Fishing in the Bay

A Neilsen poll on religion and faith shows that most Australians believe in God or a similar universal spirit, but a majority also believe in miracles, heaven, life after death and angels.

Fifty one percent believe in angels and fully 41 per cent believe in astrology. The “average Australian” seems to believe in a truly eclectic, even contradictory, dogs breakfast of monotheism, reincarnation, alien abduction and neo-animism.

Where are the contradictions you ask? Well, for a start, conditional on being a Christian 9% do not believe Jesus was the son of God and 28% do not believe the mother of Jesus Christ was a virgin. And get this. Fully 6% do not believe Jesus ever existed! What sort of a Christian is that?

There is a distinct gender gap.

Four women believe in God for every three men. They have far more faith than men in angels (63 per cent to 37 per cent), miracles (74 per cent to 52 per cent), heaven (67 per cent to 45 per cent), ESP (59 per cent to 39 per cent), and life after death (62 per cent to 44 per cent). But they are less convinced about UFOs (30 per cent to 38 per cent). Women are more certain that God created the world (27 per cent to 18 per cent) and wrote the Bible (40 per cent to 28 per cent) but aren’t so sure every word of the Good Book has to be taken to be literally true (25 per cent to 30 per cent).

Well, being a trekkie* I understand the UFO stat – it is pure wishful thinking! But ESP? Perhaps it is the women’s intuition meme affecting perceptions of reality. When girl’s intuition turns out to be correct, it is put down to their closer connection with … well something. And this reinforcesbelief in that something on average over the course of a lifetime.

* I do not have it as bad as some. One of my colleagues has named all his kids after Star Wars characters. Star Warriors are even more enthusiastic than trekkies. And the fastest growing religion of the 1990s according to US census was the Jedi religion (from a low base obviously).

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