Basic HTML Version
Religion
in Australia
by
Dennis G.
Luk~r
Cburchcs
are
ool very imponant 10 most
Ausualians. Even thou¡h
87
pen:eo1 of lhe
popolalion olliáaDy dauiiS a teli&iOUs be·
toer. ooly ahoot
25
peR1enl
at~ds
choreh.
Aueodance is far lcss Iban in Olnada
(44%)
and America (43%) bul more
Iban
in Britain
(20%).
The major denominalions in Ausua.
lia are Cburch of England, Calbolic. Melh–
odist and Prcsbyterian - in tbat order. The
more re.Ugioust.y emotional
cv~ngelical
SfO~ps,
hke Bapusts.
ar~
001
w-ong in Aus–
tralia (
1.4\11,
of populauon eompaR<J wilh
16.~•o
U.S.).
Awualians love lheir penonal freedom
and 1ndepeodeoce. and many of lbem feel
telig•on migbl in1erfere wilb 10melhing tbey
want
10
do. There is definice opposition to
..8ible bangetS'' and urcligionists:• generally
ellled "wowsers" in Australia. Until fairly
reccntly, ..wowsers•• were pohtically in.ftuen·
ual, and lhey attaeked drinkin&o gamblin¡,
&mokiog.
and spon
on
Sut>days - pleasurcs
aod pastimes lhe averaae Ausualian
espe–
ciaUyenjoys.
Australia. unlik:e Amcric;::a. was nor
f~unded
by religious people seeking reli·
goous freedom. Tbe flrsl seulemeol in
1770
was mostly made up
or
convicts from
Englaod,.oot ':"ligiow pilgrims. Subsequeol
emm,gratloo
did
not eth:&l'l¡c
tbis.
.a
Austra.
lia's early
dcvelopment
was
witboul
rcli·
JIOU.S
motivalion. Early lraditions aod
Christianity vs.
Psychiatry
by
D. P.
Wainwright
When a
~ti~
friend ormine rec:enUy
vuoled a psycbiatnsl, be wu
surprised
10
ftnd lhal pt'&y<r
WIS
<=mmeoded
1S
pan of
lhe treaunenL No1 lba1 lhe psychialrisl be–
heved
m
God,
but
he
felt 1ha1 if
bis
palien~&
had such a belief, prayer oould be of sorne
therapeuric
value.
lt•J
no coincidenee
that incrca.sing reliance
upon poychiatry
bas
geoerally paralieled an
O\'craU decline in the
dl"ectaveness
of tradi–
IIOoll
Chnstiaaity.
However, disbelief in
Ood
has
001
solved
soaety's mental problems.
11
has ooly given
lhe psyehiatrisiS a great deaJ more WOrlc lO
do.
What maoy people haven'l rcalized is lb al
chere
~e
many similarities bctwcen tbe way
psych!lll)' commooly
lrtal&
neurosis aod
wha1 lhc Bil>le advocates m s:ucb a
case..
Tbe
ulumate
"cure"
for <he Chnsuao, ho..
~ver
os
IOtaUy
dilfeten~
from lbe
rcsul~&
lhe poy:
chaatnst
ofteo.
aehi~ves
for
hu
paticnt..
A
~
1
bad wilh
a
chrucal psychologist in
provale praetice exemplifics a fairly standard
approach in
tteali~g
mental
~roblems.
Nor–
mal thentpy
is
to drivc lhc mdividuAI
ínto
hiJ
neurosis
lO
the point
Wl\ere
he
l$
(Otced
10 faee lbe way he rcally
is.
So
far
so
good.
Tbe pauent is cnc:ouraged
c.o
become rc–
pelled by
bis
Slylc or bvtna; be beeomcs
genumcly SJck or bimsdf.
Oac:e
thi$
stage
lS
readled be
is
sbown
tbat
~e
IS
now free
to
fultill hi.s
real potential. He
~~n~~couraged
to
recognizc bis
unique taJ.
From lhen on lhe prooess if one of build·
••, up the ego or lhe individual so lhat be
can begio
10
fulfiU
Ibis
potential. With suc–
ecssfuJ trealment be becomes a penoo wbo
u bumanly capillllizina on 1he valod and nat–
uralll.len~&
be has.
Cure complete.
