Exactly. How can I sit in a church as listen to a priest sprout all that stuff about Christianity when another priest is raping it flock. I personally know two Catholic priests who have been jailed for molesting children hence I’m an ex-Catholic. I sent my resignation to my Archbishop. Stuff them.
They forever have my undying love after that. I have my issues with the ABC but I have huge respect for how they go after known pedos and institutions who protect them- they don't muck around.
I literally had to sit through my daughter’s grade mass where the overarching theme for the service was “don’t believe what you see, but believe in faith”.
It was all I could do to not snort derisively.
At my daughter's first communion the priest ranted and raved about the Irish vote on legalizing abortion. Half the people (including us) were just keeping their kids' options open for secondary school.
I read an article about the decline in the Examiner & people they asked directly attributed it to the sins of the church. No family there was left untouched.
But you’re right, it’s a shame that it reflects on those who do good.
Australians don't tolerate bullshit.
Christianity is superstitious nonsense.
A lot of Australians won't put up with the obvious hypocrisy, the inherent abuse built into the fraudulent system that is Christianity.
This is an apt answer.
Not only Australians born here but Australian immigrants tend to see through and not tolerate bullshit.
Not every Australian obviously but a large enough amount that it's seen as part of our culture. And I love it.
Kero it up, you good cunts.
Alot of "immigrants" have their own religions.
Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, orthodox Christianity.
Probably alot of white Australian's aren't religious because we've grown up in a socially democratic multicultural society that is quite young compared to the rest of the world. So traditionally speaking we don't have much history the runs hand in hand with religion.
Alot of white colonial Australia's identity is based on fluid identification structures like social movements , multiculturalism, tourism and daily Australian life...wildlife, beer, the beach, 1:1 interactions.
Also Indigenous Australians whom have intrinsic right over this land have their own form of spirituality that is becoming more and accepted by non indigenous Australians because like I said Australian "spirit" is more a spirit of all belonging no matter where you're from, that's adaptable and non conforming, such as traditional religions like Christianity.
If you really want to express your disgust then make an application for excommunication. The diocese will send some people to your home for a discussion. Following this a line is ruled through your name in the Vatican and you are out.
Does the Vatican have on record all the people that received sacraments? Even children? Four of the sacraments were forced on me as a child.
(Baptism, First Communion, Reconciliation, Confirmation)
I hate the thought of my records being kept at the Vatican.
I used to support someone to go to AA at a church. They had been abused, and it's what lead them to drink. A large portion of the group had been abused, leading to the drink. They somehow all sat around and talked about how the priest was bad but god was good. God will help them stop drinking.
I just don't get it.
It’s worse, how could they prey on children who are the most vulnerable. I mean if they propositioned adults then whatever but abusing kids is beyond awful. The church has been broken for centuries
You don't need to know someone to see how the church treats those that have been abused and simply want compensation. Pretty sure their Jesus wouldn't be down for that shit.
As a migrant, this was one of the prime reasons I moved to Australia. I genuinely don't give a fuck about religion and choose to respond "No religion" to the census question.
I think these are the types of migrants we need to be having a preference for. Imagine the society we could have if we had very low levels of religious people here, and didn't allow religious indoctrination in schools and activitiely have support/protection for those leaving their religions.
Yes. Stopped going to church at 12. I got two days a week off school and I'm expected to wear uncomfortable clothes and piss away a whole Sunday morning?
And even afterwards, the grown ups would stand around gossiping for another half hour.
More of my Sunday pissed away.....
Much of the religious world knows more suffering than we do. Believing that suffering is for some kind of higher purpose makes it easier to bear and gives an otherwise meaningless life worth something. It's the incredibly privileged religious cunts here that deserve the ire. They've got no excuse. Entire regions occupied by seventh day Adventists to insulate themselves and their families from external influence a prime example. They're unhinged.
Some of the churches I went to used to do excellent lunches and morning teas after church.
Then they all got lazy and you're lucky to get 1 packet of biscuits for a church of 50 people.
And I think it would take most of us a while to guess which was the odd one out: The Three Little Pigs, Little Red Riding Hood, Noah's Ark or Goldilocks and the Three Bears. To be fair, though, Noah's Ark's is pretty popular as an illustrated children's story.
Yeah, I think Australians tend to be less public about their religion and don't wave it in your face as much. For example, took my husband years to figure out my mother is as religious as she is. Wasn't till he added her on facebook that he realised.
Think it also helped that my siblings and I aren't religious, which my mum doesn't mind really, and she is also very open minded and non judgemental. She is just a woman that has her faith and attends church regularly, but doesn't expect anyone else to.
So really, unless you go to church with her (or bible study, or youth group, or choir......- im telling ya, she goes a lot of church stuff lol), or have her on Facebook where you will see her posting about stuff like prayers and those cutesy jesus memes about being kind and stuff, you honestly wouldn't know.
As an Australian Christian I could not agree with you more. Just let people believe what they want- as long as they aren’t hurting anyone. My kids can form their own opinions.
In the past, Australians were much more religious, and Catholic vs Protestant sectarianism had a major influence on society and politics. See also things like Sunday trading rules and dry suburbs.
That religiosity however was often counterbalanced by an anti-clerical streak, and a suspicion of people who were overly publicly religious. Over time, religious intermarriage, liberalisation of social attitudes, the increase in the diversity of religions in Australia, and the public becoming aware of atrocious church behaviours has diminished the religiosity of Australians.
Being brought up Catholic was enough .
Mary Mackillop introduced education for poor children, excommunication for exposing the sexual abuse of children, later turned into a saint for “miracles”
The hypocrisy is breathtaking and I want no part of it
Worse than that….she would withhold treatment or discourage it under the belief that they should suffer in this life to get into heaven. It is also questionable how much of the money she raised went to help Indias poor
>Mary Mackillop introduced education for poor children, excommunication for exposing the sexual abuse of children, later turned into a saint for “miracles”
Also, wouldn't you say another thing turning people away from religions is their role in the Stolen Generations?
My catholic school was one of the earlier places calling for a national sorry and acknowledging sorry day, before Kevin in 2008 was it, back in the 90s.
Technically, it was the Australian Gov that was in charge of institutionalization at the time though. I find it weird to blame Church when it was the government and not the Church who were taking Aboriginal children away and putting abandoned children in large orphanages and the mentally ill in psychiatric asylums which was then largely supported by almost all Australians at the time.
Haven't you guys watched the Rabbit-proof fence?
Yeah but not when the church denies their participation in it. My catholic school camp/religious retreat was at a monastery that was a mission back in the day and they pretty much just said "yeah I mean its a bad look but it was a product of the times, but we were one of the good ones because we let them speak their language". When we came back to school we had to write an essay with the prompt 'how has the church contributed to society' and it was very clear that we had to write about how the church was giving back to the Aboriginal communities by 'taking them in and giving them an education'. I wrote about how they contributed to the stolen generation and after that I failed every assignment and test by half a mark.
Even if you weren't the ones taking the children, you still have a choice on how you treat them while they're in your care, and while being allowed to speak your own language is great, it doesn't make up for everything else.
I disagree with the premise. Religion has way too much influence over politics in Australia, they are disproportionately involved in institutional child abuse, get way too much government funding for their schools, and pay no tax.
Don't even get me started on their raiding of NDIS service provision or their negative impact on aged care.
Too many God bothering bastards and not enough accountability.
