Abstract
Recent sociological studies reveal that in some respects religion in Australia is similar to that in many other Western societies, while in other respects it is significantly different In this paper, these similarities and differences are explored, particular attention being paid to correlates of religiosity, religious institutions in their social context, and civil religion. Overall, religion in Australia tends to occupy a position intermediate to that which it occupies in Britain, on the one hand, and the United States of America, on the other. Various ironies or paradoxes that sociologists have discerned in religious institutions in Australia have parallels elsewhere. Australian civil religion, as expressed in events associated with Anzac Day, cannot be properly understood apart from the ideological structure of Western Judeo-Christian civilization, even though some of the Anzac symbolism derives primarily from pagan sources in classical Greece. Posited explanations for, and effects of, the profile of religion in Australia are discussed.
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