Reasons for Religion

The phenomenon of declining Church attendance is widely reported across the Western world. Various theories have been put forward as to why this might be occurring but a new study has suggested that health might be part of the puzzle: the increasing good health and longevity of the population to be exact.

In Australia the overall percentage of the population that identifies themselves as Christian has been steadily declining for a century. In 1901 that percentage was 96 per cent but it had fallen steadily to be 64 per cent by 2006 according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. More stark than that figure is the result of the National Church Life Survey showing that church attendance figures fell from 9.9 per cent of the total population in 1996 to 8.8 per cent in 2001.

Within this overall decline some of the small fundamentalist churches are experiencing an increase but there remains a huge disparity between those professing to be Christian in belief and those actively attending church services. According to a new report, better health and longer lives may be part of the reason for that trend.

The researchers point out that many religions and societies link the cumulative amount of religious effort during a lifetime with the degree of benefit received in the afterlife. What the researchers say is that a longer life expectancy means that people believe they can postpone “religiosity” and still have time to accumulate merits in the afterlife. This is why we have what the researchers call a “greying church”.

Ultimately, this is a theory only but one of the conclusions of the report does make a lot of sense. The authors say that religious institutions should emphasise the spiritual, and even socio-economic, benefits of religious participation during a lifetime on Earth. For instance, expanding your social circle, having spiritual support and guidance, and being part of a community are more relevant to modern people than uncertain rewards in the distant afterlife.

Reducing religious or spiritual endeavour to a cost-benefit analysis is odious but there is some wisdom to be found here.

The National Church Life Survey found that only 63 percent of those aged 15-39 attending weekly Catholic Mass accepted the central article of Christian faith that “There is one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,” while 83 percent of those over 60 did so. Clearly generation X and Y are searching for other things from their religion than did the baby-boomers. Maybe increased lifespan is part of what is driving this but whatever the cause, religion provides society with a much needed moral compass and religion needs to change its message if generations to come are to hear it. The challenge will be to do that without compromising religious beliefs and ideals.

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