Birmingham, UK is a 100 per cent Muslim city, according to a supposed expert on Fox News, a right-wing TV channel in the USA. Claiming that the Midlands city was a no-go area for non-Muslims, 'expert' Steve Emerson was immediately and roundly mocked on Twitter by users tweeting the hashtag #foxnewsfacts.
We liked this tweet in particular and have compiled a little fact-sheet for Fox News researchers who want to investigate more of Britain's religious landscape.
The city of Bristol converted to Buddhism after a month backpacking through India and Sri Lanka. #foxnewsfacts
— Stephen Coltrane (@sjcoltrane) January 11, 2015 " data-caption="null" data-credit="null">Here are five famous British cities and their religious affiliations:
1. Oxford
It should be obvious from the bovine name, really, but Oxford is a hotbed of devout Hinduism. Its most famous son, Richard Dawkins, is said to have chosen the religion (and the city) because he found the dietary laws of Judaism and Islam too restrictive of his love of prawns, a notion he expanded on in The Shellfish Gene.
2. Skegness
With its thriving celebrity culture, ''the Paris of the Fens" was a natural choice for the Church of Scientology, which now dominates the Beach, Fairy Dell and the seal sanctuary. Everyone in Britain is terribly pleased about it.
3. Manchester
Manchester, on the other hand, is a bit of a weird one. As every Fox News travel expert knows, Manchester is the home of the Beatles, and John Lennon has long been the focus of a city-wide cult that dominates all of Manchester's art and music. The religion, known as Lennonism, gained official status in 2009 and shut out a cult called Oasis.
4. Andover
Likes to think of itself as spiritual, rather than religious. Not that it minds religion – Andover believes there is something out there, but is not into all that organised religion stuff, because it has caused all those wars and Andover is fiercely pacifist.
5. Canterbury
Canterbury is 100 per cent Jedi. Always has been.
