Changing patterns of religious adherence

Question 1

which christian denominations have declined post 1945 according to the census data and by what amount?

Answer 1

• anglican church; in 1947 this number was roughly 39% but has now nearly halved to 17% in 2011
• presbyterian church; lost approximately 11.7%
• uniting church; lost 14.9%

Question 2

which christian denominations have increased according to the census data, by what amount, and through what cause?

Answer 2

-pentacostal populations have increased strongly from the 1960’s with a 25.7% increase from the 1996.
this is mainly due to the appeal the church recieves from younger groups, with its comtemporary forms of worship, song and dance, hillsong

• the number of individuals identifying themselves as catholic has also increased from 20.9 in 1947 to 25.3 in 2011
• orthodox churches have risen by 9.5 percent
• baptist churches have made gains up 7.3 percent

Question 3

which other traditions have increased according to the census data and by what amount?

Answer 3

• buddhism, which is the largest tradition other than christianity, currently at 2.5%
• Hinduism, steady increase showing 1.3%

Islam, dramatic rise in numbers from 1945 showing numbers of 2.2%

-No religion option has dramtically increased upon its introduction in 1971. began at 6.7% and peaked in 2006 at 25.7% and rose off in 2011 to 22.3%

Question 4

Which tradition has remained relatively consistent in numbers over the years according to the 2011 census data?

Answer 4

judaism has made a very small increase from 0.4 to 0.5 percent of the population

Question 5

whats the major religion in australia?

Answer 5

christianity

Question 6

what is largely the cause of christianity being the major religious tradition?

Answer 6

due to hisorical factors such as the first fleet arriving in 1788

• majority of convicts where church of england or Anglican today
• 10 percent of the fleet were christians

Question 7

when did the number of christian adherents sky rocket?

Answer 7

after world war 1

Question 8

what has been the result of the abolition of the white australia policy in 1973?

Answer 8

increasing diversity of faiths

Question 9

what are some examples of how christianity has been institutionalised?

Answer 9

• early setlers bourght with them the english systems of common law and government, which are essentially found upon christian ideals
• public holidays such as easter and christmas have been introduced and are widely practiced
• church schools, both protestant and catholic have profilerated, as have university and theological colleges
• introduction of charitable church oranismations, morever, such as st vincent de paul, the wesley mission and salvation army ahev had a sig impact
• also a wide range of christian publishers, bookshops, magazines and, more recently, websites all contributing to the promotions of christianity

Question 10

when did people start immigrating to australia?

Answer 10

following WW2

Question 11

what changes have occured due to immigration following WW2?

Answer 11

-migrants gave a huge boost to roman catholics and eastern orthodox adherents

boosted the population of roman catholics by 6% between 1947 and 1966

eastern orthodox recieved a boost from 0.2 to 2.2 in 1966, 2.7 in 1976 and 3 in 1981. due to the large influx of greeks migrating over

this put strain on the already existing orthodox facilities and led to the creation of new communities, churches, schools and other social fixtures

-also been a small influx of jews following WW2, many immigrated from poland and other european nations as refugees from the holocaust

Question 12

where else have jews come from?

Answer 12

• wave of jewish immigration in the 1950s due to the hungarian revolution in 1956
• explusion of jews from egypt by president Nasser after the 1956 Seuz conflict
• also been more recent waves of jewish migration to australia, particularly from sourth africa. almost 17% of the current jewish population arrived in australia after 1980

Question 13

which sort of people migrated to australia following the vietnam war?

Answer 13

-displacement of more than 2 mill indo-chinese people, approximately 120000 of whom arrived in australia, many as boat people

Question 14

what has been a result of immigration after the vietnam war?

Answer 14

-first representation of buddhist adherents (0.2%).
a further 17% arrived between 1976 and 1980
27% arrived between 1981 and 1985, while nearly 50% of buddhist immigrants arrived between 1986 and 1991.

Question 15

whats important to note regarding immigrants from asian countries after vietnam war?

