The Days Of God By Reginald Bibby Summary

Religion is a pivotal aspect in society to date with a diverse array of religions known to be practised in Australia, creating opportunities to embrace individuality though also sparking social divisions. French sociologist, Emile Durkheim described religion as “a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that is to say, things set apart and forbidden -- beliefs and practices which unite into one single moral community”(Jones, 2011). So how does religion influence Australian society? With a vast incline in religions practised in Australia, it is extremely feasible to presume that it does affect Australia significantly. It is through cultural diversity, morality and ethics and laws in which the true relevance of religion in Australian society can be identified.

The next decade witnessed Sunday’s popularity rise by leaps and bounds. Such was his escalating popularity that his followers failed to accommodate in town halls and churches.

In the novel title “The Lost History of Christianity”, author Philip Jenkins attempts to convey the message that there are many aspects of Christianity that are unknown to Christian followers today. Jenkins start by implying that Christianity essentially starts in Northern Mesopotamia. Jenkins then traces the history of Christianity from Africa to the Arab world to the heart of Asia, in what he consider to be the “golden age” of Christianity. He informs the readers of the stories of churches and movements that thrived over a millennium and then largely died out, though there are remnants of these churches here and there, spread across different parts of the world. Jenkins is a firm believer that Westerners are blinded by the impression the Christianity began in Europe and Northern America, and believe that in some ways they are superior among other religions. Jenkins suggest, “When they think about Christian history, most modern Westerners follow the book of Acts in concentrating on the church 's expansion west, through Greece and the Mediterranean world, and on to Rome. But while some early Christians were indeed moving west, many other believers-probably in greater numbers-journeyed east along the land routes, through what we today call Iraq and Iran, where they built great and enduring churches. Because of its location-close to Roman frontier, but just far enough beyond it to avoid heavy-handed interference-Mesopotamia or Iraq retained a powerful terms of the number and

Martel demonstrates that new English nationalistic ideas (in response to immigration) brought new threats of assimilation towards this identity, particularly to French-Canadian citizens not living in Quebec.  French-Canadians, originally hesitant to colonize these Western Canadian areas were now encouraged to protect them as they saw these nations as isolated communities of French culture.  Finally, both Lacombe and Laplante demonstrate that when the Catholic Church had less influence on political and social institutions, the church became less of a defining concept of the French-Canadian identity.  These three, when grouped together, also provide a chronological overview of the rise and fall of Catholic influence among French-Canadian citizens.  Lacombe provides the reasons for the rise during the nineteenth century, and its subsequent decline in the early twentieth century.  Martel demonstrates how French-Canadian citizens were motivated to preserve their Catholic identity when they began to lose control of the Catholic dioceses outside Quebec during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Laplante explores the transition of Quebec to a more secular province in the 1960s, where the Catholic Church gave way for the province of Quebec to provide the national identity of French-Canadian citizens.

Another challenge concerning the Millennials is that a lot of these young adults are growing up without attending church. The Barna group calls them the unchurched segment and report that this segment has increased in the last 10 years, from 44% to 52% (5 Reasons). This is a problem because it decreases the chances for new members to join the church. The majority of people that follows a specific religion learned about that religion in early childhood. Students of human behavior believe that “The most significant borrowing occurs in early childhood. Family is thus an important factor…” (Wuthnow 106). If the number of the unchurched segment continues to grow at this pace, in the next few decades, this will continue to be a major concern for church leaders across the Americas. It is a lot harder to try to reach those people that have never attended church or don’t come from a religious background than try to reach those that belong to a church or have been brought up in the faith.

Sociologists argue that in Britain, there has been an overall steady decline in the importance of religion since the 19th century, which has led some sociologists to suggest there was a ‘golden age’ of religiosity. Many sociologists have proposed explanations for the secularisation thesis, for example Weber, Berger and Bruce. However Postmodernists criticise the secularisation theory as they believe that religion hasn’t declined it has just become modernised. Other theories, such as religious market theory and existential security theory, also go against the view that Britain is becoming a secular society as they believe religion takes form in

Simple things like going to work and school and just pure laziness have overtaken the importance of going to religious services. According to the website Oxford Research Encyclopedia it said, “In the post–World War II era, religious contexts supported the emergence of the modern Civil Rights movement.” This explains that after the war religion was very prompt in a family of this period and it lead to a Civil Rights movement which would ultimately end segregation. Now according to a study on 8th grade students they said that only 35% of the students go to religious services frequently and the rest of the students either go sometimes, on holidays, or not at all. This evidence proves how students and families used to go to religious services much more in the 1950’s than they do now.

