The United Kingdom is traditionally a Christian state. Of the four constituent countries that make up the United Kingdom, only England still has a state faith in the form of the established church. Christianity is the majority religion, and a wide variety of Christian churches, denominations, and sects exists.
The most recent (2007) survey by Tearfund discovered that 53% of the population identified themselves as Christian, compared with almost three-quarters who had in the last census in 2001. Tearfund said nearly three million more people would attend regularly if given the "right invitation". It said churches could do more to offer encouragement to potential worshippers. Tearfund's president, Elaine Storkey, told BBC Radio Five Live that a lot of people would be unsure what to expect if they did visit. "The church for a lot of people is a very strange place these days. They're not familiar with what's going on inside the building, with the form of service, with the way people gather, with what they say, how they pray.
Jews have been established in Great Britain for many centuries. They were expelled for a long period from England, between 1290 and 1656, but there was never a corresponding expulsion from Scotland.
During the 20th century, many other religions have established a presence, mainly through immigration, though also partly through the attraction of converts. Those with the most adherents are various forms of Islam, and Hinduism. Other minority faiths include Buddhism, Sikhism, the Baha'i Faith, and Rastafarianism. There are also small neopagan groups, and various organizations which actively promote rationalism, humanism, and secularisation.

History
Paganism in the British Isles (essentially Celtic polytheism before the conquest by the Romans) was supplemented by the arrival of Roman religion: see, for example, the Temple of Mithras, London. It had multiple deities, that varied in different regions: see, for example, Sulis and Viridios. When the Romans arrived in Celtic Britain, they accommodated their own religion to fit into existing Celtic structures. For example, the healing temple of Sul in Bath became Sulis Minerva (after the Celtic Sulis and the Roman Minerva, both goddesses of health and medicine). Worship of the emperor himself is widely recorded, especially at military sites. The founding of a temple to Claudius at Camulodunum was one of the impositions that led to the revolt of Boudica.
The Anglo Saxons (or English) who invaded in 449AD practised Germanic paganism before their conversion, instigated by Roman missionaries in 597AD.

Before Christianity

Christianity
Further information: Early Insular Christianity
Christianity was first introduced through the Romans (English mythology links the introduction of Christianity to Britain to the Glastonbury legend of Joseph of Arimathea; see also the legend of Saint Lucius). Archaeological evidence for Christian communities begins to appear in the 3rd and 4th centuries. The Romano-British population after the withdrawal of the Roman legions was mostly Christian. The Christian heresy known as Pelagianism (condemned in the 5th century) originated in the isles.
Ireland was converted largely by Romano-British missionaries - notably Saint Patrick - at some time after the withdrawal of the Roman legions from England. Irish Christianity developed in a monastic style. Celtic missionaries from Ireland spread Celtic Christianity, then came to Scotland - notably through Saint Columba and later the Kingdom of Northumbria. Many works of art and faith were inspired, such as the Lindisfarne Gospels.
The Anglo-Saxon invasions largely wiped out Christianity from the areas occupied by the Saxons - although whether this was due to conversion of the native population or ethnic cleansing of the original population is widely disputed. What is not disputed is that Anglo-Saxon England was largely pagan by the 7th century (See Anglo-Saxon polytheism).

