Bible Cultural

'It's like Nelson's Column – part of our history, but it doesn't affect my life.'

People like me identify as Christian, but to be honest we don’t really practise a faith. Under half of us believe in God, but we do value the Bible for its moral teaching. It’s a Good Book and we think it probably has something valuable to say, but we don’t read it. We don't really go to church, either, though we like the architecture and some of the ceremonies. We might say that we're spiritual rather than religious. 

We’re happy with our lives and family is really important to us. Under half of us say it's important to make a difference to the world, though, and it’s not really our business. Perhaps the Church's moral and ethical teaching could help, though we're not really bothered about its doctrinal teaching. 

Perhaps the Bible is the answer to some of the world’s problems – we aren’t sure. But the older ones among us do feel many of its teachings could do some good if applied today – after all, this is a Christian country! The younger ones are more negative. Most of us aren't interested in finding out any more about it and we don't think it's relevant to us personally. 

We’re 13 per cent of the population.