Apathy is winning.

Unexpectedly the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, described the UK as a post-Christian country, and said that the era of widespread worship was over.

Williams is right. It is clear that the UK’s past was dominated by Christianity – with a strong streak of paganism – but its present is non-religious.

Just under half of British adults profess no religious affiliation; Christians of all denominations are in a minority.

That drift away from religion is an interesting phenomenon. The UK isn’t becoming a country of committed atheists. Most of the unaffiliated neither accept nor reject religion: they simply don’t care about it. In that respect, the UK looks a lot like much of the developed world. Even the US is heading that way with 71% of non-religious people being indifferent about it. In practice however, indifference to religion looks very much like atheism, and even more like secularism.

That may alarm those who fear that the decline of religion will lead to social decay. But that fear is groundless. Faith is neither necessary nor sufficient for morality – a position which many biologists would agree with.

Morality arises from the workings of our social brains. And the workings of the world around us helps us frame moral codes that reflect the world as it is, not as we imagine it to be.

Personal faith remains a private matter. But those passionate about religion’s role in public life – whether to elevate or expunge it – should recognise they are in the minority. Increasingly no one cares either way.

Extracted from the New Scientist magazine discussion prompted by David Cameron’s comments about the UK as a Christian country.

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