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BlogReligious belief in Australia
Greg Clarke interviewed author and Fairfax journalist David Marr on the findings of two surveys looking at religious belief in Australia. The first was a Nielson Poll published by the Herald in late 2009. The second survey commissioned by CPX and conducted by McCrindle Research. The surveys revealed that despite perceptions of Australia being the ‘most godless nation under heaven’, faith plays a significant role in Australian culture. Yet with 92% of Australians not attending church, this faith isn’t necessarily attached to worship or the church.
‘The question of God is a persistent one in human cultures’, says Marr. A large number of Australians are confident in their belief in a Deity. More than 60% of people believe in a God, and 50% call themselves Christian. Aside from belief in the Christian God, there is belief in other gods or a “universal spirit”. Belief in a God persists in Australian culture, yet there is some growth of those identifying as non-believers. Marr says, ‘A third of us believe that there isn’t, or perhaps we can never know if there is, a God’.
63% of Australians believe in miracles, and this belief has been rising sharply over the past decades. ‘I think this shines a light on the national character’, says Marr. ‘The belief in miracles—why plan? Why worry? Something will come along. We will be rescued. Do we really have to worry about global warming? Surely a miracle will come along and solve the problem for us.’ This, according to Marr, leads to a ‘let’s wait and see’ attitude.
Marr also says ‘there is a slight and disarming belief among atheists in miracles.” According to the surveys, there is also a high belief among atheists in extra-sensory perception, astrology and UFOs. There is a higher belief in witches among Christians than among non-believers, but “there seems to be a fundamental Christian scepticism about UFOs”.
When asked if Australian society would be better or worse off without Christianity, only 3% stated that we’d be better off without Christianity. 63% of Australians believe we’d be worse off without Christianity. “Even people without faith rather admire people with faith. They see it as a mark of values, of respectability, or virtues,” says Marr. This isn’t so much because of the faith but because of the ethics that are associated with it, such as honesty and decency, and non-believers often support believers in positions of authority.
When asked about belief in the Bible and its interpretation, only a quarter of believers said that there is only one way to interpret their belief. “Most Australian Christians are happy with the idea that their own faith and the bible’s role in their own faith is capable of multiple interpretations,” Mar said. Given this, tolerance and respect are important among Christians.
There is a high level of religious tolerance in Australia compared to other countries. For example, 91% of people are happy for Christian carols to be played in shopping centres at Christmas time. ‘Australia never went through any of the kind of violently passionate confrontations with church that were part of the history of most continental countries… We don’t come from a tradition of fearing the privileges and the powers of the church,’ suggested Marr. 85% of Australians say that church and state should be separate, but Marr believes that in reality they are content with the way that the church and the state are deeply intertwined in Australia. For example, the billions of dollars of tax revenue that goes to church schools … in other countries such at the US this would never be tolerated.
12% of Australians are committed to a faith that isn’t Christianity, the main ones being Judaism, Hinduism and Islam. In religious and cultural traditions ‘Australia is a Judeo-Islamic Christian country … we are children of Abraham!’, said Marr. There are also those who believe in a divine spirit or have a sense of God but don’t categorise it in traditional terms.
Marr has previously said that “like the Greens, atheism is always about to break through but it never does”. Atheism is increasing in Australia. In the census taken at the time of Federation, almost 100% of Australians believed in God, now it is down to 60%. The non-believers are certain in their non-belief. The rise of New Atheism has seen an atheist convention take place in Melbourne recently; this, according to David Marr, is unlikely to convert people to atheism so much as provide a forum to discuss non-belief. Despite the rise of atheism, Marr believes that it is unlikely that Christianity will ever be ‘killed off’, given the unsuccessful attempts that have been made in other countries throughout history.
Humans have a deep involvement in the notion of a God, and the question of God is fundamental to human imagination and human cultural and intellectual traditions. However, Marr says, ‘a lot of these questions simply are not part of the intellectual or day to day cut and thrust of life in Australia… we don’t argue much about the principles of belief, the principles of reality and the principles of rational understanding… These questions of principle just slide by’.
Summary article written by Kate Hewson
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Greg Clarke interviewed author and Fairfax journalist David Marr on the findings of two surveys looking at religious belief in Australia. The first was a Nielson Poll published by the Herald in late 2009. The second survey commissioned by CPX and conducted by McCrindle Research. The surveys revealed that despite perceptions of Australia being the ‘most godless nation under heaven’, faith plays a significant role in Australian culture. Yet with 92% of Australians not attending church, this faith isn’t necessarily attached to worship or the church.
‘The question of God is a persistent one in human cultures’, says Marr. A large number of Australians are confident in their belief in a Deity. More than 60% of people believe in a God, and 50% call themselves Christian. Aside from belief in the Christian God, there is belief in other gods or a “universal spirit”. Belief in a God persists in Australian culture, yet there is some growth of those identifying as non-believers. Marr says, ‘A third of us believe that there isn’t, or perhaps we can never know if there is, a God’.
63% of Australians believe in miracles, and this belief has been rising sharply over the past decades. ‘I think this shines a light on the national character’, says Marr. ‘The belief in miracles—why plan? Why worry? Something will come along. We will be rescued. Do we really have to worry about global warming? Surely a miracle will come along and solve the problem for us.’ This, according to Marr, leads to a ‘let’s wait and see’ attitude.
Marr also says ‘there is a slight and disarming belief among atheists in miracles.” According to the surveys, there is also a high belief among atheists in extra-sensory perception, astrology and UFOs. There is a higher belief in witches among Christians than among non-believers, but “there seems to be a fundamental Christian scepticism about UFOs”.
