"Sleepy Rosie", another courageous soul on Mudcat, perhaps objects to atheists being compared to Bible Belt fundamentalists. The shoe seems to fit perfectly.

If her objection is based on something else, please be so good as to give direct quotes--as I do. Perhaps she'd like to comment on "unhealthy knowledge", also, though I have no idea if she also endorses ignorance as a answer to questions, as at least one Mudcat atheist does.

Religious feeling in the UK turns out to be a complex subject.   I'd welcome any correction of the theory I am about to put forth, since, obviously, I'm not a UK citizen. But any correction should include facts.

Religious feeling in the UK turns out to be a complex subject.   According to the Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance, which relied on a "government report", 74% of adults in the UK see themselves as Christians (3-2008).   But of that 74%, only about 7% actually attend church regularly. I have no idea how reliable either of these statistics are, since they are based on a "government report".

The BBC (28 Nov 2000) says a poll by National Centre of Social Research indicated 44% of the 3,000 surveyed said they had no religious affiliation.

Again, it's hard to know if this report has any validity.   I'd welcome a more reliable source for an answer.

However, if the BBC survey had an value at all, you could be sure the 44% did not attend church regularly. And of the 56% remainder, even if most of them might be seen as Christian, there must be Jews and Moslems also.

Of the 56%, it's likely only a small percentage actually attended church regularly.

By either of these, the number of UK adults who would be seen by an objective observer as "strongly Christian" is very small, probably under 5% of the adult population. Any better figure would be welcome.

But if these surveys have any validity whatsoever, even if all the strong Christians in the UK protested vehemently against the threat to the nurse, it's hard to see how they would have the power to cause a "religious frenzy".   They would be drowned out by the overwhelming majority of the population which is not strongly Christian.

So the pressure to reinstate the nurse must include many who would not see themselves as strong Christians.   Or does the tiny minority of the population which is strongly Christian dictate to the rest of the population which is not?

It seems that if there were general public pressure to reinstate the nurse, many who are not "strong Christians" would be part of it.

So the "religious frenzy" must be something else. Two obvious candidates are a general sense of decency and common sense.

It would not be surprising if atheist Mudcatters do not recognize this.