Was it my imagination or was I reading the body language correctly?  The commentator from our national broadcaster was talking about some newly released results from last year’s national census.  Okay, maybe it was not being reported with smug delight... but it certainly didn’t come across as a sad lament either... that Aussies are apparently less religious now than they were at the previous census.

The figure that triggered the comment was that Aussies who indicated that they had no religion had increased to 38.9 percent; up from the 30.1 percent in the 2016 census.  The Sydney Morning Herald crowed, “Australia has become strikingly more godless over the past decade, with the latest census data showing the proportion of self-identified Christians dropping below 50 per cent for the first time and a soaring number of people describing themselves as “non-religious”.”

Well, I’m not so sure that those figures are all that significant.  For starters there’s the problematic definition of religion.  The action of a Christian attending a church worship service is undeniably religious.  But is the New Age mystic, indulging in aroma-therapy and buying books about angels, any less religious?  The rituals of a Muslim in a mosque on Friday evenings are clearly religious.  But is the ancient aboriginal custom of a smoking ceremony to ward off evil spirits really any less religious?

It’s interesting that the 2021 household Census papers gave nine possible options to choose from (apart from the ‘No Religion’ option).  It then had an additional line marked: “Other – please specify”.  It also gave five examples of “Other” that were not included in the nine options one could choose from.  These five examples were listed as: Lutheran, Salvation Army, Judaism, Taoism and Atheism.

The last in that list is particularly interesting isn’t it?  Our government, in the 2021 census, recognised Atheism as a religion.  I’m not sure whether the ABC and Sydney Morning Herald considered that bit of information when they reported that we are less religious than we were at the last census and more godless than a decade ago.  But it’s true isn’t it?  An Atheist will never be able to prove that God does not exist.  That is a faith position.  The Atheist believes there is no God.  Let’s take that even a step further.  My faith in the existence of the God who has revealed Himself in the Bible shapes my lifestyle.  But the Atheist’s lifestyle is also shaped by his faith in God’s non-existence.  So if Atheism is presented in the census as a religion what does that mean for people who marked, ‘No Religion’?

The point is that whether we like it or not we are religious beings.  We cannot help being religious because – as the Creation story reminds us – we were created in the image and likeness of God.  Someone once put it this way: there is therefore a God-shaped space inside all of us that demands to be filled.  The apostle Paul spoke of us humans as being God’s offspring.

I find it interesting that one of the definitions of ‘religion’ given by the Oxford Dictionary even includes: “A pursuit, interest, or movement, followed with great devotion.”  In other words is suggests that whatever it is that we are most passionate about is really our religion.

If what I’ve said is true then the issue is not really whether we are religious or not.  We are incurably religious.  The real issue is whether we have a true religion or a false religion; a good religion or a bad religion.  And that brings us to the gospel story.  The Christian religion is a religious that can stand scrutiny; it’s a story that will stand up in a court of law because it is based on the recorded testimony of hundreds of eyewitnesses.

I’m not too concerned about the fact that more people ticked the “No religion” box at the last census than ever before.  My faith is not determined by a popularity vote.  My faith is determined by the truth that Jesus Christ, lived, died and rose again so that we might be people with hope and with a future.  No census statistics are ever going to change that.

John Westendorp