Census reveals town’s religious diversity
9:15am Saturday 15th December 2012 in News
BOLTON has 698 Jedi Knights, eight Heathens, 181 Pagans and 92 people who put their religion as Heavy Metal.
The town’s diverse faith was revealed in the 2011 census results, which also showed Bolton is more religious than the rest of England.
In Bolton, 17.2 per cent of people said they had no religion, which is 7.5 per cent fewer than the overall figure for England of 24.7 per cent.
Over the past 10 years, the number of Christians in England and Wales has gone down by four million and now stands at 59.4 per cent.
But in Bolton 62.7 per cent of people class themselves as Christian — 3.3 per cent higher than the overall figure for England.
Bolton also has a higher percentage of Hindus and Muslims.
In England, 1.5 per cent of the population class themselves as Hindu, but in Bolton that figure is 2.2 per cent.
The number of Muslims in Bolton is more than double those in England, with 11.7 per cent of the town’s population, compared to five per cent in the country.
Religion was the only voluntary question in the census.
There were 698 Jedis in Bolton, 0.3 per cent, which was the same as for the rest of England.
Other less common religions with followers in Bolton included Satanism, with one follower, Scientology, which had five, a modern-pagan religion called Wicca, which had 38 followers and Humanist, which had 49 followers.
There were also 14 Rastafarians, 28 Druids, two members of the Occult and one Animism follower.
The Bishop of Bolton, Chris Edmondson, said the strength of religion in Bolton reflected town’s community, adding: “I think first of all, it reflects the very strong Christian heritage that there is in Bolton, but also that a number of churches in all denominations are getting an increase in numbers.
Bishop Edmondson, who is chairman of Bolton Faith Leaders Forum, said: “One of the other great strengths in Bolton is the way in which the different faith communities work together. The important thing is the Muslims and Hindus are very much integrated within the Bolton family. They have got their own strong religious affiliations but there is a very strong way of working together.”
His comments were echoed by Inayat Omarji, manager at Bolton Council of Mosques.
He said: “I think people are proud to be religious in Bolton. We have a very good interfaith network and we, as the Bolton family, have great community support.
“There is a diverse Muslim community in Bolton, especially since 2001 when the Muslim population was predominantly from Pakistan and India, in 2011, there is a there has been a big increase because of more people coming from the African subcontinent.”
Steven Meekings, manager at X Records, in Bolton, said he was surprised to hear people had put Heavy Metal as their religion.
He added: “I think it is totally up to them but sometimes I think people’s allegiance to religion is a little bit hard to fathom.
“I think I know lots of people who would put rock as their religion.”
Comments(37)
AdeleTeresa
says...
5:30pm Sat 15 Dec 12
dougie kay
says...
5:59pm Sat 15 Dec 12
mr.mark.c
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9:11pm Sat 15 Dec 12
It seems we have more Jedi than police in Bolton ;)
bwfc58
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12:32am Sun 16 Dec 12
Reality50
says...
1:13am Sun 16 Dec 12
mr.mark.c
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1:20am Sun 16 Dec 12
mr.mark.c
says...
1:27am Sun 16 Dec 12
Reality50 wrote:I am COFE and care not about other peoples beliefs, comments like that are the reason we are at war.
So one in eight of Bolton's population is now Muslim. Not good news at all....
oftbewildered2
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6:06am Sun 16 Dec 12
rocketstrike
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7:10am Sun 16 Dec 12
All religions are based on faith rather than knowledge. That is why people feel they can argue to the point of war.
Science is the only truth. If you don't believe that you should throw away your mobile phones because it's science that makes them work: the battery, the chip, the radio transmitter, the screen.
There is no other 'religion' that is prooved day in, day out.
MarkAllRead
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10:20pm Sun 16 Dec 12
Which by my maths makes 979 idiots.
hoboh2o
says...
6:48am Mon 17 Dec 12
MarkAllRead wrote:Just saying like, some people take a virgin birth a tad serious and Angels and holy spirits!
"BOLTON has 698 Jedi Knights, eight Heathens, 181 Pagans and 92 people who put their religion as Heavy Metal"
Which by my maths makes 979 idiots.
Merry Christmas
boltoncity
says...
10:03am Mon 17 Dec 12
Muslims = Eid
Hindus = Diwali
Jedi = ????