Romano-British origins
Further information: Anglo-Saxon Christianity
Augustine of Canterbury was sent by Pope Gregory I in 596 to establish an English church loyal to Rome starting in the Kingdom of Kent - which had strong links to the Franks, including the Kentish King's wife who invited Augustine to England.
Bede's Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum describes the history of the English church.
The Synod of Whitby in AD 664 attempted to reconcile differences of religious practice, particularly between the Celtic Church and the Roman Church. The outcome was that Cuthbert, the leader of Celtic Christianity, accepted the Petrine supremacy that Augustine and Rome claimed. During the 8th century, Anglo-Saxon missionaries spread Christianity on the Continent.
Following the Norman conquest of England the Normans built many churches and abbeys showing massive proportions in simple geometries. The cruciform churches often had deep chancels and a square crossing tower which has remained a feature of English ecclesiastical architecture. Hundreds of parish churches were built and the great English cathedrals were founded from 1083. After a fire damaged Canterbury Cathedral in 1174 Norman masons introduced the new Gothic architecture. Around 1191 Wells Cathedral and Lincoln Cathedral brought in the English Gothic style, and Norman became increasingly a modest style of provincial building.
Before the Norman period, Scotland had little diocesan structure, being primarily monastic after the fashion of Ireland. After the Norman Conquest, the Archbishops of both Canterbury and York each claimed superiority over the Scottish church. The church in Scotland attained independent status after the Papal Bull of Celestine III (Cum universi, 1192) by which all Scottish bishoprics except Galloway were formally independent of York and Canterbury. However, unlike Ireland which had been granted four Archbishoprics in the same century, Scotland received no Archbishop and the whole Ecclesia Scoticana, with individual Scottish bishoprics (except Whithorn/Galloway), became the "special daughter of Rome".
Until the Protestant Reformation established different religious practices in different countries of what became the United Kingdom (see Christianity in Medieval Scotland and History of the Church of England), Christianity in the islands generally looked to Rome for spiritual guidance, although figures such as Stephen Langton and John Wyclif and movements such as Lollardy occasionally posed challenges to the dominance of the Roman Catholic hierarchy.
The Bible was eventually translated into vernacular languages in the United Kingdom: see, for example, Wyclif's Bible, William Tyndale, William Morgan and Welsh Bible.

From Anglo-Saxons to the High Middle Ages
Due to his own dynastic difficulties, Henry VIII of England cut ties (1533) with the Papacy. When he was not granted an annulment of his marriage to his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, Henry announced himself as the supreme head of the Church of England which caused much disruption throughout England. In Scotland the Protestant Reformation was more of a grass roots movement than an imposition by the Crown. Continuing adherence by a majority of the population to Catholicism in Ireland ensured unstable and violent relations between the nations of the isles. By the late 17th century a Protestant political settlement (see Act of Settlement 1701 and Act of Security) caused widespread insurrections in Scotland and Ireland, but relative calm and stability in England and Wales. For more detail of this period see the following articles:

English Reformation and Scottish Reformation

• Timeline of the Protestant Reformation in England
  Act of Supremacy (1534): declared that Henry VIII was 'the only supreme head on earth of the Church in England' and required the nobility to swear an oath recognising Henry's supremacy.
  Six Articles (1539): although the organisation of the church in England was reformed, the articles reaffirmed Catholic doctrine.
  Book of Common Prayer and Book of Common Order
  Prayer Book Rebellion
  Marian martyr and Marian exiles: during the re-establishment of Roman Catholicism in England under Mary I, some Protestants were persecuted and some upheld their faith in exile.
  Elizabethan Religious Settlement: under Elizabeth I political and religious stability was maintained by means of a compromise in both doctrine and practice between the Anglicanism of Henry VIII and that of Edward VI
  
  
  
  • Act of Supremacy 1559: restored religious affairs in England to the state at the death of Edward VI, and imposed the Oath of Supremacy on those holding office.
    Thirty-Nine Articles (1563): the defining statements of Anglican doctrine were made a legal requirement in England in 1571 and were imposed by the Test Act of 1673 (until 1824)
    Regnans in Excelsis
    Priest hole: wealthy Roman Catholics constructed hiding places in their houses for priests.
    James I of England and religious issues
    
    
    
    • Gunpowder Plot: in 1605 an attempt to assassinate King James VI and I and the Protestant establishment entrenched anti-Catholic sentiment.
      Five Articles of Perth: attempted to bring the Church of Scotland in line with the Church of England.
      The Vicar of Bray: the changes of political and religious régime required office holders to show flexibility in their declared convictions, as satirised in the popular song The Vicar of Bray.
      Covenanter: in Scotland, people bound themselves in a series of bands or covenants to maintain the Protestant Reformation.
      Westminster Assembly (1643): appointed by the Long Parliament to restructure the Church of England, drew up the Westminster Confession of Faith which became, and remains, the 'subordinate standard' of doctrine in the Church of Scotland and has been influential within Presbyterian churches worldwide.
      1689 Baptist Confession of Faith: written by Calvinistic Baptists in England to give a formal expression of the Reformed and Protestant Christian faith with an obvious Baptist perspective.
      Royal Declaration of Indulgence (1672): Charles II attempted to extend religious liberty to Protestant nonconformists in his realms.
      Declaration of Indulgence (1687-1688): James II attempted to establish freedom of religion in England.
      
