Reflection for North Balwyn Uniting Church
8th of November 2026
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
Recently I read a book by religious sociologist Philip Hughes titled What is happening to religion in Australia? What is happening, as we in this congregation know, is increasing secularisation and declining churchgoing. As I have said here before, this is not because we are doing anything wrong. You all know my argument that religions in Australia grow through immigration, an argument with which Hughes agrees.[1] But this book makes another argument I have not thought much about. Hughes quotes American sociologist Ronald Inglehart as arguing that, for most of human history, humanity has survived by having lots of children so that at least some would live long enough to have children themselves. The expectation that every child born would survive to adulthood is a recent one, within the last century in nations like ours. Women in Australia no longer need to put all their energy into childbearing and childrearing for the nation to continue. The other development of the twentieth century in countries like ours was the welfare system. People today feel that, if something goes wrong, safety nets are there. I remember how concerned some of the African students I studied with in Switzerland were when they discovered that I had neither a husband nor children. I reassured them that in Australia, being childless and single did not mean I was facing an impoverished old age. Continue reading
