The study was carried out between October and November last year for the public theology think tank Theos.
It also suggested that nearly four in 10 people, 39%, believe in ghosts and 27% believe in reincarnation.
A further 22% believe in astrology or horoscopes and 15% believe in fortune telling or Tarot.
The think tank said the findings were "especially striking" when compared to the 1950s.
Then only 10% of the public told Gallup that they believed in ghosts and just 2% thought they had seen one.
I mean, really, come on. I'm not entirely surprised by the results - there's something of a culture around rejecting whatever the logical, mainstream point of view is in the lower echelons of society, in my experience (my mother's quite a believer in astrology, fortune telling, homeopathy, reincarnation, and generally all that bollocks; hell, in religion, she eschews the established Church in favour of basically whatever she believes fit; she seriously thinks that there are angels up there devoted to helping her find a good parking space. I wish I was kidding). Yet, it's still rather surprising to think that the figures are so high, and even moreso that they've INCREASED so drastically since the 50s.
It's a bit odd, really. It seems that what is happening is this: as we as a society advance and learn more and more about the world, there's this curious effect; people drift away from the old traditions and the old ways, but at the same time they don't like the authorities (the old order) who are promulgating these new ideas, so they turn to a third path. It's essentially a curious form of the typical old reactionary ways.
But it's 3AM, so I'm probably just talking utter shit. Nevertheless, it's an interesting topic.
