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In this challenging and provocative book, Tom Frame, one of Australia's best - known writers on religion and society, examines diminishing theological belief and declining denominational affiliation. He argues that Australia has never been a very religious nation but that few Australians have deliberately rejected belief - most simply can't see ...
Prepared over a period of nearly 10 years, it is the distillation of the thoughts of around a thousand Quakers with an interest in spiritual subjects. It includes inspirational writings and personal stories about challenge and opportunity, which reflect on the geography and social history of Australia. Chapters are arranged under subject headings such as Experiences of the Spirit, Images of God, Silence and stillness, Faith in action, Prayer, Truthfulness and integrity, Simplicity and peace, Life stages and challenges and Indigenous people. This book can be used for personal study and meditation, for group work or just for inspiration. Includes an extensive glossary, sources, index and history of the Quaker movement in Australia.
Australians have been slow to appreciate the rich variety of their religious inheritance. Believing in Australia is a much-needed cultural history of Australia's many religions which goes well beyond existing studies of denominationalism. Hilary Carey traces the changes in religions practice brought by waves of migration, including European occupation and the post-war growth of Orthodox, Jewish, Muslim and Buddhist communities. She also examines the slow European discovery of Aboriginal religions, the vital importance of religion for women and the recent growth of Christian fundamentalism and New Age sects. Believing in Australia demonstrates the central place of religion in the Australian experience and offers an engaging introduction to Australia's religious history for believers and non-believers alike. 'A landmark book: it opens up major new themes in Australian history which demand attention.' - Edmund Campion, Catholic Institute of Sydney 'Hilary Carey deftly weaves the histories of Australia's faith communities into a coat of many colours. Essential and absorbing reading for all who believe in Australia and its future as an integrated multi-religious nation.' - Rachel Kohn, 'Religion Today', Radio National
Why religion fell off the radar in Australia - and how it can get back on At the time of Federation 98% of Australians identified themselves as Christians. Now only 8% say they regularly go to Church. What's changed? How did Australia become a post-Christian nation and what part did the Churches play in their own decline? Author Roy Williams (God, Actually, In God they trust?) has long been an impassioned defender of Christianity. Here, he tackles the decline of the church head on, acknowledging that in many cases, inflexibility, negativity and a refusal to listen have led to a tarnished image. But he also argues that Australia had a long and often misunderstood Christian heritage. And without it, he says, we will become a society with no moral centre, a community where rampant materialism is the only rule. Offering a bold roadmap for the Church to change, Williams challenges atheists, agnostics and true believers to a genuinely open debate about the force of faith.
Prepared over a period of nearly 10 years, it is the distillation of the thoughts of around a thousand Quakers with an interest in spiritual subjects. The book includes inspirational writings and personal stories about challenge and opportunity, which reflect on the geography and social history of Australia. It is arranged under subject headings...
Great Australian stories of faith and friendship in outback Australia, gathered by the inimitable Bill 'Swampy' Marsh - bestselling author of Great Australian Flying Doctor Stories and Great Australian CWA Stories. 'the term "Bible bashing" took on new meaning in our household ... Mum used to suffer from bunions; that is until she started bashing them with the heavy family Bible, believing the Lord's weight behind the Lord's word could move anything from mountains to bunions.' Priests, pastors and preachers play a vital part in the lives of people in remote and regional Australia. Often from the city, they are posted to places they have never even heard of to provide spiritual care for communities over areas larger than they could ever imagine. No matter their religion, they are all committed to helping people in the bush - whatever way they can! they shear sheep, put up fences, travel hundreds of kilometres to visit their parishioners, act as counsellors, set up schools and programs, and advocate for Aboriginal and asylum seeker rights. Bill 'Swampy' Marsh has travelled Australia gathering first-hand these memories and yarns to bring together this wonderful collection of seventy stories that so perfectly capture life in the bush. From hilariously irreverent tales of misadventure to reflections on what it means to have faith, these stories serve as a reminder that wherever in this country we may live, and whatever our beliefs may be, a helping hand and sympathetic ear are never far away. Bill 'Swampy' Marsh is an award-winning writer and performer of stories, songs and plays. He spent most of his youth in rural south-western NSW and now lives in Adelaide. this is his thirteenth book.
This We Can Say by Society of Friends (Quakers) Pdf
Prepared over a period of nearly 10 years, this is the distillation of the thoughts of around a thousand Quakers with an interest in spiritual subjects. The book includes inspirational writings and personal stories about challenge and opportunity, which reflect on the geography and social history of Australia. It is arranged under subject headings such as Experiences of the Spirit, Images of God, Silence and stillness, Faith in action, Prayer, Truthfulness and integrity, Simplicity and peace, Life stages and challenges and Indigenous people. The book can be used for personal study and meditation, for group work or just for inspiration.
