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Post by KTJ on Oct 3, 2019 13:53:50 GMT 10
from STUFF…Census 2018: New Zealand is more secular than ever beforeBy HARRISON CHRISTIAN | 3:58PM — Wednesday, September 25, 2019 Religious history expert Peter Lineham says education is needed as the number of non-believers increases alongside followers
of world religions like Hinduism. — Photograph: Chris Skelton.A “STRIKING” PERCENTAGE of New Zealanders now have no religion, and Scientology's Kiwi following has gained just three new members in several years.
The 2018 census showed the percentage of non-believers had risen to 49 percent, from 38.5 percent in 2013.
That was a much higher percentage of people declaring “no religion” compared with countries like Australia, which had 30 percent non-believers in its 2016 census. In the UK it was 25 percent, and surveys usually put the US percentage in the low 20s.
In the course of 18 years, we've gone from being a quarter non-religious to half non-religious.
Religious history expert Peter Lineham said in terms of other Western countries, New Zealand was at “really quite a striking level of being secular”.
“Since the 1960s, religion has carried little social or cultural value in most Western societies,” Lineham said. “Historically, for some people it was quite an advantage to belong to a religious group, but that isn't true any more.”
Christianity is still the most popular religion in New Zealand, but it's been in steady decline for decades. The percentage of Christians has fallen from 46 per cent in 2013, to 38 per cent in 2018.
The Church of Scientology's opening of a $16 million base in Auckland in 2017 appears to have translated into just three new followers. The census recorded 321 Scientologists in 2018, up from 318 in 2013. The 2017 opening of Scientology's new digs in Auckland.But other world religions are on the rise in New Zealand, because of immigration from countries like India and Pakistan. Hindus now account for 2.6 per cent of the population, compared with 2.1 per cent in 2013.
The number of Sikhs — followers of a monotheistic religion originating in northern India — has doubled every census since 2001. It's now at more than 40,000.
Muslims increased from 46,000 to 61,000 and now account for 1.3 per cent of the population.
Lineham said the rise of world religions alongside non-believers could pose challenges for New Zealand society.
“I'd be in favour of religious studies in schools. Half of New Zealanders are going to be raised with no religion at all, and the other half are going to have a broad variety of religions,” he said.
“All tensions in society are produced when we don't understand our neighbours.”www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/116079393/census-2018-new-zealand-is-more-secular-than-ever-before
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Post by KTJ on Oct 4, 2019 7:47:18 GMT 10
from The Dominion Post…EDITORIAL: Has Godzone turned Godless?EDITORIAL | 5:00AM — Friday, September 27, 2019 Organised religion is in decline, but what is replacing it? — Photograph: David White.IT'S hardly breaking news that the west has grown increasingly secular and organised religion is in decline, but there is no question that a significant milestone has just been passed. The 2018 census recorded the moment when “no religion” eclipsed Christianity as the leading religious affiliation in New Zealand.
Numbers released this week show that 2.2 million people put “no religion” on their census forms, meaning that 48.6 percent of us now identify as entirely secular. The Christian share has fallen to 38.6 percent, down from 46 percent only five years earlier.
There are fascinating details and trends. For the second time, Catholicism is New Zealand's leading denomination, at 10.1 percent compared to 6.7 percent who are Anglican. The Anglican decline has been dramatic, from 16.8 percent 18 years ago.
Islam and Buddhism are tiny religions in New Zealand, with 1.3 percent and 1.1 percent respectively. Despite its high media profile, the Church of Scientology has only 321 followers, according to the census. It's dwarfed by the Star Wars Jedi cult and the joke religion, the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Six people put Maoism and a further six put the new Vietnamese religion, Cao Dai. Nine people called libertarianism their religion.
It all adds up to a pleasant impression of diversity and tolerance. We feel free to express theism, atheism or agnosticism without fear of oppression. We feel just as free to be unserious about the big questions. The issue of whether the national anthem should be rewritten as “An Indifferent and Uncaring Universe Defend New Zealand” remains open.
Other conclusions are harder to reach. While the census captures religious affiliation, it does not record personal belief. Surveys tend to show that even those without a religion will often believe in some kind of higher power. A sense of being spiritual replaces the idea of being religious. A Pew Research Center survey in the US in 2015 found that although 77 percent belonged to a religion, 89 percent believed in God. And while religious identification fell over the course of a decade, the numbers of those who say they experience a sense of “spiritual peace” or “wonder about the universe” actually rose.
Research on faith and belief in New Zealand in 2018 identified 33 percent who called themselves Christian, 12 percent who belonged to other religions and a further 20 percent who called themselves spiritual but not religious.
It suggests a sense of yearning or spiritual wonder remains even when organised religions decline and that a partially-formed sense of something greater than us may even be central to the human condition.
Godlessness does not necessarily equate to immorality. Philosophers such as John Gray have persuasively argued that even as “secular liberals dismiss Christianity as a fairy tale, their values and view of history remain essentially Christian”.
Yet our religious diversity does point to a need for greater understanding of the views of others. Christianity is often defined in the media by its most controversial and newsworthy adherents, whether they be Israel Folau, Brian Tamaki or the Gloriavale community. Further marginalisation will only increase those perceptions.
Similarly, many New Zealanders had a very limited and even negative sense of Islam before the horrendous March 15 Christchurch terror attacks. We have all benefited from the rapid education we have received since, despite the terrible circumstances.www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/comment/editorials/116109126/has-godzone-turned-godless
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Post by KTJ on Oct 4, 2019 7:49:41 GMT 10
In last year's census, in the Religion section, I ticked “Other” and typed “Jedi” in the box which appeared (I filled my census form in online).
Next census, I might be tempted to tick “Other” and type “Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster” in the box when it appears.
Just for a hoot, eh?
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Post by Occam's Spork on Oct 4, 2019 11:04:10 GMT 10
In last year's census, in the Religion section, I ticked “Other” and typed “Jedi” in the box which appeared (I filled my census form in online). Next census, I might be tempted to tick “Other” and type “Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster” in the box when it appears. Just for a hoot, eh? How's your head? Is your brain still rattling around in there? Its probably like new, seeing that it's never been used. |
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Post by pim on Oct 4, 2019 14:19:27 GMT 10
Atrophy is a thing, you know! Use it or lose it!
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Post by Occam's Spork on Oct 5, 2019 0:04:58 GMT 10
Atrophy is a thing, you know! Use it or lose it! Fair enough. |
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