Australia And Religious Diversity

      Colonial North America was a multifaceted melting pot of diversities. The amalgamation of different ethnicities, races, cultures and religious organizations created a circumstance in which the identities of the English, Native Americans, Africans and Germans were far from static. The interactions between these four groups helped to build the history of North America, and as such it is pertinent to understand the evolution of their identities. While old world traditions and increased interaction with cultural outsiders predominantly shaped the identities of English colonizers, religious appropriation and reinterpretation

Ecumenism, in the sense of Australian Christianity, is the religious initiative towards unity within the Christian church. It is the promotion of co-operation and improved understanding between distinct religious groups or denominations within Christianity and other religions.

Smaller gatherings of Dutch Mennonites, Jews, and German Baptists joined larger congregations of Quakers, Anglicans, Dutch Reforms, Lutherans, and Presbyterians to create a uniquely diverse religious society. Not as cohesive as the New England colonies, the colonists in this region were not united by a single religion or code of beliefs, demonstrating that one ultimate religion should not stand above the rest. Some of the aspects that aided in the religious revolution that occurred in the Mid-Atlantic colonies was New York’s allowance for the establishment of churches, relying on money from taxes to support themselves financially, and the leadership of Quakers, whose religious tolerance encouraged other parishioners to stand up for their own views. Overtime, these mixing of beliefs blurred the religious differences and paved the way for a greater acceptance of variance, staging the world’s most complex experience with spiritual

The present religious landscape in Australia is one that has changed significantly from 1945 up until now. Christianity is still currently the most popular religious tradition in Australia, however has seen a steady decrease in numbers due peoples interests in other religions and a non religious focused society. Due to immigration Australia has seen significant increases in followers of Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism. Because of Australia’s consumeristic society, denominational switching has become more common, especially in the Protestant denomination. New Age religions have become increasingly popular recently due to peoples search for individual fulfilment, in the form of happiness, health and meaning in life. Secularism in Australia is now a belief that forefronts society due to scientific discovery and individualism.

Distinct religion flood all over the colonies, southern english colonies held the Anglican traditions, quaker beliefs spread throughout the middle region, and puritans, calvinism, protestantism, presbyterian and many more advance the religious variety in the English colonies. The religious differences variously affected the social and constitutional norms in the regions. Religions such as calvinism played an important in shaping the New England colonies, like Massachusetts, since they imposed laws influencing their society and politics, while some religion like Quaker and Anglican didn’t really have a major role in the government’s politics. People became more aware of how religion affected them and this brought forth movements that challenged the traditional doctrines such as Various ethnic groups also aided on the diversification of the colonies, since they brought with them their different beliefs and share it with others. This, initially, caused conflict since others wanted to preserve their culture so they only encouraged marriage in the same race

"Religious Pluralism in the Middle Colonies, Divining America, TeacherServe®, National Humanities Center." Religious Pluralism in the Middle Colonies, Divining America, TeacherServe®, National Humanities Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Aug. 2014.

Religion played a key role in colonial America and caused a great deal of conflict and confusion among the colonist. There were religions in the New World that did not tolerate each other. Some people, like the Quakers, wanted religious freedom from the Puritans. Some people believed in strange superstitions that alienated non-believers. Some people believed government and religion should be the same although government eventually became separated from religion. If the New World in the colonies was to be successful for the most people, the conflict between the many religions would have to be addressed.

Christianity is the major religious tradition today and has been since around 1945. Many of the British who first came to Australia, either as convicts or free settlers were Christians. They formed the huge base for Christianity to rise to the top religion in Australia before they began to let more immigrants enter. In the 1947 census, 88% of the population (not including Aboriginals because they were not considered in the census) stated they were Christian. The remaining 12% was mostly people who didn’t respond to the question. Today not much has changed the percentage of Christians has slightly decreased because of a rise in new religions. In the census of 2011 it is seen that out of 21.5 million people just under half, 42% classed themselves as Christian and around 8% said they were of a different religion. The number of people who said they had no religion was hugely increased at around 25%per cent. Today, even with the growing amount of Islam Buddhism and Hinduism, Christianity still remains the major religious tradition.

In this essay, I will be discussing religious and economic factors that had an effect on early colonists in North America. I believe the colonists were under strict religious rule, therefore effecting how they did their trading with the people around them, whether they be Indians or other Englishmen. I also believe the colonists used religion as a crutch to help them get through their hardships that they had to face. They came to America for religious freedom and I’m sure they took advantage of that. Although we may never know the exact thoughts of every man, woman, and child in North America during this time, we do have sufficient evidence regarding their religious practices and trading routes and habits.

The study of faith in colonial America is one of the most well established historiographies in the field, but much like Atlantic history it has gone through several iterations over the years. An excellent Starting point is William Warren Sweet’s Religion in Colonial America is an excellent example of old school longue duree history, covering the span of 300 hundred years in an attempt to catalog every Religion in early America. Widely considered a starting reference for any study of

In early american history, colonies were founded for many different reasons, whether it was for political, social, or economic purposes. Colonies were very diverse from one another, yet shared some similarities. One may wonder, how did religion shape colonial society? The answer to this can be found by looking through the facts about colonial New England and Chesapeake.

Religion in the British North American colonies had greatly shaped, defined and allowed growth in the seventeenth-century. The Europeans that colonized North America brought with them a form of religion unaccepted in their previous home. America was a refuge for settlers who wanted to practice religion freely. With so many people coming overseas due to religion, it had greatly impacted the nation and how it began from a very early time. The presence of religion in the seventeenth-century British North America colonies contributed to the communities, social structures, revenue, and ideologies that formed.

Australia, as a secular nation, declares freedom for all citizens in its constitution. However, it appears for influence of Christianity is still prevalent in its political agenda. This Christian influence comes from Australia’s settlement in 1788. The underlying Christian influence affects the political agenda in many ways: 2 of which are marriage equality, and inequality for same-sex couples in adoption and surrogacy laws.

This scoping task will explore the reclamation of faith by the LGBT+ community in Australia. It will specifically highlight the different ways members of the Australian LGBT+ community are reclaiming faith and what it means to reclaim one’s faith. The reclamation of faith refers to the phenomenon of subsets of society whose lives would have traditionally been ruined or oppressed by religious institutions calling out the truth that all people, not just a select few are created equal in dignity and respect from birth. This is a global movement, not unique to any one country or faith. However, within Australia, it is mainly seen within the Abrahamic religions.

Conflicts in the Northern Colonies were driven largely by economic and class considerations, namely the significant increase in trade between the Northern colonies and Europe that existed in the mid-seventeenth century. As trade and mercantilism grew in these colonies, hostility between the Puritan Church and those engaging in trade and fiscal exchange grew significantly. The Puritan’s attempts for an ideal religious community in the Northern Colonies was threatened by the rise of trade, pushing