It is often asserted that the only constant is change. This is borne out by the conclusions of the latest census and should surprise nobody. The UK now boasts 4.1 million fewer Christians than in 2001. There remain 33.2 million Christians who profess their faith and they now constitute 59% of the population. If I compare these figures to the picture I have observed at my own church during this time, I can only express a degree of shock that the numbers have remained so respectable. Of greater worry to me is the revelation that the 7.7 million who professed no faith in 2001 have nearly doubled in size to 14.1 million. Indeed, one person in eight in the UK today was born outside of it. There is nothing wrong with this - on the contrary, it is to our credit that we have embraced such a rich variety of cultures into our society. Statistics though, can be as clear as mud. Also revealed in the latest census is that 71% are employed and 7.5% unemployed. Whither the 21.5%? The ageing retired population perhaps?
Closer to home, the number of Welsh speakers continues its seemingly inevitable decline. The 576,000 who admitted to be able to speak Welsh 10 years ago have shrunk to 562,000. In all but two of the counties, the numbers are falling, most notably in the traditional heartlands of Anglesey and Gwynedd. Few can be surprised by this. Language thrives in a social setting. The fact that Welsh is being promoted at Primary School is missing the point. What happens to these children when they grow up and raise their own families. With increasing frequency, they seek and find their employment over the border due to the lack of opportunity in their own country. Like its Gaelic cousin Scotland, Wales is suffering the hangover of an over-inflated Public Sector. Employment outside this bloated behemoth is painfully thin on the ground and is only likely to get a lot worse before the Private Sector can once more have its day. It is this which will be the saviour of the Welsh Language if there is to be one. The Public Sector is quite rightly being cut left, right and centre with the machete of the coalition.
It was Nietszche who predicted the rise of nihilism in the middle of the nineteenth century. How right he was. With 14.4 million people now professing no faith and the hunger for instant fame and celebrity as insatiable as ever, perhaps the churches will, in due course, be the arenas for local X-factor competitions. But no, wait. They will serve a much more worthy purpose. The rate of unemployment continues its inexorable rise and the poor need to eat. Even Dickens realised this in The Christmas Carol. Perhaps this is part of its enduring appeal at this time of year. Food banks are opening ubiquitously nationwide as I write. They are borne out of need rather than opportunity and are becoming the difference between life and death for many people. Doubtless, many of these in need have no faith. Be that as it may, it is the role of the church to provide be it Christian or otherwise.
When I attend my church, I am the youth because I see little coming behind me. I am 44. Until the church seeks to welcome our young and introduce them to moral values which will serve them well throughout their challenging lives, it will perish. The elderly dominate my church but they would because they have always gone to church and know no different. When I went to Primary School in North Wales, I attended a Welsh speaking school from the age of 8 and attended church every Sunday. I came from English stock unlike my welsh speaking classmates. They all attended chapel which was far more a social event than a religious one from what I ever observed. This has now eroded with the television superceding the church and the chapel.
The only constant is change. Dylan Thomas wrote, "Rage, rage against the dying of the light". It is not too late for those with faith to rage against the dying of the light. It is our duty to do so. In his song "I believe in Father Christmas", Greg Lake writes "The Christmas we get, we deserve". He wrote it as a protest against the commercialisation of Christmas. He wrote it in 1975 so was clearly well ahead of his time. In truth, it is not just the Christmas we get which we deserve. I would argue that the society we get, we deserve.
This is not a God-bothering diatribe against atheism and multiculturalism. I do lament though the erosion of moral value and the spoils of capitalism. Employment is a hope rather than a given and we move closer and closer to the society of Dickens at our own peril. I hope and pray that out of hard times come bright lights. As things stand, it seems as though the predictions of Nietszche were right and religion and morality really has given way to the aspirations of wealth, fame and commercialism. Well, we've had a good blast of commercialism now since the war and perhaps the time has come to cast an eye over our shoulders and evaluate where we are now.
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