Paganism in the UK Census 2011

The 2011 Census of the United Kingdom was only the second time in history that British people had been asked about their religious beliefs.

In 2001, following a directive from the Pagan Federation, I recorded myself as a Pagan.  In 2011, having totally missed the same directive, I duly informed the government that I am a Wiccan. 

That's great for future genealogists.  They will never have to guess precisely what denomination of Pagan I am; but not so great for the pundits thriving on such dilutions.

On both occasions, ten years apart, the Pagan Federation had requested a tick box, which merely said 'Pagan'.  The National Statistics Office refused. 

This wasn't so outlandish a proposal as it may appear.  The major Abrahamic religions are all listed under an umbrella title, alongside a tick box.  The Pagan community is scattered across all of our parts.

The ultimate effect of this is to make us appear more invisible at a glance.  This is despite the 2001 census revealing that Pagans constitute the seventh largest religious group in Britain.

In 2011, we were the largest umbrella group under 'Other Religions'.  It's a figure that grows even more, once you add in all of the disparate denominations, which would come under that term, if Paganism were treated the same as Christianity, Islam or the rest.

In order to get the right answer, the right question must first be asked. 

In the 2011 census, the spirituality (or lack thereof) question was plain enough.  It merely asked 'what is your religion?'  

To pre-empt the issue of those not having a religion being forced to participate, the first answer was 'no religion'.  The entire section was also a voluntary question.

That latter fact may have hidden some Pagan statistics.  While not openly persecuted in the streets, there are still situations where declaring your Paganism in governmental data may not be entirely wise. 

Occasionally reports still emerge of Pagans losing their jobs, as teachers or public servants.  It's still a religion which is either not taken seriously or feared by some sectors of society.  Faced with doubt or anxiety, it is entirely possible that some Pagans played safe here.  They simply ignored the question.

For the rest, we had that last tick-box, followed by boxes in which to write down our actual denomination.  In 2001, I wrote Pagan in that space.  In 2011, I wrote Wicca.  My religion didn't change during the intervening ten years.  I just switched from generalization to specifics.  Had a tick-box actually said Pagan, I would have opted for that instead.

This renders it incredibly difficult to pick the Pagan religions out of the ensuing mass.  For example, the Pagan Federation frequently use the figure of 42,262 Pagans, based on the 2001 census results.  I make it 40,430. 

Are they fudging the facts?  No.  They just know the names of more Pagan religions than I do, so can pick them out of the long list of resultant faith groups listed in the census data.

Taken as a whole, there are nearly twice as many people registering as a member of a Pagan religion, when the 2001 and 2011 censuses are compared.

By the time the Pagan Federation have examined the list, there may be more.  I missed, for example, Occult, New Age and Pantheism off my statistics.  They may fall under our auspices without me realizing, as I didn't look them up to see.

However, spread across these denominations, the figures appear artificially small, in comparison to the 'tick-box' religions.  Paganism was not treated the same as, say, Christianity.  With the latter, all Church of England, Catholics, Baptists, Methodists and all of the rest were counted together.  We were not.

It's details like this which skew the statistics in ways which render them practically nonsensical to interpret.  Particularly as a longitudinal or cross-denominational study. 

The 'tick-box' religious people were encouraged to form together to present large trunks; the Pagans could be dismissed as so many tiny twigs.

Such things do matter when it comes to the legislature.  On the same day as the 2011 results were released, the British government announced its intention to legalize same sex marriage. But the Church of England and Church of Wales were also prohibited from performing them in the same legislation.  Their numbers, influence and anti-gay marriage stance had carried the day right into the proposed law books.

A Pagan protest (as unlikely as it may be in that particular issue) would have been more likely to be overlooked or rejected.  Just as the Office of National Statistics were able to do in denying the right of a tick-box, simply because the census states that our numbers aren't great enough to effect consideration.

The 2011 UK census revealed a sharp decline in the number of people identifying as Christians. It was down 13% on the previous figures, describing the religious beliefs of just 59% of Britons.

This still makes it the largest group of all, but when viewed in historical terms, it's a highly significant fall. 

At the same time, the number of people identifying as 'no religion', Atheist, Humanist or simply ignoring the question rose expeditiously. It accounted for a quarter of the population. 

As the mud-slinging began, the Church of England published a press release to counteract it.  Reverend Arun Arora played down the decline in British Christianity by looking at religion as a whole.

"When all faiths are taken together, people of faith account for two-thirds of the nation - two in every three people identify themselves as having a faith."

That includes the Pagan religions.  All of those writing Pagan, Wiccan, Heathen et al., would be considered 'people of faith' in Rev Arora's world view; and that is justified as an argument against those who would point out the prevalence of the non-religious.

Naturally, he went on to acknowledge that the Church of England faced challenges in modern Britain.  But my jaw had already dropped at the Pagan inclusion in his rhetoric.  It seems only (*counts on my fingers*) two decades ago that I was being thrown out of a multi-faith conference, for 'making a mockery' of the proceedings.

I had dared to suggest that Paganism may be considered as valid a faith as Christianity, Islam, Sikhism, Hinduism and Jainism.  I had politely requested that I, as a High Priestess, may take my place on the panel along the other religious leaders.

Only in the face of the greater 'danger' of Atheism does it appear that Pagans might actually have our day.  Personally, I'm not sure that I want it on those terms.