Scotland, nationalism and religion: Faith in the flag

The Economist ^ | May 8th 2015

[iowamark]

PERUSE any basic work of European history, you will learn that about 200 years ago, a new way of thinking, secular nationalism, began to replace religion as the main focus of people's public loyalties. To judge by the landslide vote for the Scottish National Party in yesterday's general election, that process may just have been completed in Scotland, a land with a long history of religious rivalry and conflict...

The number of people who identify with the national (Presbyterian) church had fallen to just over 20% in 2012 from 35% in 1999; while those who professed "no religion" had risen from 40% to 54%. But feelings of religious identity and sectarian rivalry (which is a euphemism for Protestant-Catholic tension) do persist; a survey also found that 88% of respondents thought sectarianism was still a problem although 47% thought it had got better in recent years. Some 72% of Scots Catholics said religion was "an important part of who they are" against 45% of Protestants.

So the question of how religion affects voting patterns is still worth asking. Among Scottish Catholics, who account for about 16% of the population, there used to be a lingering fear that an independent Scotland would enhance the privileges of the Protestant church; but as Protestantism wanes, that fear has less reason to exist. These days, the proportion of Catholics supporting independence is higher than the share of Protestants who feel that way. But sociologists like Michael Rosie of Edinburgh University say the reason for this difference is demographic, not theological. The Catholic community has been more successful than the fast-ageing Presbyterian one at retaining the loyalties of young people; and young people are more likely to favour a sovereign Scotland...

[iowamark]

Christianity vs. nationalism is a theme we see often in Europe, in contrast to the US, where they co-exist.

[Alex Murphy]

The number of people who identify with the national (Presbyterian) church had fallen to just over 20% in 2012 from 35% in 1999; while those who professed "no religion" had risen from 40% to 54%. But feelings of religious identity and sectarian rivalry (which is a euphemism for Protestant-Catholic tension) do persist; a survey also found that 88% of respondents thought sectarianism was still a problem although 47% thought it had got better in recent years. Some 72% of Scots Catholics said religion was "an important part of who they are" against 45% of Protestants. So the question of how religion affects voting patterns is still worth asking.

PFL

[centurion316]

No doubt there are still some Scots who pass their napkin over their water goblet when making the Loyal Toast.

[Verginius Rufus]

I think Scottish Catholics are mostly descended from Irish immigrants over the last couple of centuries, fleeing poverty or starvation in Ireland. There were a few places in the Highlands that never became Presbyterian but I think the population would have been a minuscule fraction of the overall population of the country.

Doing some research in 17th-century Ayrshire (a hotbed of the Covenanter movement), I ran across a few individuals labeled as Catholics, but I'm not sure if they really were Catholics, or just perceived as such for not being zealous enough for Presbyterianism. Sir Walter Scott's novel Old Mortality deals with the post-Restoration Covenanters in that part of Scotland. They were harassed until the Glorious Revolution established toleration for all Protestants.

[Cronos]

Because the idea of the nation-state is older in Europe and each nation in Europe is much more cohesive. Also, many people whether in the USA or Europe replace religion with “nationalism-religion”

[Cronos]

Neither Presbyterian nor Catholic has any "wins" from the decline in Scotland -- religion has collapsed there. The Presbyterian Church of Scotland members declined to about 400K - 7.5% of the population with financial problems as well
The Catholic Church also has declined to 200K

The term "Protestant" used in the survey is too vague -- including a lot of people who don't really believe in anything except Sunday shopping.

[Cronos]

The SKyeand Orkney Islands remained loyally Catholic

[the scotsman]

Ayrshireman born and bred here.