Religious and Belief Systems in Australia

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Religious and Belief Systems in Australia
Q1. Outline the changing patterns of religious adherence in Australia from 1945 to the present.

There has been a lot of change in religious adherence since the end of the Second World War. At the end of the war many Australians still had British ancestors and so most people were Christian. With immigrants arriving in Australia after the war we started to see new religions grow. Orthodox Christians came from places like Greece, for example. The Catholics have continued to grow in numbers while some other Christian faiths have decreased in size. One reason why the Catholic Church is growing is because of the arrival of immigrants from places like Africa and the Philippines.

With the arrival of immigrants from places like India and other parts of Asia since the 1970s there has been an increase in the number of followers of non-Christian religions. Hinduism has grown as a religion due to the increased immigration of people from places like India. Buddhism has also grown. It is now the biggest non-Christian religion in Australia. Of the other religions, Islam continues to grow while the number of people following Judaism has been pretty constant. So ethnic background continues to effect how people view religion in Australia today. However, ( Andrew West and Professor Des Cahill, 2012 ) argue that Australia is becoming more religious but religious in different ways, particularly through non-religious choices. More people chose the "No Religion" option in the 2011 census than in past censuses.

It is predicted that in the 21st century there will be a jump in the number of people identifying themselves as Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus. At the same time, in recent years, there has been a decl...

... middle of paper ...

...describes people who don't believe they are religious. However, the section in the census that relates to religious beliefs is not compulsory. So people who doc not want to talk about their religious beliefs may not have filled this section out. Also the "no religion" section includes agnostics, atheists and some people who follow new age traditions. Many of these people may not be religious but they may still be spiritual.

Word Count - 1066

Bibliography studiesofreligion.org.au Swartz B, 2012, 'Godless overtakes Anglicans, as Hinduism doubles', Sydney Morning Herald, June 21
West A, 2012, '2011 census reveals rose of no religion', ABC radio National, 27 June http://www.abs.gov.au Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2011, census, Australia. http://www.smh.com.au/ West A, 2012, 'The 2011 census, ethnicity and religion in Australia', ABC Radio national, 8 August

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