The Sydney areas that embraced ‘no religion’ and those that are more devout | niltiac
. When grouped together with those who selected secular beliefs and other spiritual beliefs such as atheism, agnosticism, humanism, rationalism and personal spiritual beliefs, that figure was a tad higher, at 38.9 per cent of the population.
“I do not believe that there has been any distortion in the data whatsoever,” Allen says. “In fact, I’m surprised the proportion of people saying ‘no religion’ didn’t increase more [than it did].”Allen says secularism is on the rise internationally, at least in wealthy countries similar to Australia.
But Jensen also argues that people answering “no religion” may not be a statement of outright atheism so much as a rejection of organised religion., a five-yearly research project backed by Uniting Church, Anglicare Sydney and BaptistCare. This found in 2019 that 61 per cent of Australians believe in God or a higher power.This was true for mystery writer Pamela Hart, 62, who lives in the inner west – one of the most secular parts of Sydney.
Hart wants Australia to maintain separation of church and state, and says religious institutions that offer medical services, aged care, schooling or any other type of care should adhere to the same standards as other institutions.Credit:Hart maintains a personal belief in God, but is happy with her choice to select “no religion” to signify her rejection of organised religion.
A narrow majority of residents in the City of Sydney and Inner West Council areas selected “no religion” for the first time. The LGAs of the Blue Mountains, North Sydney, Northern Beaches, Willoughby, Waverley, Ku-ring-gai, Lane Cove, Mosman and the Central Coast also clocked “no religion” responses higher than the national average.
The Sutherland Shire and Hunters Hill were the next most Christian LGAs. The Hills District, famous for Hillsong Church and often referred to as Sydney’s bible belt, is only the eighth most Christian LGA, at 51 per cent Christian, 18 per cent other religions, and 27 per cent no religion.
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