carpenters1 said:
im really confused about the present religious landscape in Australia is relation to: denominational switching, new age religions and impact of immigration, i would really appreciate any help or feedback anyone can give me, i'm new at this and don't really know how it works
thanks
In a nutshell:
Denominational switching refers to believers changing religious adherence from one variant to another within a major tradition. It usually occurs in Christian Protestant denominations. This practise allows us to see which denominations are popular and when (through statistics/comparison to past figures).
New age religions can be defined as the broad range of individualistic, liberal and post-modern religions that stray away from the conventionalism of older religious traditions such as Christianity and Judaism. They aim at developing self-purpose, searching for life-meaning and creating belief systems appropriate to the individual. New age religions are flexible and cater for the modern society which is busy and cynical.
Impact of immigration:
Throughout the second half of the twentieth century Australia's religious landscape has changed immensely with undulating (rise and fall) rates of the number of adherents within respective traditions. Since 1945, Immigration has had a strong effect on the spiritualities of the Australian population.
- The end of World War II (1945) saw growing numbers of European immigrants which helped increase the Christian population of Australia. Orthodox Christians, Protestants and other variants of Christianity increased both the percentage of population and diversity of Christianity in Australia.
- By the 1970's this trend changed. Middle Eastern countries (such as Lebanon, Iraq and Iran), European nations (Turkey, Bosnia) and Asian countries (Indonesia, Malaysia) have all contributed to an increase in the Islamic denomination. Buddhism has also increased due to Vietnamese, Chinese and Cambodian migrants. Migrants from other European countries contributed to the rise in Jewish numbers. Hindu numbers have grown in Australia because of immigration from India and Figi. This continued into the 1980's-90's.
Okay, so maybe I did a bit more than 'in a nutshell'; let's say, 'in a turtle shell'. I also wish I had a better sense of humour.