Certain liberties have existed within our law that provide all Canadians with basic rights of culture, including the protection of religious expression. However, these religious freedoms begin to diminish when the notion of a European-centred religious atmosphere begins to develop, protecting the classic set of Christian beliefs which enact that there is no specific place where a Christian must practice faith and it is wherever they may go. (Reid, 2015) This becomes problematic when contrasting it with the many different forms of indigenous faith that were present in Canada upon the birth of residential schools, most of which show specific ties to the land which therefore go unprotected within Canadian law as shipping somebody off to a residential school does not account for many aspects of their religion. As Reid further states, “a principal difference between indigenous religion and traditions like mainstream Christianity is the fact that indigenous religion is specific [to] its location: its modes and styles cannot be detached from the modes and styles of a community’s life in a particular place.” (Reid, 2015) Therefore, we can clearly see a great deal of bias within the Canadian laws definition of what religious freedom entails, and how this definition proves to be one-sided to the European colonizers. The church also issued many

The increase in pluralism and materialism within the world, alongside the societies pursuit of individualism and dissatisfaction with traditional religions gave rise to the formation of secularism. (Woodhead, 2016) Secularism involves two theorems. The first being the strict separation of the church and state and the second is the equality before the law provided to all different religions and beliefs (National Secular Society, 2016). This trend is most evident through the significant increase in numbers of the Australian population in the no religion category from 0.3% in 1947 to 0.8% in 1966 and to 16.6% by 1996.

According to Bill Hull, “While certain pockets of evangelicalism have grown, overall, the church is in a decline. Many congregations can attest to Hull’s assessment, in that, churches in America are indeed experiencing sharp declines in its numbers of baptisms and church attendance. Over

“American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us,” by Robert D. Putnam and David E. Campbell, and “America and the Challenges of Religious Diversity,” by Robert Wuthnow, give different thoughts to religion and politics in the United States. Putnam and Campbell utilize the concepts of shocks and aftershocks to highlight religious changes in the United States. On the other hand, Wuthnow uses observations to focus on the encounters of religious diversity in the United States. Wuthnow compares American Christianity with other popular religions in America and how Christianity has affected the perception of religion. Putnam and Campbell’s “American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us” is a more persuasive assessment of American religion and politics.

Religion, as defined by the High Court of Australia, is ‘a complex of beliefs and practices which point to a set of values and an understanding of the meaning of existence’ (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2005) and can be studied either substantively or functionally (Berger 1974:126). Substantive studies of religion fall predominantly in the realm of theology and are more concerned with defining religious beliefs; their historical accuracy; and the existence of supernatural entities (Holmes, Hughes & Julian 2007:425). Sociology however, concerns itself primarily with the relationship between religion and society, examining religion as a social construction (Van Krieken et al. 2010:350-1) and concerned only with the substance of

In this course, I found the connection between religion and politics the most important concept we’ve studied. With engagement and understanding of politics becoming increasingly important, it’s valuable to study the ways people both interact with politics and form their political opinions—and as we’ve seen, religion can play a huge role in both of these aspects. However, the way religious groups engage with politics can perhaps be generalizing when discussing major religions, seeing as these groups are often widely diverse and brimming with unique experiences. Therefore, I believe it is just as important to discuss the political dimension of religion with the social influences of ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and the interrelations between them.

We need to pay close attention to the effects of secularism: confining the role of religion to the private domain of the individual and creating a dichotomy between "religious" and "worldly," between "private" and "public." It denies religion and its mediating institutions any public function and influence in shaping matters of public policy.

Religious Fundamentalism is not a modern phenomenon, although, there has received a rise in the late twentieth century. It occurs differently in different parts of the world but arises in societies that are deeply troubled or going through a crisis (Heywood, 2012, p. 282). The rise in Religious Fundamentalism can be linked to the secularization thesis which implies that victory of reason over religion follows modernization. Also, the moral protest of faiths such as Islam and Christianity can be linked to the rise of Religious Fundamentalism, as they protest the influence of corruption and pretence that infiltrate their beliefs from the spread of secularization (Heywood, 2012, p. 283). Religious Fundamentalists have followed a traditional