England: One British Young Person in Four Would Be Ready to Censor the Bible

Almost one in four young people said that they agreed with this statement. People between 18 to 24 years old were the most numerous to agree (23%), followed by those 35 to 54 years old (17%). People over the age of 55 were the least numerous (13%).

Lois McLatchie, of the Alliance Defending Freedom UK, expressed her concerns regarding these results. “We may no longer be a majority Christian population here in Britain. That's even more reason to protect freedom of speech and belief for all,” she stated.

She added that the conservative government had already taken worrisome measures in favor of censorship, such as arresting street preachers for having quoted the Bible in public and the legal proceedings against pro-life activists for having prayed silently in proximity to abortion clinics.

The Example of Finland

McLatchie gave Finland as an example to illustrate the consequences of “shutting down Christians.” Last month, the former Minister of the Interior, Päivi Räsänen, was acquitted of hate speech for the second time, after a legal battle lasting four years. She had been criminally charged after having tweeted a Bible verse on marriage and sexuality.

The court decision explained: “The Court of Appeal accepts the reasoning and conclusions of the district court's judgment. The Court of Appeal has no reason, on the basis of the evidence received at the main hearing, to assess the case in any respect differently from the District Court. There is therefore no reason to alter the final result of the district court's judgment."

The hate speech accusations focused on comments made publicly by Räsänen and another person in favor of the biblical view of marriage and sexuality.

England and Wales No Longer Have a Christian Majority

The results of this poll show the rapid dechristianization of England. A year ago, the Office for National Statistics revealed the results of a census on religion. For the first time, less than half of the population of England and Wales described themselves as “Christian”—27.5 million people, making up 46.2% of the population.

In ten years, from 2011 to 2021, the Christian population—Catholics and Protestants combined—dropped by 5.5 million, a loss of a sixth. This news led associations and parties to ask that the Church of England’s—Anglican, it’s important to remember—place of privilege in Parliament or in schools be done away with.

Nevertheless, the Whitestone Insights poll is very concerning. It likely foreshadows the censorship of preaching even the doctrine of the Church, which will soon be considered hateful or discriminatory.