The Believing Brain is bestselling author Michael Shermer's comprehensive and provocative theory on how beliefs are born, formed, reinforced, challenged, changed, and extinguished. In this work synthesizing thirty years of research, psychologist, historian of science, and the world's best-known skeptic Michael Shermer upends the traditional thinking about how humans form beliefs about the world. Simply put, beliefs come first and explanations for beliefs follow. The brain, Shermer argues, is a belief engine. From sensory data flowing in through the senses, the brain naturally begins to look for and find patterns, and then infuses those patterns with meaning. Our brains connect the dots of our world into meaningful patterns that explain why things happen, and these patterns become beliefs. Once beliefs are formed the brain begins to look for and find confirmatory evidence in support of those beliefs, which accelerates the process of reinforcing them, and round and round the process goes in a positive-feedback loop of belief confirmation. Shermer outlines the numerous cognitive tools our brains engage to reinforce our beliefs as truths. Interlaced with his theory of belief, Shermer provides countless real-world examples of how this process operates, from politics, economics, and religion to conspiracy theories, the supernatural, and the paranormal. Ultimately, he demonstrates why science is the best tool ever devised to determine whether or not a belief matches reality.
As astonishing as it is compelling -- Steve Cannane's extraordinary insight into Scientology in Australia is investigative journalism at its very best. From Rugby League players trying to improve their game, to Hollywood superstars and the depressed sons of media moguls, Scientology has recruited its share of famous Australians. Less known is that Australia was the first place to ban Scientology, or that Scientology spies helped expose the Chelmsford Deep Sleep Scandal. Numerous Australians have held senior posts in the organisation only to fall foul of the top brass and lose their families as a result. Based on years of interviews and research, Walkley Award-winning journalist Steve Cannane tells for the first time the fascinating story of Australia's vital involvement with this powerful, secretive and punitive cult.
Life, Ethics and Faith in Australian Society: Facts and Figures by Philip Hughes,Lachlan Fraser Pdf
A reference book from the Christian Research Association. Religion interacts with almost every aspect of life. Australian religious communities have grown through immigration, but have declined through cultural changes. These communities continue to educate almost 40 per cent of Australian students and provide many of Australia's welfare services and international aid. In turn, religious faith has an impact on the age at which young people get married, family size, the occupations their members go into, as well as how they spend their time and money, and their involvement in voluntary activities. Religious faith also has an impact on people's values: their attitudes to work and leisure, their sense of meaning in life, and their attitudes to the sacredness of human life and to expressions of sexuality. Drawing on data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and several other major social surveys, this book explores not only the general impact of religion, but how that impact varies according to the extent of people's involvement in religion and the particular religious group in which people are involved. To understand Australian culture and society, one needs to understand the impact of the multiplicity of faiths that shape the lives of Australians.
What do people actually mean when they say 'God'? Around two - thirds of us say we believe in God or some 'higher power', but fewer than one in ten Australians attend church weekly. In Beyond Belief, Hugh Mackay presents this discrepancy as one of the great unexamined topics of our time. He argues that while our attachment to a traditional idea of God may be waning, our desire for a life of meaning remains as strong as ever. Mackay interviews dozens of Australians representing many different points on the spectrum of faith, including some who are part of the emerging 'spiritual but not religious' movement. He exposes the deep vein of ambivalence about religion that runs through our society: we may not actively worship, but we still like to see local churches operating in our midst, and we use 'our' church to marry, christen our babies, educate our children and commemorate our dead. He points out some uncomfortable truths, such as our tendency to call on God only in a crisis, and unpacks our human need for 'answers', even when science can't find them. He endorses the Christian ideal of the good life - a life lived for others - but acknowledges that there are many pathways to that same goal, not all of them religious. Written with all the insight and compassion we have come to expect of our leading chronicler of Australian life, Beyond Belief is an engrossing exploration of the ways we find spiritual fulfilment in an avowedly secular age.
Australian Life and the Christian Faith by Peter Bentley,Philip J. Hughes Pdf
"This book brings together a vast amount of information about Australian people, their characteristics, their attitudes and values, and how religious faith fits into their lives. .... [from back cover]
In Good Faith?: Governing Indigenous Australia Through God, Charity and Empire, 1825-1855 by Jessie Mitchell Pdf
In the early decades of the 19th century, Indigenous Australians suffered devastating losses at the hands of British colonists, who largely ignored their sovereignty and even their humanity. At the same time, however, a new wave of Christian humanitarians were arriving in the colonies, troubled by Aboriginal suffering and arguing that colonists had obligations towards the people they had dispossessed. These white philanthropists raised questions which have shaped Australian society ever since. Did Indigenous Australians have rights to land, rationing, education and cultural survival? If so, how should these be guaranteed, and what would people have to give up in return? Would charity and paternalism lead to effective government or dismal failure - to a powerful defence of an oppressed people, or to new forms of oppression? In Good Faith? paints a vivid picture of life on Australia's first missions and protectorate stations, examining the tensions between charity and rights, empathy and imperialism, as well as the intimacy, dependence, resentment and obligations that developed between missionary philanthropists and the people they tried to protect and control. In this work, Mitchell brings to life hitherto neglected moments in Australia's history, and traces the origins of dilemmas still present today.
