In Australia's 2011 census, it was determined that about 4 percent of Australians attend church on a given Sunday. About 25 percent of the population specified "no religion" on the census. So you would think that religion would be a weak voice in Australian society and politics.
But not if there are political points to be scored! The leader of Australia's Green Party has taken the Catholic Church to task for not putting enough priority on helping the needy. Well, actually, for not hewing to her priorities for social justice and the environment. The article includes the entire rebuttal from the Archbishop of Sydney--a worldly rebuttal, if I may so describe it: the Archbishop doesn't pine for her soul, he attributes her diatribe to her need for publicity.
Australia may be going the way of Europe in terms of the role of faith and religion, that is to say, secularization. Australia is also experiencing an epidemic of clinical depression: one in ten men suffer from it. Coincidence?
Nope, we just have better counting mechanisms - ie a health system that sees people so they can get treatment.
ReplyDeleteAh, I should have realized that, Pony. Oh, and the previous post wasn't reflective of you...:)
ReplyDelete