The origins of polytheism

The origins of Time for Reflection in the Scottish Parliament

On 9 September 1999 the newly elected Scottish Parliament decided that it would have prayers but rejected the proposals that they should be exclusively Christian by 99 votes to 9. It decided that weekly prayers should take a cross-denominational and multi-faith form.

It overwhelmingly rejected the option of exclusively Christian prayers by 99 votes to 9.

Motion S1M-131, was passed, which stipulated that; 

Time for Reflection will follow a pattern based on the balance of beliefs in Scotland. 
The aim is simply to reflect the diversity of beliefs in Scotland.

Tom McCabe, Minister for Parliamentary Business

Two in three MSPs declare no religion. Only 15% say they are Christian

In this post I present findings from the formal declaration of religious affiliation made by MSPs as part of personal information recorded on the Scottish Parliament website as at 4 November 2013.

MSP’s appear to be noticeably less religious and less Christian than the general Scottish population – and they are less likely to be in the Church of Scotland.

Almost two in three of them (65%) declared no religious affiliation – compared to just in one of three (37%) of the Scottish population in the 2011 census.

They are half as likely as the general population to declare that they are members of the Church of Scotland. 15% said they were, compared to 32% of the population in the 2011 census.

MSP’s are far less likely to declare themselves as Christians – only 30% of them do so – compared to 54% of the population in the 2011 census.

The low number of declared Roman Catholics

The number of declared Roman Catholics is surprisingly low – with only 3 members out of the 125 for which the information source is available reporting that they are of this denomination. The population proportion is 16%. Perhaps some feel an inhibition in declaring their denomination in public records or choose to register as ‘Christian’.

Conservatives are the most religious and Christian party

11 of 15 Conservatives declare the Christian faith (73%) compared to 54% of the Scottish population - more than double the Parliamentary percentage of 30. 7 of the 15 Conservatives were Church of Scotland members.

Labour the least religious party

Labour is the least religious large party with 27 out of 38 (71%) not declaring a religion – slightly more than the 68% figure for the SNP whose profile mirrored that of the Parliament as a whole.

Four out of the five Liberal Democrats did not declare a religion.

A lone atheist?

One MSP declared himself an atheist but social survey evidence suggests that 19% of the population share this view and some MSPs may not feel the need to reveal similar views in a declaration of religious affiliation.

Christian and Roman Catholic over-representation in Time for Reflection

Christian over-representation in Time for Reflection

Christianity has been considerably over-represented in Time for Reflection. According to 2001 census data Christians should have had 65 per cent of the appearances in the 14 year period from 1999. In fact they have had 76 per cent – an over-representation of 17 per cent. 
If more recent data is used from 2011 Census Christians should have had 54 per cent of places, reflecting the falling adherence among Scots to this religion. By this measure Christians have been over-represented by 41 per cent.
The Church of Scotland by conceding places to other Christian denominations and other faiths, was under-represented by 24 per cent according to 2001 census criteria but was proportionately represented by 2011 census criteria with about 32 per cent of appearances during the first three four year Parliaments from 1999 to 2011.

The Roman Catholic Church was over-represented by both measures.  It had 89 appearances during the first three Parliaments whereas statistically it should have had, with 16 per cent of the population in each census, about 74 - an over-representation of 20 per cent.
These two churches were key actors in the campaign for a Scottish Parliament and they got their rewards by shaping Time for Reflection and having major roles in it. This illustrates their closeness to power in the devolved system of government. They are regarded as 'strategic partners' by the Scottish Government (a quote by a Scottish Government civil servant) although the 2011 Census survey data suggest that they have the adherence only of respectively 32 and 16 per cent of the Scottish population.

The over-representation of non-Christian religions

The over-representation of non-Christian religions

According to the 2011 census Scotland non-Christian religions have the adherence of 2.5 per cent of the Scottish population. Yet they filled 13 per cent of all appearances in TFR from 1999 to the end of June 2013.

The 2011 census recorded 77,000 Muslims in Scotland or 1.4% of the population. On a representative statistical basis a Muslim should have appeared at TFR about once every three years and on four or five occasions during the 14 years of TFR. In fact there have been 19 appearances - a degree of over-representation by a factor of at least 4 times.

According to the 2011 census there were in Scotland 16,00o Hindus, 13,000 Buddhists, 9,000 Sikhs, 6,000 Jews and 15,000 of other religions. These non-Christian religions totalled 1.1% of the Scottish population. On a representative statistical basis this group should have appeared on 4 occasions over the life of TFR upto June 2013 i.e .about one appearance for each faith group in all that time. In fact they have been over-represented to a very high degree with the following number of appearances.

Buddhists 11, Hindus 7, Jews 15, Sikhs 8