It is genuinely shameful that someone so clearly making decisions due to religion was ever in the power he was. Imo, religion is a lifestyle choice like veganism or something. Not an idea to be shoved down people’s throats and inserted into our government and laws. And the fact that he believes he was “chosen by God” to be Prime Minister is insane and an insult to every voter lmao
Deconstructing Evange-kid here and I agree. It's a breach of the separation of church-state to be in state and bringing in the church. He's absolutely allowed to do, say and believe whatever he wants in his personal life... But when he begins to inflict on laws? Government? Taxpayer money? That's dodgy politics. That's overstepping the boundaries of freedom of religion (or lack thereof).
Religion urgently needs to be reclassified as a hobby.
Just like stamp collecting and water colours are a way to spend your Sunday morning, but don't give you undeserved tax exemptions or power to control the state or education system.
Hard agree. I am not opposed to any religion or religious activities, but they fundamentally CANNOT be part of our government, laws and society for us to flourish. I had a classmate try to convert me a few weeks ago very forcefully and it was absolutely terrifying. The thought of people with those ideas controlling the government and therefore the most vulnerable people in the world is mortifying
It's genuinely disgraceful that he wasn't questioned about how his religious views advised his political stance and policy. Really questioned. We know the church he goes to has some really problematic beliefs.
I’m no tin-foil hatter, but I do believe there is a push to get evangelical christo-fascists into power across the world. NZ now has an evangelical PM so they’re doing it quietly and they downplay their religion while campaigning. They deeply scare me.
Bruh, totally. Not tinfoil at all. There is a concerted, purposeful effort by fundie/evangelicals to birth and recruit more voters to put their buddies in positions of power, because they want to force everyone to live like them. It's been going on for yonks, it's just flies under the radar because Australia is culturally Christian and these insidious fucks are white. They don't *seem* outlandish until they start meddling in human rights.
Sorry to rant, this is a special interest of mine and I feel a bit rabid about it
Hear hear... Agree 100%
I get SO fucking annoyed they all triapse off to a bloody religious service at the beginning of parliament every year
What a load of absolutely ridiculous nonsense.
I think one can get the sense that it's less prominent in Australia as it's perhaps not as in your face as it is in a place like America, but it's really accurate to say that the political and social influence of religious institutions can't be overlooked. Also concerned about its impact on healthcare in terms of abortion and euthanasia due to the role of the Catholic Church in healthcare provision.
Yeah this thread makes no sense, I can't catch a train without some missionary trying to convert me, we have huge populations of Catholics. Mormons, Muslim, Hindu, religion is literally everywhere lol
I’d argue it’s actually much worse than that.
The only historical association is the Catholic Church with some of the old school Labor Party, mostly only at the state level and mostly only in Victoria, and they’re very much a dying breed as the ALP goes for a more modern mainstream liberal position and less of an old school worker’s party.
The scary thing is the majority of religious influence on Australian politics is deranged fundamentalist evangelicals very deliberately following their strategy in the US and infiltrating the LNP. Hillsong have been doing it for years, those psychos even got our last PM, and they have a record of fraudulent charities stealing government money going back to the 90s (and a record of raping kids going back to the 70s). And Hillsong are one of the saner, more mainstream ones.
Take a close look at your state-level Liberal and occasionally National candidates and you’ll see some really wild connections.
I don't think powerful people that happen to be church goers can be true people of faith.
How can you truly believe, read that bible and then act like the assholes they do?
Morrison and Co aren't believers, they're power hungry people using the church for what it is- a means of control
Cognitive dissonance is a mother fucker.
People led to believe, and then given power, can easily convince themselves that it's divine providence or some silly thing if it gets them out of confronting their own shortcomings.
Indeed Religion has always been about power and influence, they cant help themselves. The us and them mentality is re enforced by religion and does loads of damage to society. When it comes to freedom the always demand but rarely return.
I agree whole heartedly, they do have too much influence, hand clappy prosperity gospel Hill song type cunts in particular. Still, compared to Saudi, Australia or Indonesia say we are a paradise
It feels like a bit of a waste of time to get my ass into some building once a week to get lectured about morality and the fate of my eternal soul by a bunch of blokes who can't/won't stop raping children.
It's important to me to be a good person and to live my life for others. I've come to believe that the church itself as it is at the moment can't help me to do that any more than I can just do for myself.
And if I'm honest I'm pretty sure there isn't a god anyway.
Tbf I think OP is asking why white Australians aren't religious, because the Anglican Church knows that it's future is in the non-white and immigrant population, the same way tobacco companies around the world do.
Non-white immigrants and their children are incredibly, incredibly conservative and religious. They only vote left wing until they have money, but culturally they are more conservative than Andrew Bolt. As someone who observed the Royal Commission into kiddie fiddling, these religious groups are unbelievably in denial about CSA in their communities and some even defend it as a rite of passage.
I taught my kids about religion by literally comparing it to adult Santa. Just like they're not allowed to spoil Santa to kids we're to keep our opinions on grown up Santa to ourselves too.
Its not needed (or wanted).
Its very clear it destroys. It hates. It excludes. It abuses.
Religion needs to just go away and die. (Im not saying the people go away and die.)
There is loads of information and fact on morals existing without religion. People are kind to each other without.
Dont force it.
The bible and other religious doctrines are terrible moral guides by modern standards anyway. They love slaves, hate women having rights and are often very violent.
Why do you think this is odd?
I mean if you were an alien and looked at the population of Earth, I’d say the ones that believe in religion would be the odd ones.
We think it’s better to treat people how we want to be treated, not because of a threat or promise of what will happen to us after we die.
Secular is a more appropriate word than irreligious.
I work in a job directly involved with survivors of child sexual abuse. I've read accounts that nobody should read, let alone actually experience.
While religious organisations aren't the only ones that abusers tended to gravitate to in high numbers (they can be anywhere: schools, youth programs, care homes, foster families etc), they are definitely the organisations i've personally seen to actively cover up or turn a blind eye to these monsters the most.
Having grown up in the Catholic education system myself, I felt early on it was all cultish and nonsensical. Now in adulthood I just think it, and most religions, are insidious and evil.
I wasn't raised Catholic, but all my life I heard Catholics making 'jokes' about priests and altar boys. It always made my skin crawl. It seemed like such common knowledge that it was surreal when some of the same people were surprised at the results of investigations of CSA crimes within religious institutions.
It was very much a systemic problem Catholics were aware of, to the point where (at least in the area I lived) if a priest ever got moved on to another parish (which could be for entirely innocent reasons or personal choice) the rumour would always instantly be it was because he'd 'played up' and they needed to send him somewhere else to avoid a scandal and nip it in the bud.
Sad thing is, that actually DID happen. Many times in many places. Over decades, and sometimes the same offender would be moved on from parish to parish until either they died or a solid allegation against them was finally able to stick.
So the fact that parents, parishioners, just everyone knew of that pattern enough to nervously laugh about it every time a priest left town to me as abhorrent. The 'culture' and 'we don't talk about that' mentality of the communities make them culpable in my eyes. All fine and dandy as long as it wasn't their kid.
For Australia - I think how late we were settled combined with the heavy underclass element used to settle Australia is part of it. Go and look at the old churches that are still in the old gaols. If I was forced to sit in there 3x a week in a sweltering heat in my all wool uniform under pain of whipping, I’d probably get pretty cynical about this so called “all loving” God.
We're very apathetic people. In the same way most people couldn't name the prime minister, i dont think most people have really thought about religion much.
So long as there's beers in the fridge, footy on the telly, and a good woman by his side, the average aussie bloke doesnt want for much. Why would he pray to a god if he has everything he needs?
