Rachel Lang
Australia is no longer a Christian-majority nation, according to a new report.
The first batch of statistics from last year's census has finally been released and the religion section is very interesting.
The 2021 census has revealed Christians are dwindling in numbers, with only 44 per cent of Aussies identifying as Jesus-worshippers.
When you compared that figure to the last census in 2016, which came in at 61 per cent, it's a pretty big decline.
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Speaking of nothingness, non-believers now make up 39 per cent of Australia's population, up from 30 per cent in 2016.
So maybe we’re all just a bunch of science-loving heathens down here.
If Christianity continues to lose worshippers at this rate, then having no religion will become the next 'dominant religion' at the 2026 census.
That probably stings a bit for the ultra-religious, as Australia has traditionally been seen as a Christian nation with pledges to God woven into the fabric of our society.
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For example, the Prime Minister usually makes a vow to God at their swearing in ceremony. Anthony Albanese broke from that tradition when he was sworn in as Prime Minister earlier this year.
As for other religions, Hinduism and Islam are the two fastest-growing.
However they only make up about three per cent of the population apiece.
The ABS did not release any findings on joke religions for 2021, which is a shame because now we'll never know how many Pastafarians we have.
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If you don't know what a Pastafarian is, look it up.
They were denied legal status as a legitimate religion in 2021, so you can only worship the imaginary sky being in an unofficial capacity, at least in Australia.
The best thing about the census is the number of silly responses people put down, but the ABS has been burnt before.
So, in an effort to curb this type of larrikinism, the ABS revealed it would issue $2,200 fines to those who didn't complete the forms or do it properly, as per news.com.au.
Ex-ABS demographer Glenn Capuano explained it in a rather funny blog post.
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He revealed that just over 73,000 Aussies registered themselves as Jedis in 2001. Yes, from Star Wars.
"To put in perspective, if [Jedi] was allowed as an 'official’ religion, it would’ve been larger than the Salvation Army, Seventh Day Adventists, and only slightly smaller than Judaism,” he said.
Capuano added the ABS was left absolutely fuming about 2001’s Jedigate as the ‘religion’ doesn’t fit with their official criteria for a supernatural being. Yes, really. and you can check that out here.