They don't believe it!

So much for religious think tanks. Hot on the heels of a survey by Theos, a UK think tank crowing about how many people believe in the literal Christmas story, comes this story from the BBC online, saying that the majority of Britons don’t believe in this mojo:

Of 1,000 people questioned, 70% doubted the account, according to the British Market Research Bureau.

Almost a quarter of people who described themselves as Christians shared their scepticism.

While Theos’s claim was that one in three Britons (34%) thought it was true that Jesus was born to a virgin, the BBC’s story says that a bit over two-thirds don’t so believe. Not a huge difference, but it rather puts Theos’s delight into the shadow when it’s looked at more objectively. The fact is that most people don’t believe, and that is the real story, surely, in a country that religionists tell us is Christian.

The fact is, like the chewing gum on the bedpost, religion is losing its flavour. It’s interesting that it’s Christians in some cases who are doubting: “More than a fifth of Christians who answered said they did not believe Jesus was both God and Man – another central tenet of Christianity,” says the BBC story, which adds, “BBC religious affairs correspondent Robert Piggott said the findings suggested a fading influence for the Church’s teaching in a secular age.”

You try telling the churches that!