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Jetzt kostenlos anmeldenDid you know that in the UK, ethnic minorities tend to be more religious?
Tariq Modood et al. (1997) found that less than one-third of Christians said they practised religion regularly while 80 per cent of Muslims and around two-thirds of Hindus, Sikhs, and Jews said religion is an important part of their everyday lives.
Why may this be? We will try to answer this in this explanation.
Data on religiosity and religious belief is usually based on surveys and church censuses.
While people might not be completely honest in surveys, certain religious organisations might inflate their membership to give more importance to themselves as social institutions. As a result, the sociological data on the relationship between religiosity and ethnic social groups can be misleading and should be handled with caution.
The UK is a multi-ethnic and multi-religious society. Christians represent the biggest religious group, while Muslims, Hindus, and Sikhs are also significant in numbers.
Most Muslims, Hindus, and Sikhs are from ethnic minority groups, while many Christians are Afro-Caribbean. British Muslims are often of Pakistani and Bangladeshi heritage, while Sikhs and Hindus are usually of Indian heritage.
There have been many immigrants to the UK from Ireland and Eastern Europe, Poland for example. They are predominantly Roman Catholics and participate in religious activities in high numbers.
There is a difference between a person's ethnicity and religion. Ethnicity is used to classify people into social groups according to their shared culture, language, and heritage. On the other hand, religion refers to a specific system of beliefs and worship. It is usually closely connected to ethnicity because it contributes to the culture and customs of a people. Individuals with the same religious beliefs are often from the same ethnic group, although this is not always the case.
Jewishness, for example, can refer to both a person's ethnicity and religion.
However, there are believers of Judaism who have non-Jewish heritage, and are of non-Jewish ethnicity.
In the UK, the following religions are ethnic minority religions:
These represent large ethnic minority religions
Tariq Modood et al. (1997) found that the rates of religious participation are higher than average among ethnic minority communities in the UK. While less than one-third of Christians said they practised religion regularly, 80 percent of Muslims and around two-thirds of Hindus, Sikhs, and Jews said religion is an important part of their everyday lives.
O’Beirne (2004) found that Muslims, Hindus, and Black Christians determine religion to be a significant factor in their identity. Muslims regard religion as being equally important in their identity formation as their family, while African-Caribbeans and Black Africans on average cite religion as the third-most significant facet of their identity. In contrast, white Christians rarely attribute any importance to their religion in their identity.
Statistics show that Christianity, the Church of England in particular, is a predominantly white religion. Black Christians are more likely to be active churchgoers than White Christians, and they comprise the majority of Pentecostal church membership. Roman Catholics are often from White Irish or Eastern European backgrounds.
Sociologists argue that there are four main reasons for the higher level of religious involvement among minority ethnic groups. We will look at the relationship and the difference of these explanations.
Steve Bruce (2002) claimed that religion can be a source of emotional support for those who live in an uncertain, often hostile, new cultural environment.
Bird (1999) held that individuals of a cultural minority can find a community and a sense of home through religion. These religious communities provide space for the preservation of the minority culture and language in an oppressive, sometimes racist atmosphere.
Black African and Caribbean immigrants moved to Pentecostal churches after they experienced a lack of acceptance and support in white Christian churches in the UK.
Most ethnic minority migrants in Britain came from rather traditional, religious societies; religion has helped these migrants cope with the practical and emotional difficulties of adjusting to a new culture. Religious institutions provide a sense of community and a common cause for all their followers.
According to cultural transition theory, once a community has settled into a new environment, their religiosity gradually decreases. Third and fourth generation immigrants are more integrated and therefore less likely to be as religious as their parents and grandparents.
George Chryssides claimed that immigrants in a country could respond to the new environment in three ways:
Max Weber drew a connection between religiosity, ethnicity, and poverty (1920). He claimed that ethnic minorities usually experience higher levels of social and economic deprivation, and living in poverty eventually turns them towards religion. This is because religious faith can provide guidance and support in difficult circumstances.
Ken Pryce asserted that the core values of Pentecostalism - for example, the importance of community, family, and hard work - are all useful guidance in coping with poverty and emotional deprivation, which the lower classes and ethnic minorities suffer from. No wonder, he suggested, that British Pentecostalism is more popular among ethnic minorities (1979).
Neo-Marxists, led by Otto Maduro, claim that religious institutions, thanks to their economic independence, can generate revolutionary change for society's oppressed. Neo-Marxists have observed that the resistance of ethnic minorities to their exploitation was often based in religious institutions. (The Neo-Marxist explanation applies more to the US than to the UK.)
Sociologists find it important to research the attitudes and religiosity of different ethnic groups in order to highlight cultural differences between them.
Religion is usually closely connected to ethnicity, as it contributes to people's cultural identities. People with the same religious beliefs are often (but not always) from the same ethnic group.
An ethnic group refers to a social group based on common language, culture, and heritage. Religious groups also tend to have common cultural practices, but instead of heritage and language, it is their belief system that connects them.
Ethnicity is used to classify people into social groups according to their common culture, language, and heritage.
Religion refers to a specific system of beliefs and worship.
What is the difference between ethnicity and religion?
How is ethnicity and religion connected?
Religion refers to a specific system of beliefs and worship. It is usually closely connected to ethnicity because it contributes to the culture and customs of a people. Individuals with the same religious beliefs are often from the same ethnic group, although this is not always the case.
Give examples of ethnic minority religions in the UK.
What did Tariq Modood et al (1997) find in terms of religiosity among the British population?
Tariq Modood et al (1997) found that the rate of religious participation is higher than average among ethnic minorities in the UK. While less than one-third of Christians said they practised religion regularly, 80% of Muslims and around two-thirds of Hindus, Sikhs and Jews said religion is an important part of their everyday lives.
How important is religion in the identity of Muslims, according to O’Beirne's surveys?
O’Beirne (2004) found that Muslims determine religion to be a significant factor in their identity. Muslims regarded religion as equally important in their identity formation as their family.
Who are more active churchgoers on average: Black or White Christians?
Black Christians are more likely to be active churchgoers than White Christians and they give the majority of Pentecostal churches’ membership.
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