WEEK ENDING APRIL 19, 1975
atutudcs bave remaine:d
wath
modei'1J AUS·
tralla and bave produccd a lcss religiouslr
ondmed oation of people. when compaR<J 10
America, Canada or .. the average Eu.ropean
eountry.
Allhough tbe populalion gencrally is very
sewl.ar, $urveys reveal
that a
majority of
people bold to some son of morality. The
Golden Rule, "do unto olhers
as
you would
h.-e lhem do unto you." could be inler–
preted asan e:xpre:ssion.
orAustralian ..
mare–
sbtp" - treating others as a
"mate"'
or
"buddy" aod giviog 1hem a "faír-go." Aus–
traJia.ns .are
basicaUy
b.umanists, believing
in
lhe dlJ!DIIy ofman and the value of human life.
Tbe traditionaJ concepts of
C_hristjanity
are
llOCeptcd,
but
contrary doctrines
are re·
jccted.
A.s
ooe Australian
writer
put it. "Hell
baa been aholished
as uolloir
10 underdogs.
lf
lbete is a happy etemal hfe, u·s for every–
one.
Tbc
c:onoept
of
CV11 u
un-Austra.lia.n:
Ooe musllook for the
good
on people." -
Recent
surveys in Australia show that
church altendanee is deeliníng, especially
among young people. Ree.sons mos1 oflen
¡iven
for
not auending were
··rack
o(
in
ter–
en,..
"too busy;• '"more intcrested in spon,"
"serviecs
100
duO" aod "100
much
h}'PO<l–
risy."
Thcse aoswen hil •• the
roo•
or the
problem. Religioo in !be church.. IOdayjust
dO<:S
1101
oft'er what the average Australiao
waots - somelhiog chaDenging aod inler–
c.sta_ng. something
lhat
g.ivcs a.nswers
to
loday's problems and
a
purpose in tife lhal
6~&
lbe Australian concepl - a "fair-go" for
everyone.
TraditiooaJ
religion
in Australia
is
sterile.
11
wi~
die
uoless
lhe churches get baek 10
tuching the Doble and the
1n1e
prináplcs of
..matc.sbap"" revealed in that book. o
Christian l'sy(hiatry
Nol
so
wilh
a
Christi9n. Thc
first
stage
when
Ood
deals wich an individual
is
1he
same
as
lakeo by lhe psychiatrisl;
God
dnvet
the
individual
inlO
his
neurosis (or
menii.J problems)
10
1he poml wbere he is
foleed 10
raee
bis real Jelf and beeomc
dis–
gwted wilh iL
But
now
the difference
is
that
futurc
Jlrenglh in Ufe comes no1 from hoostiog the
ego .•nd rebuilding a wreck, bu1 from aban–
domng
the wrcc-k of
your
previous
human
exisccncc
anc:l
beginning to assume
the
cbar·
ac1er
of
a
IOI&lly
di!feteol
person:
Jesus
Cbrist.
Tbis
is
what
PauJ_
means
wheo
be
lllys.
"1
am
cruc:dled wclh Chris1: nevenbclcss
1
live· ye1
0011, bul Christlivelb inme" (O
al
2:20).Sueb
an •.ndiV1dua.l can
live
witb
a
mlnjmum or
the
nonnal defense
mecbanisms
since
his
main
eoncem is oo longer 10 proteel lbe ego bu1
nllher
~o
allow il tO be
,..plactdby
theeharacter
or Chrast·
Tht$ docs not, bowcver, eliminate
1he individualpersonalily bul ralberenbanecs
lbe
~ale
al_. ch.arm aod vilalityoflhe persoo by
freecng htm from lbe burdeos or vanity. je.al·
ousy,
lus~
and g¡eed.
Tbe ps)'dllilri$1. oflcn wnhou1 tealizing
¡~
bnnp lhe mentaUy dcslurbed individuo!
close lO a poin1 wbich would be caUed "re·
pentance" in iheology.
But
thcn instead
or
otrcrin& the patient a brand new úre he
hands hiln·a rctré;ld.
o
'
Growlovely
GrowingOid
Lel me grow lovely growing old -
So m•ny fine lhiop do;
Laces and ivory, and gold,
And lilk.s need not
be
new:
Aod lbete
a
bealing in old tre..
OId
stree~&
a glatoour hold;
•
Why may not 1.
as
weU aa thcse
Grow lovely, growing old7
OTWJI 8.