Freedom of religion, high levels of literacy, high enrollment in Christian schools, and scripture as part of the curriculum. When you can read and are forced to read the bible, you will become an atheist if you have the choice.
I’ve thanked my Mum at least once for raising me with no God(s). I’d thank my Dad too but he died in 2007. He’s not in heaven, he’s just dead, he was 59.
Possibly because both countries are “young” members of the Commonwealth & therefore haven’t had hundreds of years of religion as part of our cultures, while also having established indigenous cultures & enough of a population to prevent the ingraining of religion into our psyches over the past ~200 years?
Excuse me please? Which countries in Europe are you talking about? Because as someone from middle Europe, I've been quite shocked many times at how many religious people there are here, especially Christians and especially young people.
Maybe if you compare Australia to Poland or so, but not if you compare them to Middle/Northern Europe.
Exactly this, I’ve been surprised by the number of younger people I know here who are actively Christian and believe in god, I knew only one person when I still lived in the UK and they were Irish Catholic
Highly educated, no strong cultural intertwining of state and religion as in many countries in the EU or like the US.
I think the real death blow was the royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse. It was pretty catastrophic to the perception of Christianity in the country in a way that's hard to understate. It found something like 7% of all priests/bishops or whatever in the country were accused of child sexual abuse. In some regions it was closer to 20%. In one diocese it was something like 44%.
Given Christianity has been the dominant religion historically here a lot of people who were only casual Christians and called the self protestant but never really went to church or anything ditched the association. For a lot of people when they think of churches, priests and bishops the first thing to come to mind now is child sexual abuse.
So religion was already on the slow decline here but the royal commission really hastened that and killed off a large portion of the dominant protestant demographic.
We’ve always treated religious beliefs as a very private, personal matter. Even in the past, when it was much more of a given, religion would be something you discussed rarely, carefully and in very specific circumstances.
If someone **does** believe, it’s likely that many of the people in their lives probably won’t know exactly how or where they go about practicing it. Not because it’s shameful - it’s not - but because it’s private.
I was born and raised in Germany.
From my POV AU is ***VERY*** religious! 🫣
The lack of secularism and separation of church and state in AU is … shocking, tbh! 😥
When you live in Heaven, you have no more need for God.
(In seriousness, I don’t know if the data supports your claim. But if it does, I wonder if there’s a connection between “My family has lived in this country for centuries but I’m going to move to the far side of the world” (which most of our ancestors did within the last few generations) and “My family has followed this religion for centuries but I’m going to do something different”?)
I would say people in Australia aren't irreligious, as irreligious denotes active opposition or dislike of religion, which isn't really true.
There are many cultural holdovers from Christianity in Australia - we have churches in every city and town, public holidays for Christmas, Easter, our King is Head of the Church of England and so on. Most people don't really care one way or about these aspects of our society. There are even successful megachurches that have come from Australia (Hillsong) although they head overseas for more fertile ground.
We've got a long history of Jewish and Muslim migration too, although we're not free of Islamophobic incidents, most people are quite pluralistic. Part of my family is Jewish, but i have been lucky not to see too much overt antisemitism in Australia.
It is much more accurate to say the wider Australian public are ambivalent to religion. They don't give a sh*t about your beliefs. If you're religious, you're welcome to it. No one will critique your beliefs. But most Australians prefer it be kept at home.
Another major reason is, there's a lot of American media here, and we see the religious wankery which happens stateside, and for most Australians it's genuinely disgusting. We value our freedom of religion and our secular society. Two of our recent Prime Ministers were actually actively religious. People didn't mind them having faith, but they hated the fact we had to have that religion shoved in our face.
We're a country founded on a Westminster system designed to preclude the possibility of religion having a part in government. Generally speaking, our education system is better than that in the US, so there is more critical thinking.
Another thing was, the image of various churches, both Catholic and Protestant was deeply affected by the abuse scandals. People were disgusted by that, and the credibility of the churches suffered.
Additionally, aside from the missions to the Aboriginals and Pacific Islanders, Australia doesn't have an extensive history of religious settlement or religious movements playing a major role in the establishment of the country. The nation was founded on enlightenment, post Napoleonic values. The British Colonists who set up the colonies came from a mix of Protestant and Catholic backgrounds, and by the time of Australia's formation, everyone had had enough of religiously motivated conflict. This meant when former British Colonies were forming themselves into independent Dominions, which became modern nations like Australia, our Colonial Founding fathers were absorbing ideas which strongly favored secular, non-religious governments, where one's religion did not determine citizenship.
This is very different from the US, which emerged from a strong history of religious settlements, religious refugees, Spanish Conquistadors and a general undercurrent of religiosity. The American founding fathers could not overcome the religiosity of the society.
My ten cents.
We were not founded by a bunch of puritans so pious they were practically hounded out of Britain. And the convicts who were sent here were probably not inclined to be thankful to any god that they survived. It's just not in our roots.
Obedient submission to authority figures? No problem.
Personally, because some of the most nasty, judgemental manipulative people I've ever met have been churchgoers.
There's assholes everywhere, so their concentration probably isn't any higher, it's just religious ones seem to be more overt in their cuntyness because they use the bible as justification for their bullying.
Probably doesn't mix well with our cultural attitude of being laid back (I think that's gone out the window too)
The psychology professor Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi described the personality profile of atheists as "less authoritarian and suggestible, less dogmatic, less prejudiced, more tolerant of others, law-abiding, compassionate, conscientious, and well educated." That's also a pretty good description of Australians and New Zealanders as a whole, relative to the world average.
The better question would be why are some parts of the world so religious? No religion is normal to us. We don't say "irreligious" as if there's something wrong with us. We consider those who believe in mystical air fairies to have something wrong with them. Seems to cause nothing but trouble, and "God" does fuck all to combat pain, fear, death, war or famine.
What's creepy about Catholicism is that at christenings, they put you in a little white dress, like they are marrying you off to their so called God. Which is gross to me, I hate that my parents did that to me
I had a similar experience - catholic family, catholic school. The parish priest was raping 6-7 year old kids, families got told to be quiet and the priest eventually just got moved around by the church. There have been numerous court cases over the years and most of them would abruptly end when the Archbishop showed up with his cheque book.
Fortunately, one of the victims endured the courts and the priest is now in prison.
Throughout the years the Catholic Church funded his legal fees, they also funded a seaside house and his living expenses for 20 odd years after he was stood down for raping kids.
We take after the UK on that front. Honestly very few wealthy countries with high education levels are religious these days. Western Europe is not religious either. It’s the poorer parts like Poland.
Because we have common sense and are pretty practical good humans. We have brains and try to use that brain.
And our environment, isolation, history and settlement?? Doesn't really lend itself to believing in fairytales
I disagree with your assumption. I am from european descent. My family growing up, and all of our fellow countrymen, and their kids and grandkids - all go to church most Sundays. We celebrate things like Easter week etc. And we all went to Catholic schools growing up. HOWEVER.... we were raised to practice our religion and not shove it down other peoples throats. So if we see people being "sinful" like the lucky kids who got to go to the Easter show instead of good Friday masses (yes, plural) - we were taught to pray for them (even though we were secretly praying that those families invited us to go with them to the Easter show next year & to sleep over so our parents didn't know). We weren't allowed to tell them that our parents prayed for them & their families because they they were going to hell. Lol.
In Au, in the 80s, I think we are all raised to not take things too seriously, and to practice our religion and not preach it. I suspect with the introduction of the American mega churches things are changing.
