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PROFESSOR GARY D BOUMAUNESCO CHAIR IN INTERRELIGIOUS AND INTERCULTURAL RELATIONS – ASIA PACIFIC

RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY, FREEDOM OF RELIGION AND EDUCATION POLICY: A Multi-faith Society DilemmaBouma, Gary, Des Cahill, Hass Delall and Athalia Zwartz 2011 Freedom of Religion and Belief in 21st Century. AHRChttp://www.hreoc.gov.au/frb/report/index.html

Bouma, Gary 2011 Being Faithful In Diversity: Religions and Social Policy in Multi-Faith Societies. ATF

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MULTI-FAITH SOCIETIES

• BI-CULTURAL / BI-FAITH • HOW MULTI-FAITH

– DEMOGRAPHICALLY - COMMON

– CONSTITUTIONALLY – RARE> MOST EUROPEAN STATES ARE XTN

– IN SELF-IDENTITY – RARER STILL> A CONSEQUENCE OF DEMOGRAPHY

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RELIGIONS AND SOCIAL POLICY

AIMS1. TO PROVIDE A FRAMEWORK FOR

ANALYSING RELIGION AND SOCIAL POLICY – where diversity / pluralism meet.

2. TO PRESENT THE FACTS OF AUSTRALIAN RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY AS AN EXAMPLE OF DIVERSITY

3. TO USE ISSUES RAISED FREEDOM OF RELIGION AND BELIEF AND SOCIAL POLICY AS EXAMPLE OF ‘PLURALISM’

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BASIC ARGUMENT

• NATIONAL RELIGIOUS IDENTITY– INFLUENCES EDUCATIONAL POLICY

• IS AFFECTED BY CHANGES IN RELIGIOUS PROFILE (DEMOGRAPHY)– WHICH ALSO AFFECTS EDUCATION

POLICY

• RECENT INCREASES IN RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY DIFFICULTIES IN SOLVING ISSUES IN EDUCATION POLICY

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HOW ARE RELIGIONS RELATED TO SOCIAL POLICY? FOUR BASIC WAYS

1. As OBJECTS of policy– Limits to Religious diversity, registration,

which are permitted, regulated, ‘charities’

– Civic presence permitted / not

– Training into religious belief in state schools

– Regulation of marriage, burial, food, circumcision m & f

– Usual rules applying to organisations

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RELIGIONS AND SOCIAL POLICY II

2. As INSTIGATORS of policy•Religious ethics and values are sources of images of the ideal society which followers (may/must) seek to make real.

– abortion, RU 486, Religious instruction– Family forms , limits to alcohol availability– 1950s, 1960s anti-discrimination laws– Anti-slavery, child labour,

•Within group diversities now make this harder to achieve

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RELIGIONS AND SOCIAL POLICY III

3. As CRITICS of policy– E.g. gambling, anti-war, no-fault divorce

– Refugee policies, social justice

4. As IMPLEMENTERS of policy– Faith based orgs – social services,

education, hospitals

– High Percentage of tax dollars channelled through FBOs> With what protections??

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AUSTRALIAN SOCIAL POLICY CONTEXT – RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY

SOURCES OF DIVERSITY•Migration – Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus

– Catholics - substantial growth since 1947

•Conversion – Pentecostals, Spiritualities•Rise of NONES•Note Australia has been multicultural for over 40,000 years

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RELIGIOUS CHANGE IN AUSTRALIA

% in 1911 1947 1966 1991 2006 2011 2021

Anglican 38.4 39.0 33.5 23.9 18.7 17.1 13

Catholic 22.4 20.7 26.2 27.4 25.8 25.3 23

MCPRU 26.5 22.1 19.4 12.9 8.7 7.7 5

CHRIST’N 96.9 88.0 88.2 74.1 63.9 61.1 50

NONES 0.2 0.3 0.8 12.9 18.7 22.3 32

Other Rels 0.8 0.5 0.7 2.6 5.6 7.2 11

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AUSTRALIAN RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY III

IN 2011 – Smaller Groups• More Buddhists (2.5) than Baptists (1.6)• More Muslims (2.2) than Lutherans (1.2)• More Hindus (1.2) than Jews (0.4)• Sikhs (0.3) up from 0.1 in 2006• 4 X Witches 8k (0.04) as Quakers 2k (0.1) • Pagans 17k (0.08), 14k Baha’i (0.06)• Atheists (59k; 0.27) up 88%,

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AUSTRALIAN RELIGIOUS IDENTITIES

• ‘No Religion’ #1 in 5 of 8 territories and Capital cities

• In Sydney: RC > None > Anglican > Islam> Buddhist > Uniting > Presbyterian.

• In Melbourne: RC > None > Anglican >Orthodox > Uniting > Buddhist > Islam > Presbyterian > Hindu > Pentecostal.

• In Adelaide: None > RC > Anglican > Uniting > Orthodox

•

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CHANGE IN RELIGIOUS PROFILE NEW NATIONAL IDENTITY

THE DEMOGRAPHIC BASIS OF IDENTITY•ONCE BRITISH AND CHRISTIAN•THEN ‘SECULAR’ BUT CHRISTIAN•NOW?

