Northern Ireland Census

silja

As we have some memebers from Northern Ireland on here, i thought you might be interested in these Census figures from the 2001 Census :

306 Ancestor Worship
307 Asatru
314 Druidism
323 Pagan
324 New Age
325 Occult
326 Pantheism
331 Satanism
339 Vodun
340 Wicca
343 Celtic Pagan
344 Own Belief System
348 Animism
897 Heathen (these were lumped in with No Religion apparently, in the overall figures).

As the question on religion was optional on the census form, it is quite interesting to see so many people put down their religion as Pagan, or a derivation thereof...

Talliesin

Originally posted by silja
897 Heathen (these were lumped in with No Religion apparently, in the overall figures).

Were the 307 Asatru part of the 897 Heathens, or counted separately?

Victor

Originally posted by Talliesin
Were the 307 Asatru part of the 897 Heathens, or counted separately?

Probably separate in the above figures, then all lobbed together as other / no religion.

Julie Breen

What about the significant number of Hindus and Buddhists up here in the north, these are also pagan religeons?

Talliesin

Originally posted by Julie Breen
What about the significant number of Hindus and Buddhists up here in the north, these are also pagan religeons?

I'd say that there's an overlap between Hindu and Paganism as that term is normally defined by Western Pagans and again between Buddhism and Paganism.

The Hare Krishna sect, in their attitude to the physical plane, clearly have little in common with Paganism, while the Thuggite sect (which Hare Krishna was in many ways a reaction against) would have (and indeed Kali is much respected by many Western Pagans).

(FWIW I used to have a Hindu colleague that considered her faith to "fit" in with Western Paganism, but agreed with me that there were paths within Hinduism that didn't).

Strict Buddhism is also quite different from Paganism, again in its attitude to the physical plane, and also in its atheism. However a lot of Buddhist practice has strong borrowings from animist traditions (some to the extent that they disagree with how some other Buddhists define Buddhism). That would be were the overlap is.

As such I imagine that the overlap between Hindu and Western Paganism is the largest Pagan demographic in Northern Ireland, though whether they would consider themselves as such is another matter.

Cheez

i like trees
set beliefs can suk my anus
truth an love rule too

Nevyn

hmmmmm


a very well tough out commet