Civil Funerals increasing
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By TG Staff in Identity Published: Wednesday, 23 January 08 - 03:49 PM (GMT) Last Updated: Wednesday, 30 January 08 - 11:20 AM (GMT) |
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Forty percent of Hertfordshire people request information on civil funerals
A recently circulated booklet from Hertfordshire County Council to all households publicises the idea of non-religious funerals. It states that a survey in 2002 of Hertfordshire people who had recently registered a death showed that over 40% were interested in the option of a non-religious funeral. It is likely that the figure has risen in the five years since this survey. This is an interesting figure since it would actually tend to overstate religious adherence by families wanting to aquiesce with the wishes of the deceased. Most deceased are elderly and more elderly people are religious.
How does this figure square with the 75% who are apparently Christian and who indicated this at the last census? It would seem that when presented with an abstract question requiring a tick in a box, many will simply adopt the family religion. When it comes to measuring actual commitment; church attendance figures and such things as requests for information on non-religious funerals tell a different story. It becomes very clear that genuine engagement and belief in established religion is declining precipitously.
We must also note that a non-religious funeral means just that -- that no religion of any type is acknowledged.
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