When asked if Australian society would be better or worse off without Christianity, only 3% stated that we’d be better off without Christianity. 63% of Australians believe we’d be worse off without Christianity. “Even people without faith rather admire people with faith. They see it as a mark of values, of respectability, or virtues,” says Marr. This isn’t so much because of the faith but because of the ethics that are associated with it, such as honesty and decency, and non-believers often support believers in positions of authority.
When asked about belief in the Bible and its interpretation, only a quarter of believers said that there is only one way to interpret their belief. “Most Australian Christians are happy with the idea that their own faith and the bible’s role in their own faith is capable of multiple interpretations,” Mar said. Given this, tolerance and respect are important among Christians.
There is a high level of religious tolerance in Australia compared to other countries. For example, 91% of people are happy for Christian carols to be played in shopping centres at Christmas time. ‘Australia never went through any of the kind of violently passionate confrontations with church that were part of the history of most continental countries… We don’t come from a tradition of fearing the privileges and the powers of the church,’ suggested Marr. 85% of Australians say that church and state should be separate, but Marr believes that in reality they are content with the way that the church and the state are deeply intertwined in Australia. For example, the billions of dollars of tax revenue that goes to church schools … in other countries such at the US this would never be tolerated.
12% of Australians are committed to a faith that isn’t Christianity, the main ones being Judaism, Hinduism and Islam. In religious and cultural traditions ‘Australia is a Judeo-Islamic Christian country … we are children of Abraham!’, said Marr. There are also those who believe in a divine spirit or have a sense of God but don’t categorise it in traditional terms.
Marr has previously said that “like the Greens, atheism is always about to break through but it never does”. Atheism is increasing in Australia. In the census taken at the time of Federation, almost 100% of Australians believed in God, now it is down to 60%. The non-believers are certain in their non-belief. The rise of New Atheism has seen an atheist convention take place in Melbourne recently; this, according to David Marr, is unlikely to convert people to atheism so much as provide a forum to discuss non-belief. Despite the rise of atheism, Marr believes that it is unlikely that Christianity will ever be ‘killed off’, given the unsuccessful attempts that have been made in other countries throughout history.
Humans have a deep involvement in the notion of a God, and the question of God is fundamental to human imagination and human cultural and intellectual traditions. However, Marr says, ‘a lot of these questions simply are not part of the intellectual or day to day cut and thrust of life in Australia… we don’t argue much about the principles of belief, the principles of reality and the principles of rational understanding… These questions of principle just slide by’.
Summary article written by Kate Hewson
Listen
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Subscribe to our iTunes Vodcast/Podcast - If you have a podcast reader other than iTunes click here
| 26-Jan-2010 05:45 PM Ken West |  |
| I note with interest that David Marr in Part 1 of the interview drew a connection between belief in miracles and a lack of action on climate change. Is this inference borne out by the survey results, or is it something David is speculating on? It seems like a non sequitur to me. I personally don't feel any conflict between acknowledging God can work miracles, and that mankind bears the responsibility for caring for the environment. | |
| 27-Jan-2010 12:35 PM JustineT | |
| I agree with Ken; I found it a big leap to presume that a) if you believe in miracles, then b) you are more likely to be complacent because you're counting on divine intervention. Perhaps there is more detail in the survey about how people felt their belief in miracles affected their actions -- or not, as the case may be! Regarding how I earlier broke down the argument into a) and b)... I have the highest respect for David Marr, but here he seems to be squeezing the magic out of life (and here I mean magic in the generic sense -- not in the sense of the occult, witches, etc.)! Even if I wasn't a Christian, I hope that I would be able to believe in miracles because there's a big world out there and who am I to say that crazy stuff that defies 'rational' explanation doesn't happen?? Isn't this why The X-Files was such a big hit a decade ago... because people believe that 'the truth is out there'? Not that I think David is presuming that every bizarre event can be rationally explained, but that's the vibe of his answer.. Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed the video. Great interviewing by Greg! Would love to see more discussions between him and David :) | |
| 28-Jan-2010 01:23 PM Julie McCrossin |  |
| Thank you very much for inviting an independent journalist and social commentator like David Marr to comment. I found this interview fascinating and appreciate the open minded exploration of our attitudes towards faith. I look forward to hearing more, Julie McCrossin | |
| 29-Jan-2010 04:44 PM Maikel Annalee | |
| David's comment: "the power of religion in politics" of part 1; he explains by his comment: "the lack of discussion of principles' in part 3. Which, he reassures us, is not indifferent "apathy", but our natural antipodean inclination to "wait and see". Surely a refreshingly tolerant affirmation, given ignorant attacks on or by so-called atheists, some of whom are just as ignorantly named 'pagans' or 'infidels'. And just to add insult to injury, the mandate of divine or 'intelligent design', whether in word or deed, is usually claimed for such ignorance. So any escape into miracles or UFOs is only a symptom of this irrationality by which humanity's heart was broken. Yet from this irrationality, still unacknowledged and concealed, our broken heart remains unhealed, permanently afflicting us, with the so-called 'human condition'. | |
| 04-Mar-2010 11:33 PM Christopher O'Brien | |
| I am always interest in the discussion of belief and faith, theism and atheism. I would just like to ask for those who profess belief in atheism, is what is the belief in God that they reject, because if you profess a disbelief in a God that you can not accept, then you have to have a sense of what it is you reject. I am sure that as a person who has belief in the personal revelation of God reveaked and mediated through human thought action and story, I too would reject the belief that many athiests would have in rejecting the reality of 'God'. It is this that I would like to explore | |
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