Download or read book Religion and Change in Australia written by Adam Possamai and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2022-03-30 with total page 166 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This timely book offers a panoramic overview of the enduring significance of religion in modern Australian society. Applying sociological perspectives and contemporary theories of religion in society, it challenges conventional assumptions around the extent of secularisation in Australia and instead argues that religious institutions, groups, and individuals have proved remarkably adaptable to social change and continue to play a major role in Australian life. In doing so, it explores how religion intersects with a wide range of other contemporary issues, including politics, race, migration, gender, and new media. Religion and Change in Australia explores Australia’s unique history regarding religion. Christianity was originally imported as a tool of social control to keep convicts, settlers, and Australian Aboriginal peoples in check. This had a profound impact on the social memory of the nation, and lingering resentment towards the "excessive" presence of religion continues to be felt today. Freedom of religion was enshrined in Section 116 of the Australian Constitution in 1901. Nevertheless, the White Australia Policy effectively prevented adherents of non-Christian faiths from migrating to Australia and the nation remained overwhelmingly Christian. However, after WWII, Australia, in common with other western societies, appears to have become increasingly secularised, as religious observance declined dramatically. However, Religion and Change in Australia employs a range of social theories to challenge this securalist view and argues that Australia is a post-secular society. The 2016 census revealed that over half of the population still identify as Christian. In politics, the socially conservative religious right has come to exert considerable influence on the ruling Liberal-National Coalition, particularly under John Howard and Scott Morrison. New technologies, such as the Internet and social media, have provided new avenues for religious expression and proselytisation whilst so-called "megachurches" have been built to cater to their increasing congregations. The adoption of multiculturalism and increased immigration from Asia has led to a religiously pluralist society, though this has often been controversial. In particular, the position of Islam in Australia has been the subject of fierce debate, and Islamophobic attitudes remain common. Atheism, non-belief, and alternative spiritualities have also become increasingly widespread, especially amongst the young. Religion and Change in Australia analyses these developments to offer new perspectives on religion and its continued relevance within Australian society. This book is therefore a vital resource for students, academics, and general readers seeking to understand contemporary debates surrounding religion and secularisation in Australia.
Download or read book The Religious Factor in Australian Life written by Gary D. Bouma and published by . This book was released on 1986-01-01 with total page 206 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Life Ethics and Faith in Australian Society Facts and Figures written by Philip Hughes and published by Christian Research Associati. This book was released on 2014 with total page 135 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A reference book from the Christian Research Association. Religion interacts with almost every aspect of life. Australian religious communities have grown through immigration, but have declined through cultural changes. These communities continue to educate almost 40 per cent of Australian students and provide many of Australia's welfare services and international aid. In turn, religious faith has an impact on the age at which young people get married, family size, the occupations their members go into, as well as how they spend their time and money, and their involvement in voluntary activities. Religious faith also has an impact on people's values: their attitudes to work and leisure, their sense of meaning in life, and their attitudes to the sacredness of human life and to expressions of sexuality. Drawing on data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and several other major social surveys, this book explores not only the general impact of religion, but how that impact varies according to the extent of people's involvement in religion and the particular religious group in which people are involved. To understand Australian culture and society, one needs to understand the impact of the multiplicity of faiths that shape the lives of Australians.
Download or read book Australian Soul written by Gary Bouma and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2007-03-15 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Australian Soul challenges the idea that religious and spiritual life in Australia is in decline. This fascinating book describes the character of religious and spiritual life in Australia today, and argues that, far from petering out, religion and spirituality are thriving. Gary Bouma, the leading expert on the state of religious life in Australia, provides the most up-to-date facts and figures and compares the 'tone' of Australian religious practices with those of other countries. Australians might be less vocal and more reticent about their religion than Americans are, but their religious and spiritual beliefs are no less potent. Australian Soul describes and analyses our religious and spiritual life in detail as well as providing a series of case studies that illustrate the range of practices and beliefs in Australia today. Australian Soul predicts a vital future for religion and spirituality.