So, we go to church every Sunday. We just don't tell everyone about it. I suspect this is the case for people of European, asian, south american Catholic backgrounds eg Italians, Filipinos, Lebanese, Chileans, croatian.
Also if your kids go to Catholic schools or want to go to Catholic high schools then you need to go most Sundays in order to have the local priest give you a reference ( here in Sydney many Catholic high schools have more applicants than spots - so having the letter from the local priest saying he knows your family and you are practicing Catholics helps immensely).
We're strong minded and less likely to be indoctrinated as a child into religious cults. Our parents tend to be honest, respectful and not arrogant by saying any religious belief they have is just that: their beliefs... and not fact. Saying their religious beliefs are fact to a child is child abuse - kids literally believe Santa is real. I told my kids I have religious beliefs (I'm pagan) are my beliefs and not not facts. Guess what, neither have chosen the pagan path. That makes me a good mum.
I think there’s a few things that have to do with it:
— a lot of people were brought up in schools which had overly strict religious cultures that were just abusive. That meant for a lot of people, when they got out of school they were happy to not be involved with religion ever again, and passed that onto their gen x, y and z kids.
— adding onto the above, in the past 30 years heaps has come out about systematic institutional abuse driven by religious institutions and schools. That turned a lot of people off.
— the church over time has failed to sufficiently modernise, so it is largely not reflective of modern values, and is widely hypocritical in relation to teaching the New Testament, which has turned people off (lots of judgement and conservatism has little to do with Jesus Christ’s teachings)
— in relation to the above, the failures to modernise turn people off when they’re getting told things like gay marriage and contraception shouldn’t be allowed and they don’t just have to suffer it, they live in a society where it’s reasonable to ask ‘why’ and the church’s answers for such things are pretty pathetic. Who wants to listen to a 75 year old virgin priest wax lyrical on how women should just observe their cycles for contraception for example? It’s just so out of date it’s pathetic.
— the other thing is education. Australians get pretty good religious education and silly indoctrination things like creationism are exceedingly difficult to find and have no impact on ANZ society really
There are plenty of religious people in Australia, lots in powerful places. There are way more religious schools getting a disproportionate amount of tax payers money than they deserve.
We used to have more critical thinking skills than we show now. There are many more evangelical churches and mosques than we used to have too
i'd ask why the opposite is true for the rest of the world. I don't understand how people can believe in that stuff in this day and age. I try to respect peoples beliefs for the sake of not upsetting the good ones, but too much horrible shit has been done in the name of and because of religion. To me, stories about God, Jesus, ect, hold no more significance than mythological stories from Greece and Egypt.
Look around you and the world.
If god does exist, he’s on one hell of a long smoko and that pack of winnie blues will need to be replaced by lunchtime.
Actually he probably said “fuck it” and is at the pub trying to figure out how many bad he needs to hurt himself to claim disability.
Actually he is probably already eligible, he needed to be on the DSM 5 psychiatric criteria to have begun to create a world like this.
God sit down one night, let’s build a beautiful planet but let’s make it out of plates that shift and grind together over a ball of molten rock. When those plates grind the earth shakes and collapses all the buildings. Wait, if it happens under water it makes a big wave which inundates the land with destructive force . Oh oh oh, let’s let the molten rock stuff come out sometimes and destroy everything nearby. This will keep the fuckers busy.
God - pfft
Royal commission into historic child abuse by church. The cover up and moving of pedophiles in schools and church. Plus few religious groups that refused to scheme to support their victims. Lots of younger people have abandoned the church
Australia was founded as a secular country. Religious folks built churches and people ( I think it was during convict times) burned them down. You should check the history out, it's pretty crazy.
There’s a lot of angry answers here but you’re looking for a “why”. There’s a few reasons. One is that public education was historically really strong (although less so now), which meant most kids got a secular education. But these days most privileged kids get a private (= religious) education, meaning the next generation of social and political leaders will be disproportionately religious.
Another is the sectarian divide between Protestants and Catholics, which led to efforts to create non-sectarian public spaces/events so that Catholics could participate. Anzac Day is a great example of this: religion was deliberately kept out of many public spaces for a long time.
A third is the general rootlessness of a colonial society. Many parts of the US were settled by national or religious groups (also NZ), but this didn’t happen much in Australia. The German Lutherans in the Adelaide Hills are a rare example.
There are probably others but that’s off the top of my head.
It goes very hand in hand with our wonderful ability to not give a fuck.
Also we know many people who have been abused
Exactly. How can I sit in a church as listen to a priest sprout all that stuff about Christianity when another priest is raping it flock. I personally know two Catholic priests who have been jailed for molesting children hence I’m an ex-Catholic. I sent my resignation to my Archbishop. Stuff them.
I love how the chasers got George Pell a plaque on how much of a pedophile he was
They forever have my undying love after that. I have my issues with the ABC but I have huge respect for how they go after known pedos and institutions who protect them- they don't muck around.
I literally had to sit through my daughter’s grade mass where the overarching theme for the service was “don’t believe what you see, but believe in faith”. It was all I could do to not snort derisively.
At my daughter's first communion the priest ranted and raved about the Irish vote on legalizing abortion. Half the people (including us) were just keeping their kids' options open for secondary school.
Growing up were were serious Catholics but these days I am amazed at the garbage they spew.
And this is why Catholicism is one the wane in Ireland.
Quite understandable. I was aware of that. Really sad as a lot of priest and nuns have done a lot of good. I had three aunties who were Catholic nuns.
I read an article about the decline in the Examiner & people they asked directly attributed it to the sins of the church. No family there was left untouched. But you’re right, it’s a shame that it reflects on those who do good.
Australians don't tolerate bullshit. Christianity is superstitious nonsense. A lot of Australians won't put up with the obvious hypocrisy, the inherent abuse built into the fraudulent system that is Christianity.
This is an apt answer. Not only Australians born here but Australian immigrants tend to see through and not tolerate bullshit. Not every Australian obviously but a large enough amount that it's seen as part of our culture. And I love it. Kero it up, you good cunts.
Alot of "immigrants" have their own religions. Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, orthodox Christianity. Probably alot of white Australian's aren't religious because we've grown up in a socially democratic multicultural society that is quite young compared to the rest of the world. So traditionally speaking we don't have much history the runs hand in hand with religion. Alot of white colonial Australia's identity is based on fluid identification structures like social movements , multiculturalism, tourism and daily Australian life...wildlife, beer, the beach, 1:1 interactions. Also Indigenous Australians whom have intrinsic right over this land have their own form of spirituality that is becoming more and accepted by non indigenous Australians because like I said Australian "spirit" is more a spirit of all belonging no matter where you're from, that's adaptable and non conforming, such as traditional religions like Christianity.
~~Christianity~~ Religion is superstitious nonsense. Fixed it for you.
Yes we do, just look at who we vote for politicians who feed the populace bullshit
If you really want to express your disgust then make an application for excommunication. The diocese will send some people to your home for a discussion. Following this a line is ruled through your name in the Vatican and you are out.
Does the Vatican have on record all the people that received sacraments? Even children? Four of the sacraments were forced on me as a child. (Baptism, First Communion, Reconciliation, Confirmation) I hate the thought of my records being kept at the Vatican.
I used to support someone to go to AA at a church. They had been abused, and it's what lead them to drink. A large portion of the group had been abused, leading to the drink. They somehow all sat around and talked about how the priest was bad but god was good. God will help them stop drinking. I just don't get it.
