Tuesday, December 14, 2004
New Age Britons register more than 170 faiths
Britons follow more than 170 faiths or belief systems, according to newly-published official figures suggesting that spirituality is thriving.
The huge range of belief, much of it exotic or New Age, has been revealed by the raw statistics collated during the 2001 census, the first national count of religious affiliation.
The headline findings released last year showed that the overwhelming majority in England and Wales - 71.1 per cent - still regards itself as Christian, with Muslims making up the second largest religious group.
But the complete figures, which have now been published on the Office of National Statistics' website, show that spiritualism and paganism is thriving, and that beliefs range from vodun (voodoo) to the Native American Church, whose worship is based around peyote, a hallucinogenic cactus.
The country's south-east emerged as the capital of fringe faiths and sects, with London and the south-west not far behind.
The census found spiritualism, the belief that the dead can be contacted through mediums, was the eighth largest faith group, with 32,404 people claiming allegiance.
The first spiritualist church was established in England in 1853. Just behind them were the pagans, with 30,569 supporters, although their numbers rise to nearly 40,000 if wiccans (witches) and druids are included.
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