Expert insight, analysis and comment on key public policy issues
By Ingrid Storm Filed Under: All posts, Inclusive Growth Posted:
Dr Ingrid Storm from The University of Manchester finds that people who live in countries with lower GDP (Gross Domestic Product) and lower social welfare spending are more religious on average. This is in part because religiosity can act as an alternative form of social security when government welfare is not available. The results have […]
By Ingrid Storm Filed Under: All posts Posted:
New research drawing on European survey data finds that religious decline does not equal moral decline. Dr Ingrid Storm explains why involvement in religion makes most difference to morality in the most religious countries, and matters less for moral values now than it did in the 1980s. A recent report by the Commission on Religion […]
By Ingrid Storm Filed Under: Ethnicity, Featured Posted:
Among ethnic minorities in Britain, religious people are more likely to volunteer, but only for ethnic and religious organisations, explains Dr Ingrid Storm. Since the 1990s, the government has involved ‘faith groups’ as partners in local policy and service provision in order to promote civic participation and community cohesion. However, it is as yet unclear […]
Religion is being wrongly blamed for ‘driving’ global violence, but it is moderate religious voices who are best positioned to address the problem, argues Professor Kate Cooper. The recently published Global Terrorism Index 2013 is being reported as confirming that “religion has become the main driver of terrorism”, surpassing nationalist and other motives. But there […]
Just because wars are justified by reference to religion doesn’t mean they are religious wars – organised religion can also bring people together to resolve conflicts, argues Prof Kate Cooper. As an ancient historian, I am surprised by the easy causality which commentators think they find between ‘religious motives’ and modern social conflict. Take the […]