      
      
      • Seven Bishops: bishops of the Church of England who petitioned James II against the Declaration of Indulgence were imprisoned.
        Popish Plot (1678–1681): a conspiracy to discredit Catholics in England accused Catholics of plotting.
        Exclusion Bill: sought to exclude the Charles II's brother and heir presumptive, James, Duke of York, from the throne of England because he was Catholic.
        Penal law: a specific series of laws that sought to uphold the establishment of the Church of England against Protestant nonconformists and Roman Catholics, by imposing various forfeitures, civil penalties, and civil disabilities upon these dissenters.
        
        
        
        • Test Act: required a religious test of officials to ensure conformity with the established church.
          Act of Uniformity 1662: required the use of all the rites and ceremonies in the Book of Common Prayer in Church of England services, and episcopal ordination for all ministers.
          Conventicle Act 1664: forbade religious assemblies of more than five people outside the auspices of the Church of England.
          Five Mile Act 1665: forbade clergymen from living within five miles (8 km) of a parish from which they had been banned
          Nonjuring schism: the Anglican Church split in the aftermath of the Glorious Revolution of 1688, over whether William of Orange could legally be recognized as King of England. From the Reformation to established national churches
          The Church of England became the established church in England. It regards itself as in continuity with the pre-Reformation state Catholic church, but has been a distinct Anglican church since the settlement under Elizabeth I (with some disruption during the 17th-century Commonwealth period). The British Monarch is formally Supreme Governor of the Church of England, but its spiritual leader is the Archbishop of Canterbury, who is regarded by convention as the head of the worldwide communion of Anglican Churches (see Anglican Communion). In practice the Church of England is governed by the General Synod, under the authority of Parliament.
          
          England
          
          
          Main article: Religion in Scotland Scotland
          The Welsh Church Act 1914 provided for the separation of the four dioceses of the Church of England located in Wales (known collectively as the Church in Wales) from the rest of the Church, and for the simultaneous disestablishment of the Church. The Act came into operation in 1920. Since then there has been no established church in Wales.
          Beside the Roman Catholic Church (Eglwys Gatholig Rufeinig) and the Church in Wales (Eglwys yng Nghymru), which both have less than 5 % of the population as members, the largest religious societies are the Presbyterian Church of Wales (Eglwys Bresbyteraidd Cymru) with 34,819 (2004) members and 1 % of the population as members and the Union of Welsh Independents (Undeb yr Annibynwyr Cymraeg) as well as the Baptist Union of Wales (Undeb Bedyddwyr Cymru) with about 1 % of the population as members each.
          
          Wales
          The Anglican Church of Ireland was disestablished in 1871 by the Irish Church Disestablishment Act. The Republic of Ireland later seceded from the United Kingdom.
          Both perceived 'sides' of the community of Northern Ireland are often described by their predominant religious attachments; unionists are predominantly Protestant, while nationalists are predominantly Roman Catholic. Although the Protestant population is larger numerically than the Catholic population, the Roman Catholic Church forms the largest single denomination. The largest Protestant denominations are the Presbyterian Church in Ireland and the smaller Anglican (Episcopalian) Church of Ireland.
          