Answer 15

not all people from asian countries such as vietname are buddhist or hindu– a significant percentage are roman catholic. this is one reason for the samell but significant proportionate growth in roman cahtolic numebrs in the past decade

Question 16

what is denominational switching?

Answer 16

refers to when an adherent in a variant of a tradiation switches variants based upon finding a better meaning in life that caters for the wide variety of tastes

Question 17

what changes have occured due to denominal switching in christianity?

Answer 17

pattern in the last few decades of a dramatic swing away from the more liberal churches towards the more conservative

• from 1996 to 2006, the baptist church in australia grew by 7.3% while the pentecostals grew by 25.7%
• years prior pentacostals grew by an enormous 42%. only a small percentage of this came from those of no previous religious brackground

Question 18

what are some reasons as to why people are switching denominations?

Answer 18

• some are appealing toward a stronger christian community. sense of exclusivity that these particular denominations may provide is appealing. greater demands placed upon membsers and the stronger commutment required, as well as attitues of absolution towards beliefs/morals may provde some with an appealing notion of solidarity, or otherness
• might also be explained by the fact that god is presented as being closely involved in human life, as well as the appeal for a more dynamic style of services on offer

Question 19

what are some examples of how conservative churches provided a dynamic style of worship?

Answer 19

-these types often promote a belief in such phenomena as divine healing, exorcism of demons and direct revelations from God, while their servies may involve speaking in tongues, prohesyising and other signs of the holy spirit.
moreover, they are aggresively evangelistic, with hugely successful conversion methods

Question 20

whats another factor which contributes to denominational switching and explain

Answer 20

family breakdown

64% more likely to not keep adhering to the family faith if parents are divorced

Question 21

which has been the fastest growing faith shown in the 2001 census and how fast is it growing?

Answer 21

new age religions increased by 140% in the give years since 1996

Question 22

what are some basic beliefs of new age religions?

Answer 22

• monism. all that exists is derived from a single source of divine energy
• pantheism: all that exists is god; god is to be found within the slef and throughtout the entire universe
• reincarnation: after death we are reborn and live another life as a different human being in a cucle of repetition
• karma: tha good and bad deeds we do throughout our lives accumilate so that we are either rewarded or punished in our next life
• aura: an energy field surrounding the body which may be detected by certain individuals and which may be used to diagnose the individuals state of mental of physical health
• universal religion: god is perceived as a mountain, the summit of which all religions seek to reach. there are therefore many different paths to the top, which varying levels of difficulty
• age of acquarius: this refers to the notion that the earth moved into the planetary constellation of aquarius in the 19th century, which has had a direct bearing upon life on earth. effects are thourght to include the gradual ushering in of a new world order which still see the banishment of wars, disease, hunger, pollution, discrimination and poverty

Question 23

what are some new age practices?

Answer 23

• meditation: releasing oneself from conscious thourght, often aided by repetitive chanting of a mantra or focusing on an object
• astrology: the concept that the position of planetary bodies at the time of ones birth can influence personality and behaviour
• divination: the foretelling of the future through the use of objects such as tarot cards and runes
• holistic health: an assortment of healing techniques that emphasise the wholeness of the body. examples are acupuncture, homeopathy, iridology, reiki message, reflexology etc
• crystals: believed to posses healing energy
• channeling: trying to make contact with long dead, spiritually evolved beings
• feng shui: the ancient chinese practice of arranging space to achieve harmony with the environment; believed to benefit health, wealth and personal relationships

Question 24

when did new age religions begin to grow in popularity?

Answer 24

in 1960s and 1970s

Question 25

what are some reasons as to why the growing popularity of new age religions?

Answer 25

• disillusionment with government felt by the masses after the vietnam war, coupled with the rise of movements such as feminism and civil rights, led to a questioning and rejection of traditional authority structures, including the church
• growing emphasis on the autonomy of the individual, and due to increasing controversy of sexual abuse charges on roman catholic clergyman
• more of a focus on inner potential. people are actively seeking spiritual insight as a reaction to the unsettled and turbulent nature of the times we live in