Whichever you celebrate, I wish you all the absolute best in 2013
zoomzam
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11:24am Mon 17 Dec 12
zoomzam
says...
11:26am Mon 17 Dec 12
atlas123
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12:04pm Mon 17 Dec 12
10:20pm Sun 16 Dec 12
"BOLTON has 698 Jedi Knights, eight Heathens, 181 Pagans and 92 people who put their religion as Heavy Metal"
Which by my maths makes 979 idiots.
====================
========
971 unless you are using a different sort of maths....
Some might argue 972 but I wouldn't!
Flycatcher
says...
1:42pm Mon 17 Dec 12
zoomzam wrote:If you were to report on eid it would be a simple matter of an article highlighting the menace of young idiotic lads out driving at speed on Bolton's streets whilst blaring horns at antisocial times and generally being an absolute pain in the neck. You could also report on the folk who lock their doors and turn the tv up and try to ignore it all. Oh and add to that the fireworks that seem to be recent addition which are also used dangerously and at inappropriate times.
Despite outnumbering Hindus, the Muslims of Bolton have had a raw deal from the BEN. Very little coverage (if any at all) is given by the newspaper to Muslim religious festivals. Hindu festivals are well highlighted. And to think that Muslim newsagents and petrol forecourt owners in Bolton sell this newspaper! Nearly 70% of CTN's/Newsagents and petrol forecourts in Bolton are owned by Muslims. The BEN should stop getting entrapped in the right-wing media Islamaphobic disease! Just be fair and give fair coverage for the right reasons.
The Bullet
says...
2:23pm Mon 17 Dec 12
zoomzam wrote:That is a very fair point in my opinion. The BEN has a tendency to jump on the islamaphobic bandwagon which more often than not is to scare idots into believing that they form some sort of manace to everyday people.
Despite outnumbering Hindus, the Muslims of Bolton have had a raw deal from the BEN. Very little coverage (if any at all) is given by the newspaper to Muslim religious festivals. Hindu festivals are well highlighted. And to think that Muslim newsagents and petrol forecourt owners in Bolton sell this newspaper! Nearly 70% of CTN's/Newsagents and petrol forecourts in Bolton are owned by Muslims. The BEN should stop getting entrapped in the right-wing media Islamaphobic disease! Just be fair and give fair coverage for the right reasons.
The BEN might be whistling to a very different tune if the vendors decided they no longer wanted to pedal this filth on their shop shelves any longer.
I once asked an asian man reading the BEN on a train what he thought....he said it was a crap paper and could not care less about its politics but he liked reading about the Wanderers. Just one mans opinion...which i thought to be very fair of him.
Citizen Cane
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8:35pm Mon 17 Dec 12
Maybe he should count the BEN articles and establish whether 11% are muslim oriented? Again, based on public sector loonie thinking.
dougie kay
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8:42pm Mon 17 Dec 12
,,,,,,,,,wait for it DUM .DA. DA May the fourth (be with you)
Denis Tuborg
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10:34pm Mon 17 Dec 12
may the force be with you to all the Jedi,
and to Boltons one and only Satanist.....how the devil are you?
lindlandl
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12:52am Tue 18 Dec 12
bwfc58 wrote:Please explain. At what point was it great and lost its greatness and what has this got to do with 'ethnics'?
i do not think it is anything to be proud of . a merry Christmas to every one if they like it or not lets all hope hope UKIP start to win more votes and more seats they will reduce the ethnics in this country and make it great again
lindlandl
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1:01am Tue 18 Dec 12
oftbewildered2 wrote:That's probably because your Atheist friend is just following the tradition of the pagan winter festival, celebrated in December to cheer everyone up in winter, which the Chritians are accused of hijacking to celebrate the birth of Christ -
the strength of a religion can be judged by the numbers actually attending the place of worship. I have been looking at the history of a local church and Sunday school - which at one time had 350 people attending every week. Most religions have the same roots - so I don't see multi faith communities as a problem. Even my atheist friend celebrates Christmas.
lindlandl
says...
1:09am Tue 18 Dec 12
dougie kay wrote::)
Jeddi Christmas is celebrate on,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,wait for it DUM .DA. DA May the fourth (be with you)
Reality50
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2:26am Tue 18 Dec 12
oftbewildered2
says...