          Northern Ireland
          Roman Catholicism in the United Kingdom is administered territorially as the Catholic Church in England and Wales, the Catholic Church in Scotland and the Catholic Church in Ireland (which is administered on an all-Ireland basis).
          Relations between adherents of Protestantism and the Roman Catholic Church have at times been difficult (see Papist and Popery). Roman Catholics who clung to their faith in the face of post-Reformation persecution were called recusants. The years from 1688 (the Glorious Revolution) to the early nineteenth century were difficult for Catholicism in England, although the persecution was not violent as in the past (see for example Popery Act 1698). The civil rights of adherents to Roman Catholicism were severely curtailed, and there was no longer, as once in Stuart times, any Catholic presence at court, in public life, in the military or professions. Many of the Catholic nobles and gentry who had preserved on their lands among their tenants small pockets of Catholicism had followed James II into exile, and others at last conformed to Anglicanism, meaning that only very few such Catholic communities survived.
          In the late 18th and early 19th century most restrictions on Catholic participation in public life were relaxed (see Papists Act 1778, Roman Catholic Relief Act 1791, Catholic Relief Act 1829). This process of Catholic Emancipation met violent opposition in the Gordon Riots of 1780 in London.
          In the 1840s and 1850s, especially during the Great Irish Famine, while the bulk of the large outflow of emigration from Ireland was headed to the United States, thousands of poor Irish people also moved to Britain and established communities in Britain's cities, including London, Liverpool, and Glasgow, but also in towns and villages up and down the country, thus giving Catholicism a huge numerical boost. The Roman Catholic Church in England re-established a hierarchy in 1850, and the hierarchy was re-established in Scotland in 1878.
          Roman Catholic worship and liturgy has also influenced some parts of the Anglican Church since the 19th century: see Anglo-Catholicism and the Oxford Movement.
          Some sectarianism still remains, particularly in Northern Ireland and parts of Scotland (esp. Glasgow). However Roman Catholicism has found more acceptance as part of the mainstream of British religious life. Basil Cardinal Hume, Archbishop of Westminster from 1976 until his death in 1999, presided over a period which saw Catholicism become more accepted in British society than it had been for 400 years, culminating in the first visit of Queen Elizabeth II to Westminster Cathedral in 1995. He had previously read the Epistle at the installation ceremony of Archbishop Robert Runcie of Canterbury in 1980. It was also during his tenure in Westminster that Pope John Paul II made a groundbreaking visit to the United Kingdom.
          For more detail on Roman Catholic history in the United Kingdom, see Roman Catholicism in Great Britain, English Roman Catholic parish histories.
          
          Roman Catholicism
          Many parts of the British Isles developed a strong tradition of Methodism from the 18th century onwards. The Methodist revival was started in England by a group of men including John Wesley and his younger brother Charles as a movement within the Church of England, but developed as a separate denomination after John Wesley's death. Traditionally, Methodism proved particularly popular in Wales (see Welsh Methodist revival and 1904-1905 Welsh Revival) and Cornwall, both regions noted for their non-conformism and distrust of the Church of England. It was also very strong in the old mill towns of Yorkshire and Lancashire where the Church of England did not adequately respond to the particular spiritual needs of the new industrial urban working class.
          Schisms within the original Methodist church, and independent revivals, led to the formation of a number of separate denominations calling themselves Methodist. The largest of these were the Primitive Methodist church, the Bible Christians and the United Methodist Church (not connected with the American denomination of the same name, but a union of three smaller denominations). The original church became known as the Wesleyan Methodist Church to distinguish it from these bodies. The three major streams of British Methodism united in 1932 to form the current Methodist Church of Great Britain. The Wesleyan Reform Union and the Independent Methodist Connexion still remain separate. The Methodist Church of Great Britain has congregations across Great Britain (although more limited in Scotland). It is the United Kingdom's fourth largest Christian denomination, with around 330,000 members and 6,000 churches. In Northern Ireland, where Methodism is also the fourth largest denomination, the church is organised within the Methodist Church in Ireland.
          In the 1960s, the Methodist Church made ecumenical overtures to the Church of England, aimed at church unity. Formally, these failed when they were rejected by the Church of England's General Synod in 1972; conversations and co-operation continued, however, leading in 2003 to the signing of a covenant between the two churches.
          For more information, see:
          
          Connexion
          Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion Methodism
          Orthodoxy has more recently been re-introduced to the United Kingdom by Cypriot, Egyptian (Coptic), Russian and other immigrants (see, for example, Metropolitan Anthony (Bloom) of Sourozh and Greek Orthodox Church of St Nicholas), but increasing numbers of British converts are joining formerly ethnically-based congregations.
          Most Russian Orthodox parishes fall under the jurisdiction of:
          Most Greek Orthodox parishes fall under the jurisdiction of:
          All Coptic Orthodox parishes fall under the jurisdiction of the Coptic Orthodox Pope of Alexandria. The Coptic Orthodox Church in the United Kingdom is divided into three main parishes:
          In addition, there is one Patriarchal Exarchate at Stevenage, Hertfordshire, South England.
          Most British converts belong to the British Orthodox Church.
          There is also an Eritrean Orthodox Church congregation in the United Kingdom.
          