/krton
Nuclear
War,
Energy Crisis, Food
Shortage,
and
NCJ.N...
AEROSOLARMAGEDDON
by
Roben Ginsl<ey
Whal do supersonie transports, aerosol
sprays1
and nuclear weapoos have
in
com·
mon? AU produce chemocal agenos capable
or
peoelnting
at>d
deeomposmg the protec–
uve oz.one
in
the eanh•a
atmosphere.
With·
OUI lhe ozooe, all livong lh.cngs oould die
from
expo.sute to the worst
of
the sun's
ul·
traviolct
radiation.
The chemical agents in
qu~tJon
are ox–
ides of
nitrogen,
rclcased into tbe
upper
at–
mosphete by lbe jet engines of supenonic
tronsports (SST's) a.nd by ouclear explosioos,
and free
cblorine.
dcnved from
pro~Ua.nu
used an aerosol can.s. Relativety
small
amouniS of t.bese agents are sufticient to
de·
stroy luge
quantities or
ozooe.
it.self
an ex·
treme!y u.ostable moleeule.
SST's
at>d Nuclear Bombs
The polentiaJ dangers from ssrs and nu–
clear explosioos are staggeriog. Bolb lbe SST
~d
nuclear hombs injeet nitrogen oxides
miO the almosphere <hal
c:an
$1gnilicanlly
reduce lhe prottction aft'orded by !be ozone
layer.
·
A
SO
percent
increase 1n R1lr0gen
oxides
may dccrease otonc levels by between 7%
and
12%.
This would resull in a
14\11,
10
24%
increase in
potentiaJly
haurdous
ultravjolel
radiation reac:hing thc
earth's
surface.
Catastropbic Catalysts
Yc1 lbe most aluming
lb~••
is
probably
thc aet0¡5ql_,.c:an..
,
•k
rto :.,.
Th.,...erosorpropeUanonre
latgtly-i~
chemícal reaction and have
&ene.-.Uy been
uaumed
to be harmlcss. In certain
~:aSes.,
howevcr,
where uhnviolet li¡ht
causes
de–
eompo$ilioo. a '!catalytic" rcaction can oo:ur
in
the atmospbere
wh.ich
destroys ozone.
An estimated
10
billion pouods or aerosol
sases
are already present •• lbe atrnospbete
aod evcry year nearty a btllioo ac!ditiooll
pou~ds
are being
dissapeted
into the envi–
ronmenl from spray caos aod induslrial
ap–
plic:ahon.s. Tbe result
l$
a growing concem
tha1 lbe ozone !ayer may be markedly re–
duced
over the next two decades.
60,000
Oealh•
Tbc Nauonal Resources Defense Couoál
da1ms lhal eontinoed bulldup of aerosol
propeUants
iñ
lhe aunosphere
os
depleting
the Olone laye:r that shields lbc
eartb
from
ultravlolet
radiation and u increasiog the
risk of radiation· ..induccd skin cancer. The
counci'
as.sens that within 20
years
the ozone
layer may be depleled by
a.s
much as 16%
resull.ing in
500,000
10 I.S miWon additional
cases or
skin
eaoeer and
20.000
m
60,000
dealhs annuauy.
"Th:e
irony."
says ramed
uttooomcr
a.nd
u-btolozjsl Carl
Sapo.
"is
lhat every spray
of your deodoranc may
eornñbute
to an at·
moopherie calastrophe •. . we may be !be
bes1 smelliog dead men in hi$1ory."
Other Oooa<rt
T..be~ft'eets
ofincreased radialion on vege–
ll.lion
are
1Cis
clear. Sorne planl$ appear 10
have lbeir &!""'lb
~latded
.wbeo thq>
irte
CXpokd
10
10ereased .ullraVIolet radialioo.
An tncreased iocidcnce ofmutauon
hu
becn
observed in certa.in expeñmental $t.Tains. and
tbcre are .sorne
indica.tions
that
increased
radialion
~ill
inlerfere 'l'ilh the
g~owlh
of
pl~nklon
on
lbe oeean. Ozone depletion
mo&J?I also
~roduee
climatologieal eft'eeiS.
An ancrea.sc m u!traviolet
radiation might.
for e.umple. lead 10 ao
IOCrU.Sed
mehmg or
polar
ICe.