3:12am Tue 18 Dec 12
lindlandl wrote:precisely - Christianity certainly 'borrowed' a lot of pagan festivals and traditions.
oftbewildered2 wrote:That's probably because your Atheist friend is just following the tradition of the pagan winter festival, celebrated in December to cheer everyone up in winter, which the Chritians are accused of hijacking to celebrate the birth of Christ -
the strength of a religion can be judged by the numbers actually attending the place of worship. I have been looking at the history of a local church and Sunday school - which at one time had 350 people attending every week. Most religions have the same roots - so I don't see multi faith communities as a problem. Even my atheist friend celebrates Christmas.
Zain-Bolton
says...
11:45am Tue 18 Dec 12
Reality50 wrote:Really?
Mr Mark.C ? you say and I quote "I am COFE and care not about other peoples beliefs, comments like that are the reason we are at war". Hmmm Islam is at war with us or do you not read the papers or watch the news? Islam is a political ideology not a religion in my-and many other peoples-opinion-s-.
Over 1.6 billion or about 23% of the world population are Muslims, If Islam was at war then the consequences would be dire. Just because a few idiots are have gone to terrible and horrific extremes to promote their twisted version of Islam does not mean all Muslims are at war. Just as the klu klux klan thought it was their god given right to hang black people does not mean the whole of Christianity is at war with people of colour.
Did you think about what you were going to write or did your hands just celebrate the fact that your brain formed a sentence?
zoomzam
says...
3:42pm Tue 18 Dec 12
Citizen Cane wrote:This doesn't make sense. Ownership of retail outlets has little to do with racism. Most Asians find the Job Market racist. If you have a Muslim name you can forget about getting a job with a Multinational. I recently trained a salesforce staff of a major Multinational. Out of 350 odd reps....none Muslim...only 5 Indian. So Asians find that self employment via the retail sector is the only way out of the economic mire. Kudos to the likes of the Bolton based Cohen Group of Chemists. Owned by Muslims they employ staff from all ethnic groups...even the indigenous! You have a lot of positives to learn from Muslims. Ignorance certainly leads to more ignorance.
Zoomzam should be careful what he wishes for. The ownership of newsagents and forecourts at 70% muslim would indicate racism given the 11% representation within the Bolton population. This is based on public sector loonie thinking of course.
Maybe he should count the BEN articles and establish whether 11% are muslim oriented? Again, based on public sector loonie thinking.
Now don't tell me that just because historical abuses are linked with White males...all white males are abusers?? Can't make sense can it?
KizzyB
says...
5:29pm Tue 18 Dec 12
zoomzam wrote:Thank you :)
Wishing all Christians a happy and peaceful Xmas...
Sasa Curcic
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6:22pm Tue 18 Dec 12
Rocket_Scientist
says...
9:05pm Tue 18 Dec 12
Reality50
says...
2:47am Wed 19 Dec 12
zoomzam
says...
3:01pm Wed 19 Dec 12
Reality50 wrote:These are small businesses and relatives are employed. So no-one else has a chance; including other Asians and everyone else.
Certainly Muslim companies in Britain rarely employ whites. Go to any taxi company,takeaway or mill and they employ their own.
zoomzam
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3:02pm Wed 19 Dec 12
davoovad
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4:22pm Wed 19 Dec 12
zoomzam wrote:Of course people are entitled to their
I believe religion is a personal thing. Everyone is entitled to his or her beliefs.Toleration is the key word.
beliefs and it's true that most British people don't like islam, so you'd think by
that rationale muslims would want to live in a more historically muslim country where they could build as many temples as they want to, and own as many newsagents as they want to aswell without having to justify why no one else will employ them.
DaveLister
says...
1:09pm Thu 20 Dec 12
I care not what a persons beliefs of religion is or how they practice it, so long as they leave me alone to keep my faith the way I want to.
We can all celebrate each others festivals if we want, Christmas in not the preserve of Christians.
We all need to be more tolorant and less harsh to comdem those who choice to practice faiths other than our own.
We could all learn a lot from Buddisum.
DaveLister
says...
1:09pm Thu 20 Dec 12
I care not what a persons beliefs of religion is or how they practice it, so long as they leave me alone to keep my faith the way I want to.
We can all celebrate each others festivals if we want, Christmas in not the preserve of Christians.
We all need to be more tolorant and less harsh to comdem those who choice to practice faiths other than our own.
We could all learn a lot from Buddisum.
boltonnut says...
12:36pm Sat 15 Dec 12