Australians respect religion despite ‘divisive’ effect, says poll

Majority believe respecting religion is important ‘even when others find them offensive’.

How important is religion in modern Australia?

Almost 80 per cent of Australians believe respecting religion is “important in a multicultural society”, with a new poll showing more than one in two backed faith-based perspectives being permitted in public debate “even when others find them offensive”.

A YouGov Galaxy survey of more than 1000 Australians, commissioned by the Centre of Independent Studies, also revealed 64 per cent of respondents did not support organisations being allowed to refuse employment on religious grounds.

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The CIS policy paper, Respect and Division: How Australians View Religion, found “religious tolerance is vital for a well-­functioning pluralistic, secular democracy”.

Authors Monica Wilkie and Robert Forsyth said the “ability to tolerate even undesirable ideas ensures harmony. The results reveal Australians are viewing religion as mostly an individual right to belief but are sceptical of religious organisations.”

The release of the report comes as Scott Morrison on Saturday announced the government would delay the introduction of its religious discrimination legislation into parliament — an election promise — until next year.

 

The CIS poll showed 56 per cent of Australians believed ­people should not be allowed to ridicule the religious views of others. It also found that 52 per cent of respondents believed religion divided Australians “more than it unites us”.

“Coupled with the 78 per cent who agree respecting religion is important, it suggests they accept some degree of division in society so that individuals can be free to hold their religious beliefs.”

The CIS report recommends changes to Attorney-General Christian Porter’s draft religious discrimination bill, including addressing a caveat where an employee can be disciplined or fired if an employer can prove “unjustifiable financial hardship”. It also recommends Mr Porter better define “vilification” in the bill, making it clearer it refers to “speech that incites or threatens violence”.

“The definition of relevant employer should be amended. Instead of placing an amount on the revenue of the employer (businesses with revenue of at least $50m), there should be a figure — such as a percentage of revenue lost — placed on the financial hardship endured.”

Ms Wilkie and Mr Forsyth said responses to the YouGov survey suggested there was “public ­misunderstanding about what ­religious freedom means”.

They said the debate on religious freedom would be improved by a “better under­standing that religion is not simply a privately held belief, but includes the practices of one’s faith.

“It is likely Australians are thinking of religious freedom as the ability for an individual to believe what they wish — a personal commitment that should be relegated to private thoughts.

“This interpretation of religious freedom leaves little room for the communal aspects of religion, or religious organisations, which are arguably more important than what an individual ­believes.”

The CIS study said although Australia was becoming “increasingly secular”, there was a renewed interest in the place of religion in society.

“The debate on religious freedom is at a stalemate because many are starting from a faulty premise that religion is only belief.

“Australia needs to move away from pejoratives such as a ‘right to discriminate’ and focus on what an individual believes (rather than how they practise their beliefs) ... to finally resolve the issue.”