Altematively, a redislribution
of ozone in
th~
.,.,ospbete migbt leac!
~r:.
redu.;tion in average
sJobaJ
tempe:ra·
Scenario or
Olsasttr?
Yc1 before maniind lapsa into hystena
over "Bao lhe Bomb." (pun intended) per–
haps we sbould remember lhe story of ear–
bon monoxide and carbon dJoxide. The.$C
eompounds - being spewed out from our
industrial society
with
its
prod1gious
con–
sumption of
fossil
fue ls - we.e. supposed 10
trap sunJight
in
uthe
g.recnhouse etrect/'
eause
~n
overaU heating of lhe
carth.
·
Bul this has no1 occurrcd. Rather. lbe
eanb
JCCms
10 be eooJina dowo of late.
Car–
hoo moooxide and dioxide
are
appan:ntly
ba..ns litde
elfect.
or 11 leasc are bein&
oountcracted by some opposing proees5CS.
The
poinc
i.s
th.at not
enoup is
yet known
aboul S-he runctioning
or
our
atmosphere
or
about the production and destruclioo of
Ol·
one. The eartb's sophisticaled life-supporl
system onen has a rcmatkablc g,paáty to
recovcr rrom even the most iU-cooceivc:d
bluodel3 or mankind, and qune possibly •
weakeoed
~ozone
filler'"
woll
aDow lhe pro–
dueuon or oz.one 11 a signifieantly hightr
ra1e. Aller all. uluaviolet ligbl is directly
respoosible for producing
ozonc
i.n
tbe tirst
place! Perbaps lhe whole system hM a long–
lerm negative feedback Slabilily.
On <he 01her band, aerosols bave probably
al~ady
doomed more people Iban were
kolled by thc alomie homb dropped oo Hiro–
sluma. Tbc threat is very real and it's not
jw1a badjoke.
"We
ar~
talking.'..
tayi.
space. $áentis\
Thomas
M.
Donahue, "ahoullbe cnd oflhe
world - doomsday in 25 ycars."
. Aerosols? Ozone?
Doom~day?
The irony
ts
ovcrwhelmln.g;
the
amphcauon.s
are
poi·
gnantly prophetic. Our Aerosol Armaged–
don may ye1 eóme 10 pass. no1 with a bang.
bUI Wllh
a
psss-t!
0
BRITAIN-
SINKINGWITH FLAIR
. Telly Savalas, TV's tough New York
po–
hec ace.
Kojak.
recently took up residcnc:e in
Londoo. inlerviewed for BBC tclevisioo.
Savalaa wu asted why he bad decided
10
make Britai.n
bis
bome wben lhc future
of
che oation looks so bleak. He a.nswcred that
he had a certa.in
admiracion
for tbe British
people. He liked their
stylt -
their
fo¡ir!
Some ftau! The nacion is now
living
bcyond its means to lbe extenl or6p in every
pound. E.veril>icken's Mr. Micawber, when
he
o~e,.penl
by 6 old peoee en evtry pouod,
was hvtng beyot>d
his
meaos
by
only
25
new
peoee•
Aod
nowadays.
unhke Mr. Micawber,
who
m the end
immipted
tO
Australia
to
mak~
good, lbc nalion no longer
has a
Com–
monwcalth
thaLwill save hcr in her hour
or
necd - an hour
or
nced
whiéb could well
cum
into an bour of desperation
if,
in a final
ft1
of
"Oai.r."
lbe British people vóle 10 leave
the Eu.ropc.a.n
Commumly
io
Juoc.
Meanwbi1e.
i.o
lhc faot or
ma.ssive
io–
ftai!On
aocftlie
t.liréo1
of unreasooable wage
clatms. the
govemmenc -
m true..socialisr–
Jtyl•.
-
~líes upo~
"a more equiuble dis–
pers•on
of wealtb as part
of
iU
cffott
tO
a.ppea.se
th~
unions. Magnanimous prin·
<')'les, but wcth no new weallb being erealed.
~:~~¡~~
is
the ñght word - d.itpersion to
No
wonder
lead.in&
commcotators
are
elauruna lhal the potiliáans are simply re–
arrangina the deekehairs on board tbe Tita-
nic.
·
Thal's Hair. O
15
.\
. ..