atheists were more likely to be moral individuals than religious people. … The eye-opening survey, that will reopen debate over the role and worth of religion to British society, found of the ‘non-religious’ people polled, more than 60% said they thought religion caused more problems than it solved. The poll shows that more people believe being an atheist is more likely to make you a good person than being religious. In fact, one in eight Britons said atheists tend to be more moral, compared to just 6% who say atheists are less moral, challenging widely held beliefs that religion is one of the last remaining bastions of British morality.

Surprisingly, younger people were more likely to say religion is a force for good, perhaps a departure from many surveys in the U.S. where the younger you are, the less of a stranglehold religion has on you.

“This survey just confirms what we know is the common sense of people in Britain today — that whether you are religious or not has very little to do with your morality,” said Andrew Copson chief executive of the British Humanist Association.

For some reason, the raw data and questions weren’t made available, but if the statistics are roughly accurate, that’s some wonderful news. If only we could come to our senses on this side of the ocean.

(Image via Shutterstock. Thanks to Jonathan for the link)



