More than half the population believe Britain is deeply divided along religious lines, according to an official survey. A majority would also strongly oppose the development of a mosque in their neighbourhood, the research into social attitudes found.
Almost half - 45 per cent - say they do not believe that diversity has brought benefits to the country and that religious diversity has had a negative impact. The government-backed inquiry revealed that only one in four people in Britain feel positively about Islam. The warnings on the extent of the divide between Muslims and much of the rest of the country come in the annual British Social Attitudes survey, produced with funding from Whitehall. [MailOnline] Read more
Is Islamophobia real? .... Dislike of Muslims in the survey is clearly related to the belief that religious diversity is harming Britain; something that 45% of the population believe. Among the irreligious these proportions are reversed. 52% think Britain is "deeply divided along religious lines".
And further to point up the question of what religions are felt to be dangerously diverse, one half of the sample were asked whether whether they would object to the construction of a large mosque: 55% would; the other half were asked how they would feel about the construction of a large church in their neighbourhood: 15% would object. [Guardian Cif] Read more