Download or read book Religion in Australian Life written by Georgina Fitzpatrick and published by . This book was released on 1982 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Religion of Life written by Sarah Walsh and published by University of Pittsburgh Press. This book was released on 2022-01-25 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Religion of Life examines the interconnections and relationship between Catholicism and eugenics in early twentieth-century Chile. Specifically, it demonstrates that the popularity of eugenic science was not diminished by the influence of Catholicism there. In fact, both eugenics and Catholicism worked together to construct the concept of a unique Chilean race, la raza chilena. A major factor that facilitated this conceptual overlap was a generalized belief among historical actors that male and female gender roles were biologically determined and therefore essential to a functioning society. As the first English-language study of eugenics in Chile, The Religion of Life surveys a wide variety of different materials (periodicals, newspapers, medical theses, and monographs) produced by Catholic and secular intellectuals from the first half of the twentieth century. What emerges from this examination is not only a more complex rendering of the relationship between religion and science but also the development of White supremacist logics in a Latin American context.
Download or read book Australian Religious Thought written by Wayne Hudson and published by Monash University Publishing. This book was released on 2016 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is the first major historical study of Australian religious thought, arguing that religious thought can be found in many of Australia's intellectuals, both in the religiously inclined and in those who are not conventionally religious. Drawing together existing and new research, the book opens up new perspectives and re-thematizes the field in six exploratory studies. Each study is revisionist in some respects. Shapes of disbelief are explored in intellectuals of many types. The concept of sacral secularity is used to promote and to contest discussions of 'the secular' in Australia. Religious liberalism is interpreted as being transnational and as often being a source of social reform. Interactions between religious thought and philosophy are discussed in some detail, as is the development of theology, which has received relatively little attention from historians. Account is also taken of what might perhaps be called post-secular consciousness in many intellectuals. Taking religious thought more seriously suggests possible revisions to the way the national story has been told. There has been more serious intellectual life in Australia than some historians have claimed, and a considerable part of it was in a broad sense 'religious.' The book provides new perspectives on the relationship between religious thought and social reform in Australia. *** "Learned and precise, this book shows what's wrong with the old boundary between secular and sacred in Australia. The implications for rethinking our past, present and future are enormous." -- Alan Atkinson *** Librarians: ebook available on ProQuest and EBSCO (Series: Monash Studies in Australian Society) Subject: History, Australian Studies, Religious Studies, Philosophy]
Download or read book Religion after Secularization in Australia written by Timothy Stanley and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-09-01 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Religion's persistent and new visibility in political life has prompted a significant global debate. One of this debate's key features concerns the nature and impact of secularization. This collection of essays draws together leading sociologists, historians, philosophers of religion, and political theorists in order to provide a broad and up-to-date account of religion after secularization. Contributors explore the meaning and conceptual legacies of religion, as well as the unique features of the Australian case such as religion as it relates to law, education, gender, media, and radical political movements. Intervening in the current debate, this book provides summative accounts of the historical, cultural, and legal interactions that have informed Australia’s relationship to religion and secularization. Contributors critically analyze and engage with secular political theory concerning the public sphere, while also dissecting deliberative politics and democratic practices. This book propels the debate over religion’s place in public life in new directions and promotes urgently needed public understanding.
Download or read book Australian Life and the Christian Faith written by Peter Bentley and published by . This book was released on 1998 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This book brings together a vast amount of information about Australian people, their characteristics, their attitudes and values, and how religious faith fits into their lives. .... [from back cover]
Download or read book This We Can Say written by Australian Quakers and published by Interactive Publications. This book was released on 2003 with total page 362 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Prepared over a period of nearly 10 years, it is the distillation of the thoughts of around a thousand Quakers with an interest in spiritual subjects. It includes inspirational writings and personal stories about challenge and opportunity, which reflect on the geography and social history of Australia. Chapters are arranged under subject headings such as Experiences of the Spirit, Images of God, Silence and stillness, Faith in action, Prayer, Truthfulness and integrity, Simplicity and peace, Life stages and challenges and Indigenous people. This book can be used for personal study and meditation, for group work or just for inspiration. Includes an extensive glossary, sources, index and history of the Quaker movement in Australia.
Download or read book This We Can Say written by and published by ReadHowYouWant.com. This book was released on 2010-01-07 with total page 506 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Prepared over a period of nearly 10 years, it is the distillation of the thoughts of around a thousand Quakers with an interest in spiritual subjects. The book includes inspirational writings and personal stories about challenge and opportunity, which reflect on the geography and social history of Australia. It is arranged under subject headings...