          Diocese of Sourozh (Patriarchate of Moscow)
          Episcopal Vicariate of Great Britain and Ireland (Ecumenical Patriarchate)
          Archbishop of Thyateira and Great Britain
          Diocese of Ireland, Scotland and North England
          Diocese of the Midlands and its Affiliated Regions
          Diocese of South Wales Orthodoxy
          Other traditions of Christianity have a long history. There has been a strain of Nonconformism or Dissent traceable back to Lollardry. For more information on some of these groupings, especially those that came to prominence during the religious ferment of the 16th and 17th centuries, see English Dissenters.
          Britain provided a place of refuge for Huguenots fleeing religious persecution in France.
          Among other denominations are:
          
          The Baptist Union of Great Britain
          The General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches
          The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers): in Great Britain the Britain Yearly Meeting co-ordinates Quakerism, and Qakerism in Northern Ireland comes under the umbrella of the Ireland Yearly Meeting
          The United Reformed Church
          The Salvation Army
          Charismatic Christian movements Other Christian denominations
          Further information: Category:British saints
          Traditionally, saints have often been venerated locally, nationally and internationally. This is often reflected in British toponymy. However, following the Reformation, the cult of saints has been observed to a much lesser degree than historically.
          Patron saints:
          Many municipalities and regions preserve traditions of their own saints. See, for example, Cornish Saints and Saint Swithun.
          Wales is particularly noted for naming places after either local or well-known saints - all places beginning in Llan e.g. Llanbedr - St Peter (Pedr); Llanfihangel - St Michael (Mihangel); Llanarmon - St Garmon. Because of the relatively small number of saints' names used, places names are often suffixed by their locality e.g. Llanfihangel Glyn Myfyr, Llanfihangel-y-Creuddyn, Llanfihangel-y-Pennant.
          Saint Alban was, according to tradition, the first Christian martyr in Britain. Other martyrs, such as the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales, have also been canonised.
          Pilgrimages were an important religious, social and economic activity in pre-Reformation Britain. The shrine of Thomas Becket attracted particularly large numbers of pilgrims, as recounted in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Some local pilgrimages have been revived; see, for example, the shrines of Walsingham.
          
          Saint George - England
          Saint Andrew - Scotland
          Saint David - Wales
          Saint Patrick - Ireland Judaism
          More recently, immigration has led to the introduction of other religions that are popular amongst ethnic minorities, such as:
          New Christian movements are also represented among communities of immigrant origin.
          Religious diversity has led Charles, Prince of Wales to muse publicly on the desirability of being Defender of Faith rather than Defender of the Faith. He commented in 1994 that, "I personally would rather see it (his future role) as Defender of Faith, not the Faith"..
          Religions claiming pre-Christian British origins, such as Wicca and Neo-druidism, retain some followers, although following many centuries of official persecution they are understandably practiced rather discreetly. In October 2004 a Royal Navy technician, Chris Cranmer, attracted media attention by registering as a Satanist. A spokesman for the Royal Navy said: "We are an equal opportunities employer and we don't stop anybody from having their own religious values."
          
          Islam (see Islam in the United Kingdom);
          Hinduism (see Hinduism in the United Kingdom);
          Sikhism (see Sikhism in the United Kingdom); and
          Buddhism (1%) Other faiths
          Ancient monasticism in the British Isles spread Christianity to the furthest parts of the archipelago, but the Reformation led to the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Catholic monastic communities have since been re-established, and there are also many Anglican communities, and some Orthodox ones. Religious communities of Hindus and Buddhists also exist.
          
