Melbourne Australia was 99% Christian in 1960s BUT NOW - -

Svarupa · June 14, 2008

The changing face of faith in Melbourne</HEADLINE>

Religions

Barney Zwartz
June 7, 2008

HINDUISM, Buddhism and Islam are Melbourne's fastest growing religions, but Catholicism remains the city's dominant faith.

An analysis of the 2006 census prepared for the city's church leaders also found that fewer people identify as Christians — down from 66% in 1996 to 59% a decade later.

The Christian Research Association's Philip Hughes says 32% identified as non-religious or did not say, while 13% declared they were atheists.

The fastest-growing faiths over the decade have been Hinduism (up 157% to 41,000), Buddhism (up 107% to 126,000) and Islam (up 62% to 103,000). There are 40,000 Jews, up 12.6%.

Melbourne has more than a million Catholics, up 7% over the decade to 2006. Pentecostals grew 36% to 30,000 and Baptists 10% to 51,000.

Dr Hughes found there was a move away from identifying with particular churches, but this wasn't always a movement to no religion. The "Christian, not further defined" category rose 79%.

A key finding of Dr Hughes' analysis, which draws on several other surveys as well as the census, is that agnostics tend to cope less well with personal crises than either religious people or atheists, and that the rise of individualism means people want to work out answers for themselves rather than accept an authority, religious or atheist.

"We are finding … that people who don't know what to believe about life and the world tend to have lower levels of resilience. They don't cope as well when the crises of life come, they have a weaker sense of purpose.

"The challenge for our society is to help people come to some sense of clarity about what life is about, whether humanistic or religious. Without that, people fall into the immediate, the here and now, and often that's a very consumeristic way of living."

Dr Hughes said that of the 712,000 (19.8%) who said they had no religion, 34% still believed in a higher being and 4% in a personal God, 22% did not know, and 40% were atheist.

"Other surveys suggest many people believe there's some sort of life force in the universe, some sort of creative power, but a personal God who came to us in Jesus doesn't make much sense to them," he said.

"Younger people, but even those in their 40s and 50s, are not going to just accept the authority of a community, whether atheist or religious. They want to work it out for themselves, but some feel they don't have the capacity to work it out."

Monash University demographer Bob Birrell said the figures reflected the changing nature of Australia's migration program.

"We're now drawing large numbers from the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent as well as east Asia, and as far as the no-religion side of the coin is concerned, they reflect the secular trend in Australian society," he said.

"We have two ends of the spectrum, that migration is fuelling the ranks of religious groups, and yet at the other end, the secular trends are diminishing the ranks of people committed to religious faith."

MUSLIM

Nisa Terzi, 19

BEING born and raised Muslim and being able to practise it freely in Australia, it's almost natural. Islam allows me to know my creator and it allows me to live in accordance with the standards that make me a good human being. And it teaches me to respect others because we're all God's creation, irrespective of faith, race and nationality. It helps me in a social way as well; it teaches me to be a contributing citizen to make Australia a better place. This is basically what my sacred text the Koran and Hadiths — (sayings and accounts of) the life of the Prophet — tell me to do and this is what I value most. It gives me a great sense of identity too. Who am I? I'm an Australian-born Muslim with a Turkish background.

HINDU

Adhiti Bhide, 21

IT'S difficult for me to pinpoint exactly where my religion fits into my life, because it's so densely intertwined into every aspect of my daily routine, whether it be just removing your shoes when you enter the house, or using only your right hand to give and receive gifts, or making an offering to the deities every time my mum cooks something sweet in the house. For me Hinduism focuses on fairly simple and basic values like respect and honesty and often I cannot even tell that I act a certain way because of my religion, or because that's all I've ever known.

JEWISH

Michael Shafar, 17

PERSONALLY, I am not a very devout or religious Jew so my religion appeals to me from a more traditional sense. My Judaism gives me a strong sense of connectedness with my parents and grandparents because Judaism is a very family-oriented religion and much emphasis is placed on promoting a strong family environment. Judaism also connects me to the Jewish community around the world, especially in Israel where I have family and to which I will always feel a strong connection.

CATHOLIC

James Whelan, 12

I JUST think you should treat others like you want to be treated. Being Catholic means that if something bad is going on I can pray, or just maybe be nice to that person or help them. Most Catholics feel a connection to God. We don't go to church every week, but I think it's a place where you just get a bit closer to God and Jesus. It's like their home. It's like reflecting. Praying is like taking a step forward and hoping that person does well, and hoping that something comes to them. I think God and Jesus taught us to do good things for others.

BUDDHIST

Sumudu Perera, 15

I WAS born into a Buddhist family, and since I was young I started going to the temple. But once I started getting older I started learning about it and making my own decisions. The good thing about Buddhism is it's a little bit of a religion but it's more like a philosophy. Buddhism gives you freedom to think, query and question, so it's more like a scientific approach. To me, it's better to believe in something after you've proved it than to just believe it as a faith, and that's what's really interesting to me about Buddhism.

Hare Krishna

A bona fide religion

from Karuppiah Chockalingam

The Hare Krishna movement came to the West only in 1965. It has, however, been accepted as a bona fide religious movement in India for over five thousand years. Two points:

How could a psychological technique developed in the 1970s be used to influence westerners to join in 1965?

Yes, Hare Krishna centres around the world do receive substantial quantities of money. But whatever is received is immediately utilised for maintenance of temples, distribution of food, and other projects to spread the message of the ancient Indian scriptures. I challenge you to find any active member of the Hare Krishna movement who possesses more than five or six cotton shawls and a set of beads, let alone a bank balance.

Karuppiah Chockalingam,

Box Hill North

stonehearted · June 14, 2008

I challenge you to find any active member of the Hare Krishna movement who possesses more than five or six cotton shawls and a set of beads, let alone a bank balance.

That's a rich one! I'll accept that challenge.

bija · June 15, 2008

I dont know about shawls and dhoties, but some of us almost fit that box;). And that may have very little to do with fixed devotion and practicality. The vedic viewpoint seems more comprehensive and practical than the old pipe dream. Maybe some of us can learn from our Indian born brothers and intelligent western compadres:idea:.

Sarva gattah · June 15, 2008

I notice Hindus up 157%!! It's fantastic, where ever you go you can talk about Krishna to everyone. Suburban Clayton is nick named 'New Mathura'

because of so many Hindus. Ten years ago it was all Vietnamese

Now I also have many Punjabi friends, 'satsriakal' to all the Punjabis out there, love your cooking and namaskara to all..

My friend Sai works at 'crossways ISKCON prasadam Restaurant in the City every Tuesday ($5 bucks ALL you can eat and so scruptious and well cooked) and many a times I have spoke with his family back in India. These days ALL my friends are mostly Indians who follow Krishna.