Учебно-методическое пособие по работе с темой "COUNTRY PROFILE". Дедова С.А. - 19 стр.

        Christianity in North America is a severely divided faith consisting         c) what kind of holy people there are,
of over 1,000 denominations, which are often categorized into conserva-              d) how strong the religion is today.
tive, mainline and liberal wings:
        Many Fundamentalists and other Evangelical Christians regard           5. Read the texts about religions in Britain. How do they correspond to
saved individuals as the only true Christians. They maintain separate reli-       each other? What conclusions can you make having read the texts?
gious denominations, radio stations, publishing houses, local ministerial
associations, etc. – even exercise videos. They tend to look upon Christian-                          RELIGIONS IN BRITAIN (I)
ity as a living relationship with their Savior.
                                                                                      In 2001 the Census collected information about religious identity.
        Mainline Christians tend to be much more inclusive. They accept as
                                                                               The topic was new to the Census in England, Wales and Scotland although
a Christian anyone who follows the teachings of and about Jesus Christ.
                                                                               the subject had been included in previous Censuses in Northern Ireland.
        Liberal Christians agree with mainline Christians and are even more
                                                                                      Just over three-quarters of the UK population reported having a re-
inclusive. Some theologians, particularly those who are members of the
                                                                               ligion. More than seven out of ten people said that their religion was Chris-
Jesus Seminar, have abandoned or completely reinterpreted most traditional
                                                                               tian (72 per cent). After Christianity, Islam was the most common faith
Christian beliefs.
                                                                               with nearly 3 per cent describing their religion as Muslim (1.6 million).
        Islam.
                                                                                      The next largest religious groups were Hindus (559 thousand), fol-
        Founded on the Arabian Peninsula by Mohammed (570 – 632 A.D.),
                                                                               lowed by Sikhs (336 thousand), Jews (267 thousand), Buddhists (152 thou-
it extends Judeo-Christian theology and may be thought of as a major ref-
                                                                               sand), and people from other religions (179 thousand). These groups each
ormation. Islam is monotheistic and represents the beliefs in the Koran. Its
                                                                               accounted for less than 1 per cent and together accounted for a further 3 per
practices include five prayers a day facing Mecca, a pilgrimage, almsgiv-
                                                                               cent of the UK population.
ing, and fasting during Ramadan. It was spread by jihad and Arab traders.
                                                                                      People in Northern Ireland were most likely to say that they identi-
It numbered 1,147 million in 1997. Major divisions of Islam are Sunni and
                                                                               fied with a religion (86 %) compared with those in England and Wales
Shia.
                                                                               (77 %) and Scotland (67 %). About sixteen per cent of the UK population
                                                                               stated that they had no religion. This category included agnostics, atheists,
      1) Why do people need religion? What does religion teach us?
                                                                               heathens and those who wrote Jedi Knight.
      2) Make a list of concepts unique for each particular faith. Do you
                                                                                      The Census religion question was a voluntary question. Neverthe-
know their meanings? Discuss it in pairs.
                                                                               less, over 92 per cent of people chose to answer it.
      3) What are the main books in each religion? Have you read the
                                                                                      Census Religion Questions: Different versions of the religious iden-
book of your faith? What does it teach?
                                                                               tity question were asked in England and Wales, in Scotland and in Northern
      4) What are the common features of all religions? What shows their
                                                                               Ireland, to reflect local differences in the requirement for information.
uniqueness?
                                                                               However, results are comparable across the UK as a whole. The informa-
      5) Comment on the quotation about Christianity. Do you share Sam
                                                                               tion provided will be used to supplement ethnicity data, identify areas of
Pascoe’s opinion? Why? / Why not? Do you think the similar statements
                                                                               disadvantage and monitor policies on equality. It will also support resource
concerning other religions are possible?
                                                                               allocation and the provision of services. As with all Census data, informa-
      6) Tell a story from your religion or a religion you know about.
                                                                               tion about an individual’s religion is safeguarded and protected by law.
4. You are writing a book about religions of the world. Interview a repre-
                                                                                                     RELIGIONS IN BRITAIN (II)
   sentative of a religious faith. Ask the following questions:
                                                                                      Ask most foreigners – and, indeed, many British people – about re-
      a) whether there is an after-life,
                                                                               ligion in Britain and you’ll get a simple answer: «The British belong to the
      b) what happens if you behave well / badly,

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