Gary D. Bouma

Australian soul : religion and spirituality in the twenty-first century

Preface Acknowledgements 1. Introduction - spirituality, sacred places and religion in Australia 2. The qualities of spiritual and religious life in Australia 3. The quantities of spiritual and religious life in Australia 4. Cultural changes affecting Australian spirituality and religion 5. The changing social location of religion and spirituality 6. The mainstream - from Christendom to comfortable on the margins 7. Responding to the future 8. Religion, spirituality and Australian social policy 9. Signs of hope in the 21st century References Further reading Index.

Beyond Lenski: A Critical Review of Recent "Protestant Ethic" Research

What is the result of the research stimulated by Lenskis The Religious Factor? This research testing hypotheses derived from Webers Protestant Ethic thesis focused on ProtestantCatholic differentials in social status and mobility, in achievement motivation, and in educational and scientific performance. Most of the data were nonsupportive of, or contradictory to, the hypotheses derived from the Weber thesis. None of the research was adequate to the task of causal inference which is required by the logic of the hypotheses. Moreover, the independent variable-differences in religious belief-was not adequately operationalized. Finally, the researchers are criticized for the simplistic derivation of poor hypotheses from the analytically rich work of Weber.

Work, Religious Diversity and Islam

This paper investigates how Islamic doctrine conceives the place of work by outlining the notion of an Islamic work ethic and by discussing a number of human resource issues in relation to Islam. Knowledge of these issues has become an urgent need given the high level of discrimination Muslim workers suffer in modern workplaces. The paper argues that potential areas offriction between Islam and contemporary HRM practices can be managed effectively as there is not inherent conflict between Islamic doctrine and modern workplaces. The paper concludes with an outline of the nature of the Islamic influence in Australia, a western nation in which Islam is one of the fastest growing religions.

Gender and Religious Settlement: Families, hijabs and identity

Religious settlement refers to the process whereby a religion moves from one place to another and becomes incorporated into the religious economy of the new place. In this process, both the migrating religion and the society in which it settles are changed. This process, described in detail by several studies, results in an increase in religious diversity necessitating new strategies to negotiate this diversity in everyday life. Using census data to describe the general picture and in-depth interviews to provide personal detail, this paper focuses on the role of women in religious settlement and the negotiation of religious diversity. Most studies have focused on organisational features of the settlement of religious groups and the management of religious diversity resulting in a male-dominated perspective. The processes by which women negotiate religious settlement and form identities differ from those of men and are often complicated by conflicting expectations held of them by themselves, their partners, their religious organisation and the society into which they are settling.

Religious Diversity in Southeast Asia and the Pacific

The Antipodes and Japan.- Australia.- Japan.- New Zealand.- Island Nations of South East Asia.- Brunei Darussalam.- Timor Leste.- Indonesia.- Malaysia.- Papua New Guinea.- Philippines.- Singapore.- Sri Lanka.- Thailand.- Pacific Island Nations.- Cook Islands.- Fiji.- French Polynesia.- Kiribati.- Marshall Islands.- Federated States of Micronesia.- Nauru.- New Caledonia.- Northern Marianas.- Palau.- Samoa.- Solomon Islands.- Tonga.- Tuvalu.- Vanuatu.- Integrative Chapters.- Minority Religious Groups and the State.- Religious Competition.- Women and Religious Diversity.- Regional Interfaith Dialogue.

A Comparative Study of the Successful Management of Religious Diversity: Melbourne and Hong Kong

The study of the management of religious diversity has largely proceeded non-comparatively at national and organizational levels. As a result it is not yet possible to declare what promotes and what hinders the emergence of harmonious inter-religious relations in religiously diverse societies. This article compares the management of religious diversity at an urban level through a comparison of Melbourne, Australia and Hong Kong. The article first describes the demographic history of these two cities and then explores their social institutions of religion and organizations promoting inter-religious harmony in order to find explanations for the postwar emergence of societies characterized by both religious diversity and inter-religious harmony. Finally, it reflects on the policy implications of these findings.

Islamophobia as a constraint to world peace: the case of Australia

One of the critical factors shaping any understanding of the reception of Islam and Muslims in the West is an overarching anti-Islam and anti-Muslim discourse. This article takes Islamophobia to refer to a discourse that reifies and essentializes negative images of Islam, Muslims and their cultures, resulting in unfounded fear of actual Muslims. This article briefly discusses this discourse and demonstrates its effects in the West and in particular in Australia. It then describes the Australian context, and the emergence of Muslim communities and of policies and practices of inclusion rather than exclusion.

Social justice issues in the management of religious diversity in Australia

New religions, both those arriving by way of the cultural baggage of migrants and those which are part of the panoply of recent New Religious Movements and the New Age, have challenged and changed Australias religious demography, but have been incorporated into Australian society in a comparatively peaceable way due to Australias very tolerant religious institution. The effective management of this new religious diversity has been made possible by previously existing norms and expectations (i.e., institutions). The attempt to enact federal legislation to protect freedom of religion and belief in response to ICCPR Article 18 spearheaded by Australias Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission provides an opportunity to examine a particular case of the management of religious diversity. Groups that viewed the consequences of religious difference from a social justice perspective supported the legislation, and those that essentialize religious difference opposed it.

Estimating the Extent of Religious and Spiritual Activity in Australia Using Time–Budget Data

The amount of religious and spiritual activity in a society is usually estimated by surveys, census data, participant records, and membership data. Most of these do not provide a comparison of religious with other activities and suffer from significant halo effects. Time-budget data provide the basis for estimating religious activity as a percentage of all time and enable comparisons with other similar activities. This analysis of time-budget data front a nationally representative sample of Australians reveals that religious and spiritual activities are engaged in by 10 percent of households, constitute 0.28 percent of all activities compared with 0.26 percent for sporting and cultural attendances and 1.49 percent for sport and outdoor leisure activities.

Using census data in the management of religious diversity: an Australian case study

Abstract Mapping and measuring religious diversity has become critical to the management of interreligious relations in the 21st century. The data about religious identification provided by the Australian census since the formation of Federal Government in Australia, and prior to that in the Colonies, has provided detailed information about the extent of and changes in religious diversity in the nation and in particular cities. Because the census also provides very detailed information about where people of different religions live, it can provide information about the extent to which religious groups are residentially segregated, a factor which affects how people of different religions relate to each other. The methodological issues related to measuring diversity are discussed and the utility in urban contexts of a ‘dissimilarity scale’ is demonstrated. The unique contribution of census data to the mapping and management of religious diversity in Australia is presented.