– Multi-faith

– Religiously plural INCLUDING NONES

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CONSEQUENCES OF INCREASED RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY

• INCREASED INTER RELIGIOUS INTERACTION - AT ALL LEVELS

• AWARENESS/ACCEPTANCE OF DIVERSITY PLURALITY

• RELIGIOUS REVITALISATION> SALIENCE OF IDENTITY, SOCIAL POLICY

• CONSENSUS HARDER TO ACHIEVE• FEAR AND ANGER AT LOSS OF POWER,

POSITION, INFLUENCE

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THE RELIGION / EDUCATION POLICY CONTEXT

• THREE BASIC VIEWS:– WHO ARE THE STUDENTS

– WHO ARE THE TEACHERS

– WHO ARE THE POLICY MAKERS

• EACH HAS A DIFFERENT DEMOGRAPHIC– Age/sex/migrant status

– Other dimensions later

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2011 Census age and sex distribution: recent arrivals and Australian-born

http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/2071.0main+features902012-2013

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SELECTED RELIGIONS - % LONGER-STANDING (20 yrs +) AND RECENTLY ARRIVED MIGRANTS ABS 2011 http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/2071.0main+features902012-2013

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IMPLICATIONS FOR EDUCATION POLICY

• POLICY MAKERS DISPROPORTIATELY AUS-BORN

• PUPILS 50/50 AUS/ NOT AUS BORN– MULTIPLE LANGUAGES/CULTURES

– GREATER RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY

• THE 24-39 GROUP HUGELY RECENT– PARENTS

• Each religious group has some migrants

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RELIGION BY AGE 2011 CENSUS

• AGE % 0-24 25-44 45-64 64+

• Anglican 24.4 22.9 30.8 21.9

• Catholic 33.9 26.7 25.3 14.1

• U/P/R 21.2 19.9 33.1 25.8

• Buddhist 29.6 36.1 27.6 6.7

• Muslim 46.5 35.3 14.9 3.4

• No Religion 39.8 32.8 21.0 6.4

• NATIONAL 32.6 28.0 25.4 14.0

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AGE BY RELIGION

AGE 5-24 25-34 55-64 85+

Anglican 13.3% 11.3% 22.3% 29.3%

Catholic 26.8% 22.5% 24.3% 22.5%

Uniting 3.8% 3.0% 6.8% 10.2%

Buddhist 2.4% 3.3% 2.4% 0.8%

Muslim 3.0% 3.3% 1.0% 0.2%

Hindu 1.2% 3.2% 0.6% 0.1%

Jew 0.4% 0.4% 0.6% 1.0%

None 26.2% 28.2% 16.8% 7.6%

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SCHOOLING IN AUSTRALIA

66% go to gov; 34% to non-gov schools•Catholics 20%; other religious 14%

– Baptist, Anglican, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian and Seventh-day Adventist, non-denom, Muslim, Jewish, and others.

•Highest non-gov in OECD

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IMPLICATIONS FOR EDUCATION POLICY

• CATHOLIC EDUCATION SYSTEM SOLID• ANGLICAN / BRITISH PROTS

– LOW BIRTH RATE/ LOW RETENTION FEW KIDS, But Elite Schools

• MUSLIM SCHOOLS GROWING (32 in 2011)– +DEMAND SENSITIVE STATE SCHOOLS

• HINDUS NOW SEEKING SCHOOLS

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MORE IMPLICATIONS

• BUDDHISTS ???• RISE OF NO RELIGION DEMAND

FREEDOM FROM RELIGION• MORE PRESURE AGAINST SCHOOL

CHAPLAINCY / EXISTING SRI pgms• RISE IN PENTECOSTAL / INDEPENDENT

EVANGELICAL GROUPS – MORE SEPARATE SCHOOLS FOR THEM (152 in 2011)

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RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY AND ED POLICY I

• E.g General Religious and Ethics Ed vs Special Religious Instruction– Current curriculum religion blind

– Most teachers negative about religion

– ‘No Religion’ parents protesting

– ‘religious’ parents want faith friendly environment

• Rising issues with Science– Evolution, sexuality,

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RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY AND EDUCATION POLICY II

ISSUES•Provision of prayer rooms, times•Dietary observance in cafeteria•Uniform regulations

– Turbans, head scarves,

•Gender mix in classes / sport•Feasts and Festivals

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PROBLEM = WHO DECIDES, HOW AND ON WHAT CRITERIA?

• The reality of diversity really bites here!!!– Use ‘Universal Values’, NO – just as coercive as

religious bases

– ‘Christian’ values – why, which, whose?

• The need for vital civil society– To off-set state control of everything

– To enable voices to be heard and decisions reached

– To counter market domination, majoritarianism

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PERSISTENT ISSUES

• TO WHOM ARE RELIGIOUS GROUPS ACCOUNTABLE?

• WHAT ARE THE LIMITS TO FREEDOM OF RELIGION AND BELIEF?

• HOW TO MODERATE THE IMPACT OF STRONGLY HELD BELIEFS OF SOME ON THOSE WHO DO NOT HOLD THEM?