SoR Study Notes for Religious Expression in Australia since 1945

Lachlan Brown... not that I really need my name on it

The changing patters of religious adherence since 1945 using census data
• All raw data has increased
• Judaism remained a steady 0.4% of the population
• All other non-Christian religious traditions are growing quickly
• Proportion of Christians to non-Christians is becoming less
• Decline in total number of those identifying as Catholic, Anglican or
Uniting
• Increase in those identifying with Orthodox Christian traditions

Present religious landscape in Australia

• British brought Christianity to Australia when they colonised it
• Catholicism in the form of Irish convicts
• Anglicanism in the form of English marines and other convicts
• Christianity is major religious tradition
• Catholicism second to Anglicanism until 1986 census
• Post WWII migrants included Italian Catholics and Orthodox Christians
from Eastern Europe
• The Vietnam War coincided with the relaxation of the White Australia
Policy and the introduction of multiculturalism
• Chinese gold diggers brought Buddhism early on in history
• Refugees from Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia brought Buddhism
• Indian servants of British people brought Hinduism early on
• Those from India, Sri Lanka and Fiji brought Hinduism
• Camel drivers for Burke and Wills etc. brought Islam early on
• Those from Lebanon, Turkey, Indonesia and Bosnia brought Islam
• Denominational Switching is changing from one denomination to another
within a religion
• Anglican faith has dropped while Pentecostal faith has increased
• Pentecostal services are very much like rock concerts – many young
christians are attracted to the freshness and vitality of the services
• Conservative Protestant churches have more stable numbers
• Pentecostal churches have great numbers of drifters, possibly due to
aggressive evangelising
• Denominational loyalty tends to be very high among Catholics where as
other denominations tend to emphasise personal spiritual fulfilment
• New Age religions include things like Scientology, Wicca, Paganism,
Satanism and Rastafarianism
• General characteristics include beliefs in astrology, tarot cards, crystals
as powerful healing items, non-traditional God, God is a human state of
higher consciousness, or each individual person is God
• Firstly, the growth of New Age religions is a reaction against what is seen
as a failure of mainstream religions to satisfactorily respond to the needs
of people today.
• Secondly, the concept of something well tried yet new and different is
also important. Wicca, Gnostic Traditions etc. have all stood the test of
time
 • Thirdly, New Age religions spread through the support of American movie
stars and TV celebrities
• Secularism is any movement or concept which rejects religious belief or
adherence.
• Not identifying with a religion has become more socially acceptable and,
as such, more people do it
• The inclusion of the 'no religion' category on the 1971 census saw a rise
in people identifying themselves as secular
• Secularism has risen because people no longer have to follow a specific
religion to be a citizen of a county or to hold a position of influence in
society.
• No obligation to be part of a state religion.

Religious Dialogue in Multifaith Australia

• Ecumenism is movement towards unity within the Christian church
between different denominations
• Examples include: the National Council of Churches in Australia (NCCA)
which represents the stance of Christianity as a whole and has
departments that foster co-operation between churches
• The NSW Ecumenical Council which encourages the formation of
agreements that express the churches' commitment to one another and
helps the understanding of that commitment as well as supporting inter-
church groups within NSW
• The formation of the Uniting Church of Australia in June 1977 combined
the Methodist, Presbyterian, and Congregational churches who were
losing numbers into one denomination
• Interfaith dialogue is the move to greater cooperation and harmony
between different religious traditions
• The NCCA has ongoing dialogue with the Australian Federation of Islamic
Councils and the Executive Council of Australian Jewry
• Interfaith dialogue affects people who aren't members of a particular
religion
• Muslim community discussed Jihad and its effects on people, the Jewish
community looked at the political aspects of Zionism, the Christian
community considered the concept of the Trinity and how this can be
confronting to traditional monotheists
• Objectives include building understanding, goodwill and a sense of
community between people of different faiths; to learn about each other
and our faiths; to work together to achieve common Australian goals
• Major example of interfaith dialogue in NSW is the provision of SoR in the
HSC
• Fifth World Conference on Religion and Peace was held in Melbourne in
1989
• Interfaith initiatives include The Council of Christians and Jews, the
Columban Centre for Christian-Muslim dialogue and the Affinity
Intercultural Foundation