          Abbeys and priories in Scotland
          Abbeys and priories in Wales
          Abbeys and priories in England
          Abbeys and priories in Northern Ireland Monasticism
          
          The Archbishop of Canterbury is the head of the established Church of England
          

          
          
          • List of Anglican diocesan bishops in Britain and Ireland
            The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland presides over the annual Assembly, but does not lead, the Church of Scotland
            The Primus of Scotland is the presiding bishop of the Scottish Episcopal Church
            The Archbishop of Westminster is the leader of the Roman Catholic bishops in England
            The Primate of All Ireland exercises his ecclesiastical jurisdiction in Northern Ireland as well as the Republic of Ireland
            The Archbishop of Wales is one of the six diocesan bishops of the Church in Wales, chosen by his colleagues to hold the higher designation in addition to his own diocese
            The Chief Rabbi is the title of the leader of Orthodox Judaism in the British Isles - see List of Chief Rabbis
            
            
            
            • The Board of Deputies of British Jews represents Jewish opinion
              The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland presides over, but does not lead, the Church. Religious leaders
              The varied religious and ethnic history of the United Kingdom has left a wide range of buildings - churches, cathedrals, chapels, chapels of ease, synagogues, mosques and temples - across the home nations. Besides its spiritual importance, the religious architecture of the United Kingdom includes buildings of importance to the tourism industry and local pride. As a result of the Reformation, the ancient cathedrals remained in the possession of the then-established churches, while most Roman Catholic churches date from Victorian times or are of more recent construction (curiously, in Liverpool the ultra-modern design Roman Catholic cathedral was actually completed before the more traditional design of the Anglican cathedral, whose construction took most of the twentieth century). Changing social and demographic profiles mean that in some areas redundant religious buildings are being converted to secular purposes. In other locations, new places of worship are being established. Here is a selection of articles on notable places of worship in the United Kingdom:
              
              List of cathedrals in the United Kingdom
              Bevis Marks Synagogue - Jewish
              Birmingham Central Mosque - Islamic
              Brompton Oratory - Roman Catholic
              Crathie Kirk - Church of Scotland
              Finsbury Park Mosque - Islamic
              Glasgow Cathedral - Church of Scotland
              Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha - Sikh
              Metropolitan Tabernacle - Baptist
              Neasden Temple - Hindu
              St David's Cathedral - Church in Wales
              Serbian Orthodox Church of St Lazar, Bournville - Serbian Orthodox
              Victoria Park Mosque - Islamic
              Westminster Abbey - Church of England
              Westminster Cathedral - Roman Catholic
              Westminster Central Hall - Methodist
              York Minster - Church of England Notable places of worship
              Until 1944 there was no requirement for state schools in England and Wales to provide religious education or worship, although most did so. The Education Act 1944 introduced a requirement for a daily act of collective worship and for religious education but did not define what was allowable under these terms. The act contained provisions to allow parents to withdraw their children from these activities and for teachers to refuse to participate. The Education Reform Act 1988 introduced a further requirement that the majority of collective worship be "wholly or mainly of a broadly Christian character". In recent years schools have increasingly failed to comply with the collective worship rules - in 2004 David Bell, the Chief Inspector of Schools said that "at present more than three-quarters of schools fail to meet this requirement." Religious studies is still an obligatory subject in the curriculum, but tends to aim at providing an understanding of the main faiths of the world than at instilling a strictly Christian viewpoint.
              English education includes many schools linked to the Church of England which sets the ethos of the school and can influence selection of pupils where there is competition for places. These form a large proportion of the 6,955 Christian faith schools in England. There are also 36 Jewish, seven Muslim and two Sikh faith schools. Faith schools follow the same national curriculum as state schools.
              In Scotland, the majority of schools are non-denominational, but by legislation separate Roman Catholic schools, with an element of control by the Roman Catholic Church, are provided by the state system.
              Although religious Integrated Education is increasing, Northern Ireland has a highly segregated education system, with 95% of pupils attending either a maintained (Catholic) school or a controlled school (mostly Protestant). However, controlled schools are open to children of all faiths and none.
              