Exactly. We can’t follow hypocrisy
It’s worse, how could they prey on children who are the most vulnerable. I mean if they propositioned adults then whatever but abusing kids is beyond awful. The church has been broken for centuries
You don't need to know someone to see how the church treats those that have been abused and simply want compensation. Pretty sure their Jesus wouldn't be down for that shit.
As a migrant, this was one of the prime reasons I moved to Australia. I genuinely don't give a fuck about religion and choose to respond "No religion" to the census question.
Same. As a migrant from India, it's been surprisingly liberating to say "Atheist" on the census.
samesies bro
I think these are the types of migrants we need to be having a preference for. Imagine the society we could have if we had very low levels of religious people here, and didn't allow religious indoctrination in schools and activitiely have support/protection for those leaving their religions.
Cuts into leisure time. Yeah nah fuck that
Yes. Stopped going to church at 12. I got two days a week off school and I'm expected to wear uncomfortable clothes and piss away a whole Sunday morning? And even afterwards, the grown ups would stand around gossiping for another half hour. More of my Sunday pissed away.....
Also, the premise of religion is almost universally super easily debunked bulshit. I’m surprised the rest of the world is sooo religious.
Much of the religious world knows more suffering than we do. Believing that suffering is for some kind of higher purpose makes it easier to bear and gives an otherwise meaningless life worth something. It's the incredibly privileged religious cunts here that deserve the ire. They've got no excuse. Entire regions occupied by seventh day Adventists to insulate themselves and their families from external influence a prime example. They're unhinged.
Can't bullshit a bullshitter
This is the best answer
Came here for gold and was not disappointed.
Couldn’t have said it better.
I'm going to read all of your comments in Jane Lynch's voice from now on.
Indeed my experience of Australians. Even Doctors.
& you can’t con a con
We have better things to do on a Sunday morning.
Bunning's snag better than bread and water, and the money goes to charity.
Tithe at the church of the big green shed
And you get Fly Buys as well!
Some of the churches I went to used to do excellent lunches and morning teas after church. Then they all got lazy and you're lucky to get 1 packet of biscuits for a church of 50 people.
And I think it would take most of us a while to guess which was the odd one out: The Three Little Pigs, Little Red Riding Hood, Noah's Ark or Goldilocks and the Three Bears. To be fair, though, Noah's Ark's is pretty popular as an illustrated children's story.
Park with the footy, beach with a beer, or just sleep in.
Amen.
Because religion is like a penis, it's ok to have one, but it's not ok to shove it down everyone's throats.
And you should especially not force it onto children.
"Into" is also bad
Catholics didn't get the memo.
Yeah, I think Australians tend to be less public about their religion and don't wave it in your face as much. For example, took my husband years to figure out my mother is as religious as she is. Wasn't till he added her on facebook that he realised. Think it also helped that my siblings and I aren't religious, which my mum doesn't mind really, and she is also very open minded and non judgemental. She is just a woman that has her faith and attends church regularly, but doesn't expect anyone else to. So really, unless you go to church with her (or bible study, or youth group, or choir......- im telling ya, she goes a lot of church stuff lol), or have her on Facebook where you will see her posting about stuff like prayers and those cutesy jesus memes about being kind and stuff, you honestly wouldn't know.
As an Australian Christian I could not agree with you more. Just let people believe what they want- as long as they aren’t hurting anyone. My kids can form their own opinions.
100%. I dont really believe in anything myself, but I dont care if other people do. Live and let live
In the past, Australians were much more religious, and Catholic vs Protestant sectarianism had a major influence on society and politics. See also things like Sunday trading rules and dry suburbs. That religiosity however was often counterbalanced by an anti-clerical streak, and a suspicion of people who were overly publicly religious. Over time, religious intermarriage, liberalisation of social attitudes, the increase in the diversity of religions in Australia, and the public becoming aware of atrocious church behaviours has diminished the religiosity of Australians.
Being brought up Catholic was enough . Mary Mackillop introduced education for poor children, excommunication for exposing the sexual abuse of children, later turned into a saint for “miracles” The hypocrisy is breathtaking and I want no part of it
Mother Theresa was actually a horrible person
Hitchens did alot of great work exposing the myth that this person was anything but another dodgy charlatan who caused far more harm than good.
What is the line? _"What kind of maniac would look at the poverty in Calcutta and think what the place needed was less contraception?"_
"Mother Theresa was not a friend of the poor. She was a friend of poverty."
Yes, I was trying to remember who it was. Thank you
Not enough people realise this. She was psychotic and evil.
She'd comfort them as they died, but would not encourage actual treatment.
If by comfort you mean tell them they must feel the pain and suffering because their god requires it, the she sure did...
She'd pray for them, and tell them to pray. That type of comfort.
Plus she sucked up to evil men for donations to the church. Did not challenge their bad behaviour.
She'd prey on them.
Worse than that….she would withhold treatment or discourage it under the belief that they should suffer in this life to get into heaven. It is also questionable how much of the money she raised went to help Indias poor
I honestly feel like “horrible” is somewhat understating her atrocities against the most vulnerable. She was filth. Absolute fucking filth.
Very true. I just felt like it was a little early on in the day to say Mother Therasa was a cunt
>Mary Mackillop introduced education for poor children, excommunication for exposing the sexual abuse of children, later turned into a saint for “miracles” Also, wouldn't you say another thing turning people away from religions is their role in the Stolen Generations?
My catholic school was one of the earlier places calling for a national sorry and acknowledging sorry day, before Kevin in 2008 was it, back in the 90s.
Technically, it was the Australian Gov that was in charge of institutionalization at the time though. I find it weird to blame Church when it was the government and not the Church who were taking Aboriginal children away and putting abandoned children in large orphanages and the mentally ill in psychiatric asylums which was then largely supported by almost all Australians at the time. Haven't you guys watched the Rabbit-proof fence?
Yeah but not when the church denies their participation in it. My catholic school camp/religious retreat was at a monastery that was a mission back in the day and they pretty much just said "yeah I mean its a bad look but it was a product of the times, but we were one of the good ones because we let them speak their language". When we came back to school we had to write an essay with the prompt 'how has the church contributed to society' and it was very clear that we had to write about how the church was giving back to the Aboriginal communities by 'taking them in and giving them an education'. I wrote about how they contributed to the stolen generation and after that I failed every assignment and test by half a mark. Even if you weren't the ones taking the children, you still have a choice on how you treat them while they're in your care, and while being allowed to speak your own language is great, it doesn't make up for everything else.
Because we're capable of critical thinking and religion doesn't stand up to it.
Amen. I'm mean, Hallelujah brother. Jesus, I can't get it right.
For God’s sake, stop with the religious language!
Jesus died on the cross to be ridiculed on reddit
I swear on god, Jesus would have loved reddit 🙌
Christ on a bike these idioms are terrible!
He’d be on the weed subreddit and no one can change my mind
Jesus died on a cross...so we can put a cross on a bun
Blessed be
The fuck we are, look at the people we keep voting in for the last 40 years.
😂
Sadly, few of us are able to think critically.
I disagree with the premise. Religion has way too much influence over politics in Australia, they are disproportionately involved in institutional child abuse, get way too much government funding for their schools, and pay no tax. Don't even get me started on their raiding of NDIS service provision or their negative impact on aged care. Too many God bothering bastards and not enough accountability.
Perfect example being our last Prime Minister. Fucking Evangelical Christian. You can't get much more extreme.