Download or read book Beyond Belief written by Hugh Mackay and published by Macmillan Publishers Aus.. This book was released on 2016-04-26 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What do people actually mean when they say 'God'? Around two-thirds of us say we believe in God or some 'higher power', but fewer than one in ten Australians attend church weekly. In Beyond Belief, Hugh Mackay presents this discrepancy as one of the great unexamined topics of our time. He argues that while our attachment to a traditional idea of God may be waning, our desire for a life of meaning remains as strong as ever. Mackay interviews dozens of Australians representing many different points on the spectrum of faith, including some who are part of the emerging 'spiritual but not religious' movement. He exposes the deep vein of ambivalence about religion that runs through our society: we may not actively worship, but we still like to see local churches operating in our midst, and we use 'our' church to marry, christen our babies, educate our children and commemorate our dead. He points out some uncomfortable truths, such as our tendency to call on God only in a crisis, and unpacks our human need for 'answers', even when science can't find them. He endorses the Christian ideal of the good life - a life lived for others - but acknowledges that there are many pathways to that same goal, not all of them religious. Written with all the insight and compassion we have come to expect of our leading chronicler of Australian life, Beyond Belief is an engrossing exploration of the ways we find spiritual fulfilment in an avowedly secular age.
Download or read book Spirit of Australia II written by Philip J. Hughes and published by ATF Press. This book was released on 2003 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The second volume of essays to mark the centenary of federation in Australia and examines the issue of religion in society and culture.
Download or read book Charting the Faith of Australians written by Philip Hughes and published by Christian Research Associati. This book was released on 2016-05 with total page 179 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The last 50 years have seen more rapid change than at any time in human history. Changes in technology have changed every aspect of life: from contraception to computation, from communication to community formation. These changes have affected the ways in which Australians have sought meaning in their lives, from the fulfilment of duty to the maximisation of subjective wellbeing. They have affected deeply the role that religion has played in life with the focus moving from the preservation of tradition to personal spirituality. Over the past 30 years, the Christian Research Association has charted these changes. It has done so through the examination of census and survey data and through interviews with thousands of individuals. It has examined these changes in youth culture and rural culture and has explored the impact of migration and the rise of the Pentecostal and charismatic movements. It has suggested ways in which churches and schools might respond to these changes. Part 1 of this book tells the story of these changes and how the Christian Research Association has charted them. Part 2 contains contributions from various researchers discussing how the Christian Research Association has served the churches. Part 3 explores some extensions of and parallels to the work of the Christian Research Association in relation to religious institutions, migration and other research. The story told in this book is a personal story for Dr Philip Hughes, the senior research officer of the Christian Research Association from 1985 to 2016. But it is also a story of global significance as Christian and other religious institutions grapple with changes to their place in society and their roles in changing perceptions of life.
Download or read book Australian Christian Life from 1788 written by Iain Hamish Murray and published by Banner of Truth. This book was released on 1988 with total page 402 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Australia's first white community contained few who gave thought to either their own, or other's, spiritual need. Nonetheless, Christianity began to make its way among the soldier, convicts, merchants, new settlers and eventually Aborigines.
Download or read book Muslim Communities in Australia written by Shahram Akbarzadeh and published by UNSW Press. This book was released on 2001 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book highlights the complex human diversity presented by Australia's Muslims, as well as their distinctive contribution and the challenges they pose to a still-evolving Australian multiculturalism. Emphasising the diversity of the Islamic experience in Australia, it presents a useful antidote to the stereotypical image that still colours mainstream perspectives of Islam.
Download or read book Putting Life Together written by Philip Hughes and published by Christian Research Associati. This book was released on 2007 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How do young people between the ages of 13 and 24 put life together? What do they value in life? What parts does religion and spirituality play? Based on interviews and surveys over four years, this book provides a detailed and well-founded picture of Australian young people. The book examines the influences of families, schools and churches on the lives of young people and describes how they can best help young people to enjoy positive and responsible relationships with themselves, close others, the wider society, the natural environment and with God. It suggests ways of pointing young people to the spiritual dimension of life, respecting their frameworks for seeing the world, but also doing justice to the counter-cultural nature of the Christian faith.
