The Religious Factor in Australian Life PDF Download

Author: Gary D. Bouma
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780959691566
Category : Australia
Languages : en
Pages : 206

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Author: Adam Possamai
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000529614
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 166

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Book Description
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.

Author: Timothy Stanley
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137551380
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 199

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Book Description
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.

Author: Philip Hughes
Publisher: Christian Research Associati
ISBN: 1875223770
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 135

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Book Description
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.

Author: Philip J. Hughes
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 92

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Book Description
"This book describes 17 major religious groups in Australia based on data from the 1996 National Population Census and attender surveys. ......" [from back cover]

Author: Philip J. Hughes
Publisher: ATF Press
ISBN: 9781920691066
Category : Australia
Languages : en
Pages : 228

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Book Description
The second volume of essays to mark the centenary of federation in Australia and examines the issue of religion in society and culture.

Author: Philip Hughes
Publisher: Christian Research Associati
ISBN: 1875223843
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 179

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Book Description
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.

Author: Georgina Fitzpatrick
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 272

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Book Description

Author: Peter Bentley
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781875223169
Category : Australia
Languages : en
Pages : 128

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Book Description
"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]

Author:
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004311459
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 311

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Book Description
Cultural expressions of Christianity show great diversity around the globe. While scholarship has tended to consider charismatic practices in distinct geographical contexts, this volume advances the anthropology of Christianity through ethnographically rich, comparative insights from across the Australia-Pacific region. Christianity, Conflict, and Renewal in Australia and the Pacific presents new perspectives on the performative dynamics of Christian belief, conflict, and renewal. Addressing experiences of cultural and spiritual renewal, contributors reveal how tensions can arise between spiritual and political expressions of culture and identity, opening up alternative spaces for spiritual realization and religious change. These local processes further mobilize responses of individuals and groups to state forces and political reforms, in turn, influencing the shape of translocal and transnational Christian practices. Contributors are: Diane Austin-Broos, John Barker, Alison Dundon, Yannick Fer, Kirsty Gillespie, Jessica Hardin, Rodolfo Maggio, Fiona Magowan, Gwendoline Malogne-Fer, Debra McDougall, Joel Robbins, Carolyn Schwarz, and John Taylor.