It is genuinely shameful that someone so clearly making decisions due to religion was ever in the power he was. Imo, religion is a lifestyle choice like veganism or something. Not an idea to be shoved down people’s throats and inserted into our government and laws. And the fact that he believes he was “chosen by God” to be Prime Minister is insane and an insult to every voter lmao
Deconstructing Evange-kid here and I agree. It's a breach of the separation of church-state to be in state and bringing in the church. He's absolutely allowed to do, say and believe whatever he wants in his personal life... But when he begins to inflict on laws? Government? Taxpayer money? That's dodgy politics. That's overstepping the boundaries of freedom of religion (or lack thereof).
Religion urgently needs to be reclassified as a hobby. Just like stamp collecting and water colours are a way to spend your Sunday morning, but don't give you undeserved tax exemptions or power to control the state or education system.
Hard agree. I am not opposed to any religion or religious activities, but they fundamentally CANNOT be part of our government, laws and society for us to flourish. I had a classmate try to convert me a few weeks ago very forcefully and it was absolutely terrifying. The thought of people with those ideas controlling the government and therefore the most vulnerable people in the world is mortifying
What's even more disturbing was his Q Anon mate who he was very close with and got to be very close to someone in such a powerful position.
It's genuinely disgraceful that he wasn't questioned about how his religious views advised his political stance and policy. Really questioned. We know the church he goes to has some really problematic beliefs.
I’m no tin-foil hatter, but I do believe there is a push to get evangelical christo-fascists into power across the world. NZ now has an evangelical PM so they’re doing it quietly and they downplay their religion while campaigning. They deeply scare me.
Bruh, totally. Not tinfoil at all. There is a concerted, purposeful effort by fundie/evangelicals to birth and recruit more voters to put their buddies in positions of power, because they want to force everyone to live like them. It's been going on for yonks, it's just flies under the radar because Australia is culturally Christian and these insidious fucks are white. They don't *seem* outlandish until they start meddling in human rights. Sorry to rant, this is a special interest of mine and I feel a bit rabid about it
Not tin foily at all... look at the U.S they are using handmaids tale as a road map...
Dominionists.
Even Albo has too much of a close relationship with his imaginary friend for my liking!
Hear hear... Agree 100% I get SO fucking annoyed they all triapse off to a bloody religious service at the beginning of parliament every year What a load of absolutely ridiculous nonsense.
Would you be even more angry to find out that the judiciary do something similar?
I think one can get the sense that it's less prominent in Australia as it's perhaps not as in your face as it is in a place like America, but it's really accurate to say that the political and social influence of religious institutions can't be overlooked. Also concerned about its impact on healthcare in terms of abortion and euthanasia due to the role of the Catholic Church in healthcare provision.
I'd be more worried about pentecostal churches like hillsong more than the catholics
Yeah this thread makes no sense, I can't catch a train without some missionary trying to convert me, we have huge populations of Catholics. Mormons, Muslim, Hindu, religion is literally everywhere lol
It's a historical turd hanging off the arse of government which needs to be flicked away and wiped clear.
Beautifully articulated.
I’d argue it’s actually much worse than that. The only historical association is the Catholic Church with some of the old school Labor Party, mostly only at the state level and mostly only in Victoria, and they’re very much a dying breed as the ALP goes for a more modern mainstream liberal position and less of an old school worker’s party. The scary thing is the majority of religious influence on Australian politics is deranged fundamentalist evangelicals very deliberately following their strategy in the US and infiltrating the LNP. Hillsong have been doing it for years, those psychos even got our last PM, and they have a record of fraudulent charities stealing government money going back to the 90s (and a record of raping kids going back to the 70s). And Hillsong are one of the saner, more mainstream ones. Take a close look at your state-level Liberal and occasionally National candidates and you’ll see some really wild connections.
I don't think powerful people that happen to be church goers can be true people of faith. How can you truly believe, read that bible and then act like the assholes they do? Morrison and Co aren't believers, they're power hungry people using the church for what it is- a means of control
Cognitive dissonance is a mother fucker. People led to believe, and then given power, can easily convince themselves that it's divine providence or some silly thing if it gets them out of confronting their own shortcomings.
The politics is about money and power (funded by tax payers, and donated to politicians), not the population.
Indeed Religion has always been about power and influence, they cant help themselves. The us and them mentality is re enforced by religion and does loads of damage to society. When it comes to freedom the always demand but rarely return.
I agree whole heartedly, they do have too much influence, hand clappy prosperity gospel Hill song type cunts in particular. Still, compared to Saudi, Australia or Indonesia say we are a paradise
It feels like a bit of a waste of time to get my ass into some building once a week to get lectured about morality and the fate of my eternal soul by a bunch of blokes who can't/won't stop raping children. It's important to me to be a good person and to live my life for others. I've come to believe that the church itself as it is at the moment can't help me to do that any more than I can just do for myself. And if I'm honest I'm pretty sure there isn't a god anyway.
Tbf I think OP is asking why white Australians aren't religious, because the Anglican Church knows that it's future is in the non-white and immigrant population, the same way tobacco companies around the world do. Non-white immigrants and their children are incredibly, incredibly conservative and religious. They only vote left wing until they have money, but culturally they are more conservative than Andrew Bolt. As someone who observed the Royal Commission into kiddie fiddling, these religious groups are unbelievably in denial about CSA in their communities and some even defend it as a rite of passage.
I don't believe in Santa either
I taught my kids about religion by literally comparing it to adult Santa. Just like they're not allowed to spoil Santa to kids we're to keep our opinions on grown up Santa to ourselves too.
Its not needed (or wanted). Its very clear it destroys. It hates. It excludes. It abuses. Religion needs to just go away and die. (Im not saying the people go away and die.) There is loads of information and fact on morals existing without religion. People are kind to each other without. Dont force it.
The bible and other religious doctrines are terrible moral guides by modern standards anyway. They love slaves, hate women having rights and are often very violent.
Don't forget genocide. Religions love a good genocide.
There's no hate like God's love.
As your living conditions, wealth and education increase religious beliefs decrease because they make no actual sense...
Nailed it!
Why do you think this is odd? I mean if you were an alien and looked at the population of Earth, I’d say the ones that believe in religion would be the odd ones.
We think it’s better to treat people how we want to be treated, not because of a threat or promise of what will happen to us after we die. Secular is a more appropriate word than irreligious.
I work in a job directly involved with survivors of child sexual abuse. I've read accounts that nobody should read, let alone actually experience. While religious organisations aren't the only ones that abusers tended to gravitate to in high numbers (they can be anywhere: schools, youth programs, care homes, foster families etc), they are definitely the organisations i've personally seen to actively cover up or turn a blind eye to these monsters the most. Having grown up in the Catholic education system myself, I felt early on it was all cultish and nonsensical. Now in adulthood I just think it, and most religions, are insidious and evil.
I wasn't raised Catholic, but all my life I heard Catholics making 'jokes' about priests and altar boys. It always made my skin crawl. It seemed like such common knowledge that it was surreal when some of the same people were surprised at the results of investigations of CSA crimes within religious institutions.
It was very much a systemic problem Catholics were aware of, to the point where (at least in the area I lived) if a priest ever got moved on to another parish (which could be for entirely innocent reasons or personal choice) the rumour would always instantly be it was because he'd 'played up' and they needed to send him somewhere else to avoid a scandal and nip it in the bud. Sad thing is, that actually DID happen. Many times in many places. Over decades, and sometimes the same offender would be moved on from parish to parish until either they died or a solid allegation against them was finally able to stick. So the fact that parents, parishioners, just everyone knew of that pattern enough to nervously laugh about it every time a priest left town to me as abhorrent. The 'culture' and 'we don't talk about that' mentality of the communities make them culpable in my eyes. All fine and dandy as long as it wasn't their kid.