              Religion and education
              The strength of nonconformism among workers in the newly-industrialised towns of the Industrial Revolution gave rise, in large measure, to the development of Christian socialism in the United Kingdom. The Labour Party arose from a nonconformist background, whereas the Church of England has sometimes been nicknamed "the Conservative Party at prayer".
              As religious disabilities were relaxed in the 19th century, politics was opened up to people of different faiths or none (see Charles Bradlaugh).
              Lionel de Rothschild was the first Jew to take a seat in the House of Commons (1858) and in 1884 Baron Rothschild became the first Jewish member of the House of Lords. Dadabhai Naoroji, a Parsi, was an MP 1892-1895. Piara Khabra, a Sikh, was elected to the House of Commons in 1992. Mohammad Sarwar was the first Muslim MP (elected 1997). The first Muslim appointed to the House of Lords was Nazir Ahmed, Baron Ahmed in 1998; the first female Muslim so appointed, also in 1998, was Pola Uddin, Baroness Uddin.
              However, the Church of England still maintains a constitutional position in the legislature: see Lord Spiritual. The Prime Minister, regardless of his or her personal beliefs, plays a key rôle in the appointment of Church of England bishops (although in July 2007, Gordon Brown proposed reforms of the Prime Minister's ability to affect Church of England appointments).
              The debate over the role of the churches in the constitution was perennial in British politics:
              
              State religion
              Antidisestablishmentarianism
              Disestablishmentarianism
              Public Worship Regulation Act 1874
              Welsh Church Act 1914 Religion and modern politics
              The BBC programme Songs of Praise is aired on a Sunday evening, and often receives around 2.5 million viewers. Midnight mass and other such events are usually aired. As a public broadcaster the BBC produces such programming partly because of remit obligations. Accordingly, BBC Three and BBC Four air occasional programming from Atheist or Muslim perspectives. Other channels offer documentaries of a based upon belief - or non-belief. Most significantly the recent Channel 4 two-part documentary, narrated by Richard Dawkins, 'The Root of all Evil?'.
              The British media often portrays a cultural skepticism towards religion. British comedy in particular has a history of satire and parody on the subject - The most iconic example probably being the Monty Python film the Life of Brian. It could be said that religious mockery, or open disbelief in Christianity, is not as culturally taboo in the British media as it could be considered to be in the United States.
              
              Religion and the media
              Despite its Christian tradition, the number of churchgoers fell over the last half of the 20th century. Society in the United Kingdom is markedly more secular than in the past. According to the British Humanist Association 36% of the population is humanist, and may, by the same token, be considered outright atheist The problem with interpreting these results is that they do not reveal the intensity of religious belief or non-belief. See also Status of religious freedom in the United Kingdom.
              Ecumenical rapprochement has gradually developed between Christian denominations.
              However, some religious tensions still exist. See, for example, The Satanic Verses (novel), and Sectarianism in Glasgow.
              In the early 21st century proposals to update the blasphemy law in the United Kingdom were discussed. The Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006 made it an offence to incite hatred against a person on the grounds of their religion.
              There being no strict separation of church and state in the United Kingdom, public officials may in general display religious symbols in the course of their duties - for example, turbans. School uniform codes are generally drawn up flexibly enough to accommodate religious dress. Chaplains are provided in the armed forces (see Royal Army Chaplains' Department) and in prisons.
              
              Secularism and tolerance
              In the 2001 census data, people were asked about their beliefs.
              
              Statistics
              Source: UK 2001 Census. The disparity between the census data and the YouGov data has been put down to a phenomenon of cultural religiosity, whereby many who do not believe in gods still identify with a religion because of its role in their upbringing or its importance to their family.
              
              Religions in England and Wales, 2001
              Source: UK 2001 Census.
              
              Religions in Northern Ireland, 2001
              Source: Scottish Executive
              
              Religions in Scotland, 2001
              
              Religion in Birmingham
              Religion in London
              Greenbelt festival
              Jesus Army
              Lord's Day Observance Society
              Muslim Council of Britain
              Religion in present-day nations and states See also
              
              Christian churches
              
              Muslim Council of Great Britain Hinduism
              
              The Network of Sikh Organisations UK