Theos

Home / In the news / Theos in the media

Most believe religion is peaceful, but causes war, survey suggests.

Most believe religion is peaceful, but causes war, survey suggests.

Findings from Theos Report by Prof. Robin Gill, ‘Killing in the Name of God’ features in Church Times article 27/07/2018

Interested by this? Share it on social media. Join our monthly e–newsletter to keep up to date with our latest research and events. And check out our Supporter Programme to find out how you can help our work.


WHILE six out of every ten people think that faith teachings are essentially peaceful, seven out of ten believe that most wars in world history were caused by religions, a new survey for the think tank Theos suggests.

Nearly half (47 per cent) think that the world would be a more peaceful place if no one was religious, but only eight per cent believe that religions are inherently violent, and 81 per cent agreed that religious extremists, not religions themselves, are violent. 

Almost two–thirds think that most religious violence is really about other things, such as politics, socio–economic issues, or Western foreign policy. that rose to nearly three–quarters of minority religious respondents among the 2042 British adults interviewed by ComRes.

Read the article in full on the Church Times website

 Image from Church Times website

Robin Gill

Robin Gill

Robin Gill is Emeritus Professor of Applied Theology at the University of Kent. He has published extensively in sociological theology, the sociological study of churches, Christian and religious ethics, and health care ethics.

Watch, listen to or read more from Robin Gill

Posted 27 July 2018

Research

See all

Events

See all

In the news

See all

Comment

See all

Get regular email updates on our latest research and events.

Please confirm your subscription in the email we have sent you.

Want to keep up to date with the latest news, reports, blogs and events from Theos? Get updates direct to your inbox once or twice a month.

Thank you for signing up.