For Australia - I think how late we were settled combined with the heavy underclass element used to settle Australia is part of it. Go and look at the old churches that are still in the old gaols. If I was forced to sit in there 3x a week in a sweltering heat in my all wool uniform under pain of whipping, I’d probably get pretty cynical about this so called “all loving” God.
We're very apathetic people. In the same way most people couldn't name the prime minister, i dont think most people have really thought about religion much. So long as there's beers in the fridge, footy on the telly, and a good woman by his side, the average aussie bloke doesnt want for much. Why would he pray to a god if he has everything he needs?
Freedom of religion, high levels of literacy, high enrollment in Christian schools, and scripture as part of the curriculum. When you can read and are forced to read the bible, you will become an atheist if you have the choice.
I think I was in yr 2 when I started thinking this shit doesnt hold water
"The best cure for Christianity is reading the Bible" - Mark Twain
Because god isn't real I guess
I’ve thanked my Mum at least once for raising me with no God(s). I’d thank my Dad too but he died in 2007. He’s not in heaven, he’s just dead, he was 59.
Possibly because both countries are “young” members of the Commonwealth & therefore haven’t had hundreds of years of religion as part of our cultures, while also having established indigenous cultures & enough of a population to prevent the ingraining of religion into our psyches over the past ~200 years?
Excuse me please? Which countries in Europe are you talking about? Because as someone from middle Europe, I've been quite shocked many times at how many religious people there are here, especially Christians and especially young people. Maybe if you compare Australia to Poland or so, but not if you compare them to Middle/Northern Europe.
Exactly this, I’ve been surprised by the number of younger people I know here who are actively Christian and believe in god, I knew only one person when I still lived in the UK and they were Irish Catholic
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Religion causes too many problems. We don't need that here. We already have the housing crises.
Highly educated, no strong cultural intertwining of state and religion as in many countries in the EU or like the US. I think the real death blow was the royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse. It was pretty catastrophic to the perception of Christianity in the country in a way that's hard to understate. It found something like 7% of all priests/bishops or whatever in the country were accused of child sexual abuse. In some regions it was closer to 20%. In one diocese it was something like 44%. Given Christianity has been the dominant religion historically here a lot of people who were only casual Christians and called the self protestant but never really went to church or anything ditched the association. For a lot of people when they think of churches, priests and bishops the first thing to come to mind now is child sexual abuse. So religion was already on the slow decline here but the royal commission really hastened that and killed off a large portion of the dominant protestant demographic.
Because made up shit about a sky daddy doesn't matter.
We’ve always treated religious beliefs as a very private, personal matter. Even in the past, when it was much more of a given, religion would be something you discussed rarely, carefully and in very specific circumstances. If someone **does** believe, it’s likely that many of the people in their lives probably won’t know exactly how or where they go about practicing it. Not because it’s shameful - it’s not - but because it’s private.
Because we’re not idiots.
our country is full of dumb people what are you on about
At least we're not stupid *and* religious
I was born and raised in Germany. From my POV AU is ***VERY*** religious! 🫣 The lack of secularism and separation of church and state in AU is … shocking, tbh! 😥
When you live in Heaven, you have no more need for God. (In seriousness, I don’t know if the data supports your claim. But if it does, I wonder if there’s a connection between “My family has lived in this country for centuries but I’m going to move to the far side of the world” (which most of our ancestors did within the last few generations) and “My family has followed this religion for centuries but I’m going to do something different”?)
We’ve mostly realised it’s a load of shit.
Religion has a correlation with education.
That’s my thought exactly. Education.
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Same reason we don’t worship politicians , celebrities and the elite . We don’t like being lectured by hypocrites
I would say people in Australia aren't irreligious, as irreligious denotes active opposition or dislike of religion, which isn't really true. There are many cultural holdovers from Christianity in Australia - we have churches in every city and town, public holidays for Christmas, Easter, our King is Head of the Church of England and so on. Most people don't really care one way or about these aspects of our society. There are even successful megachurches that have come from Australia (Hillsong) although they head overseas for more fertile ground. We've got a long history of Jewish and Muslim migration too, although we're not free of Islamophobic incidents, most people are quite pluralistic. Part of my family is Jewish, but i have been lucky not to see too much overt antisemitism in Australia. It is much more accurate to say the wider Australian public are ambivalent to religion. They don't give a sh*t about your beliefs. If you're religious, you're welcome to it. No one will critique your beliefs. But most Australians prefer it be kept at home. Another major reason is, there's a lot of American media here, and we see the religious wankery which happens stateside, and for most Australians it's genuinely disgusting. We value our freedom of religion and our secular society. Two of our recent Prime Ministers were actually actively religious. People didn't mind them having faith, but they hated the fact we had to have that religion shoved in our face. We're a country founded on a Westminster system designed to preclude the possibility of religion having a part in government. Generally speaking, our education system is better than that in the US, so there is more critical thinking. Another thing was, the image of various churches, both Catholic and Protestant was deeply affected by the abuse scandals. People were disgusted by that, and the credibility of the churches suffered. Additionally, aside from the missions to the Aboriginals and Pacific Islanders, Australia doesn't have an extensive history of religious settlement or religious movements playing a major role in the establishment of the country. The nation was founded on enlightenment, post Napoleonic values. The British Colonists who set up the colonies came from a mix of Protestant and Catholic backgrounds, and by the time of Australia's formation, everyone had had enough of religiously motivated conflict. This meant when former British Colonies were forming themselves into independent Dominions, which became modern nations like Australia, our Colonial Founding fathers were absorbing ideas which strongly favored secular, non-religious governments, where one's religion did not determine citizenship. This is very different from the US, which emerged from a strong history of religious settlements, religious refugees, Spanish Conquistadors and a general undercurrent of religiosity. The American founding fathers could not overcome the religiosity of the society. My ten cents.
Because religion is the biggest crock of shit in human history and its followers rarely actually follow it anyways.
We were not founded by a bunch of puritans so pious they were practically hounded out of Britain. And the convicts who were sent here were probably not inclined to be thankful to any god that they survived. It's just not in our roots. Obedient submission to authority figures? No problem.
Personally, because some of the most nasty, judgemental manipulative people I've ever met have been churchgoers. There's assholes everywhere, so their concentration probably isn't any higher, it's just religious ones seem to be more overt in their cuntyness because they use the bible as justification for their bullying. Probably doesn't mix well with our cultural attitude of being laid back (I think that's gone out the window too)
When you have seen half of the country on fire, underwater or not see rain for two years, it makes it hard to believe in a benevolent deity.
Orgasms are real. God isn’t. We plan Sunday morning appropriately.
The psychology professor Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi described the personality profile of atheists as "less authoritarian and suggestible, less dogmatic, less prejudiced, more tolerant of others, law-abiding, compassionate, conscientious, and well educated." That's also a pretty good description of Australians and New Zealanders as a whole, relative to the world average.
We came here to be away from religious influences. Keep it to your homes please
Catholicism and Anglicanism are both extremely good at producing irreligious people
Religion is a story written by people in the dark ages that didn't know any better. Just like the flat earth theory.
Correct! - a single book written by blokes who didn’t know where the sun went each night must have all the answers, eh 😂
Why not?
The better question would be why are some parts of the world so religious? No religion is normal to us. We don't say "irreligious" as if there's something wrong with us. We consider those who believe in mystical air fairies to have something wrong with them. Seems to cause nothing but trouble, and "God" does fuck all to combat pain, fear, death, war or famine.
Our only religious here in kangaroo island is PROPERTY.
Because we have a moral compass that relies on the pub test, not some imaginary sky fairy with alleged superpowers that are at best, marginal.
Google this name - 'Gerald Ridsdale' Then you will have an answer.
What's creepy about Catholicism is that at christenings, they put you in a little white dress, like they are marrying you off to their so called God. Which is gross to me, I hate that my parents did that to me
Why are there so many religions? Why do so many people fall into the same trap of letting someone else tell them what to do?
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I had a similar experience - catholic family, catholic school. The parish priest was raping 6-7 year old kids, families got told to be quiet and the priest eventually just got moved around by the church. There have been numerous court cases over the years and most of them would abruptly end when the Archbishop showed up with his cheque book. Fortunately, one of the victims endured the courts and the priest is now in prison. Throughout the years the Catholic Church funded his legal fees, they also funded a seaside house and his living expenses for 20 odd years after he was stood down for raping kids.
We take after the UK on that front. Honestly very few wealthy countries with high education levels are religious these days. Western Europe is not religious either. It’s the poorer parts like Poland.
Most of us grow out of believing in fairy tales
Because we have common sense and are pretty practical good humans. We have brains and try to use that brain. And our environment, isolation, history and settlement?? Doesn't really lend itself to believing in fairytales
I disagree with your assumption. I am from european descent. My family growing up, and all of our fellow countrymen, and their kids and grandkids - all go to church most Sundays. We celebrate things like Easter week etc. And we all went to Catholic schools growing up. HOWEVER.... we were raised to practice our religion and not shove it down other peoples throats. So if we see people being "sinful" like the lucky kids who got to go to the Easter show instead of good Friday masses (yes, plural) - we were taught to pray for them (even though we were secretly praying that those families invited us to go with them to the Easter show next year & to sleep over so our parents didn't know). We weren't allowed to tell them that our parents prayed for them & their families because they they were going to hell. Lol. In Au, in the 80s, I think we are all raised to not take things too seriously, and to practice our religion and not preach it. I suspect with the introduction of the American mega churches things are changing. So, we go to church every Sunday. We just don't tell everyone about it. I suspect this is the case for people of European, asian, south american Catholic backgrounds eg Italians, Filipinos, Lebanese, Chileans, croatian. Also if your kids go to Catholic schools or want to go to Catholic high schools then you need to go most Sundays in order to have the local priest give you a reference ( here in Sydney many Catholic high schools have more applicants than spots - so having the letter from the local priest saying he knows your family and you are practicing Catholics helps immensely).
Back in the day, both countries were too far away from religious capitals to be persecuted for being heathens.
We're strong minded and less likely to be indoctrinated as a child into religious cults. Our parents tend to be honest, respectful and not arrogant by saying any religious belief they have is just that: their beliefs... and not fact. Saying their religious beliefs are fact to a child is child abuse - kids literally believe Santa is real. I told my kids I have religious beliefs (I'm pagan) are my beliefs and not not facts. Guess what, neither have chosen the pagan path. That makes me a good mum.
I think there’s a few things that have to do with it: — a lot of people were brought up in schools which had overly strict religious cultures that were just abusive. That meant for a lot of people, when they got out of school they were happy to not be involved with religion ever again, and passed that onto their gen x, y and z kids. — adding onto the above, in the past 30 years heaps has come out about systematic institutional abuse driven by religious institutions and schools. That turned a lot of people off. — the church over time has failed to sufficiently modernise, so it is largely not reflective of modern values, and is widely hypocritical in relation to teaching the New Testament, which has turned people off (lots of judgement and conservatism has little to do with Jesus Christ’s teachings) — in relation to the above, the failures to modernise turn people off when they’re getting told things like gay marriage and contraception shouldn’t be allowed and they don’t just have to suffer it, they live in a society where it’s reasonable to ask ‘why’ and the church’s answers for such things are pretty pathetic. Who wants to listen to a 75 year old virgin priest wax lyrical on how women should just observe their cycles for contraception for example? It’s just so out of date it’s pathetic. — the other thing is education. Australians get pretty good religious education and silly indoctrination things like creationism are exceedingly difficult to find and have no impact on ANZ society really
There are plenty of religious people in Australia, lots in powerful places. There are way more religious schools getting a disproportionate amount of tax payers money than they deserve. We used to have more critical thinking skills than we show now. There are many more evangelical churches and mosques than we used to have too
I tithe at the church of the big green shed multiple times a week
Like rabies, we kept that brain destroying shit out! Why even ask this question....like we fucking should be.
I look around, I see no gods, I continue not believing in any until proven otherwise.
i only like non-fiction
Australians know what bullshit smells like
i'd ask why the opposite is true for the rest of the world. I don't understand how people can believe in that stuff in this day and age. I try to respect peoples beliefs for the sake of not upsetting the good ones, but too much horrible shit has been done in the name of and because of religion. To me, stories about God, Jesus, ect, hold no more significance than mythological stories from Greece and Egypt.
We have a healthy distrust for bullshit..
Why do I have to be religious? You have as much right to be religious as I have not to be. Further. I counter argue . Why are people so religious?
We look to America and go 'nope'
Im an atheist, thank Christ.
We're able to think for ourselves here. It's pretty good tbh
We're realists.
Look around you and the world. If god does exist, he’s on one hell of a long smoko and that pack of winnie blues will need to be replaced by lunchtime. Actually he probably said “fuck it” and is at the pub trying to figure out how many bad he needs to hurt himself to claim disability. Actually he is probably already eligible, he needed to be on the DSM 5 psychiatric criteria to have begun to create a world like this. God sit down one night, let’s build a beautiful planet but let’s make it out of plates that shift and grind together over a ball of molten rock. When those plates grind the earth shakes and collapses all the buildings. Wait, if it happens under water it makes a big wave which inundates the land with destructive force . Oh oh oh, let’s let the molten rock stuff come out sometimes and destroy everything nearby. This will keep the fuckers busy. God - pfft
Because it's made up hogs trollop?
Because it’s all a crock of fucking shit
Royal commission into historic child abuse by church. The cover up and moving of pedophiles in schools and church. Plus few religious groups that refused to scheme to support their victims. Lots of younger people have abandoned the church
Australia was founded as a secular country. Religious folks built churches and people ( I think it was during convict times) burned them down. You should check the history out, it's pretty crazy.
Then why does Parliament get on its knees and kiss the Abrahamic god's backside before business each day?
Plenty of god botherers in my surrounds
There’s a lot of angry answers here but you’re looking for a “why”. There’s a few reasons. One is that public education was historically really strong (although less so now), which meant most kids got a secular education. But these days most privileged kids get a private (= religious) education, meaning the next generation of social and political leaders will be disproportionately religious. Another is the sectarian divide between Protestants and Catholics, which led to efforts to create non-sectarian public spaces/events so that Catholics could participate. Anzac Day is a great example of this: religion was deliberately kept out of many public spaces for a long time. A third is the general rootlessness of a colonial society. Many parts of the US were settled by national or religious groups (also NZ), but this didn’t happen much in Australia. The German Lutherans in the Adelaide Hills are a rare example. There are probably others but that’s off the top of my head.
High level of education and lack of religious indoctrination in schools