God-faring survey

Press, 11 July 1983, Page 11

God-faring survey

NZPA Sydney More than half of all Australians believe that there is life after death and a greater majority believe there is a higher being, says a survey printed in a Sydney newspaper. A Gallup poll on religion printed yesterday in the ‘Sun Herald” shows that 81 per cent of Australians believe in God and 55 per cent believe in life after death. It shows that 59 per cent of people aged between 16 and 24 think there is a hereafter compared with 52 per cent of those aged more than 55. More women believe in life after death than men — 62 per cent compared with 48 per cent. Of the 81 per

cent who believe in God 9 per cent more women than men are believers — 85 per cent to 76 per cent. While God is popular with most, the Devil does not exist for 52 per cent. Six per cent are not sure that "the Devil is real, while the remaining 42 per cent have no doubts about Satan’s existence.

Belief in God is stronger among Liberal-National voters than Labour supporters — 85 per cent compared with 78 per cent. Faith is strongest among Catholics, 93 per cent believing in God, 66 per cent believing in the here-after, and 53 per cent in the Devil. No particular sect is winning converts and the ner-

centage of God-fearing church-goers has stayed stable since the first survey on religion was conducted in 1974. Of all those believers 49 per cent have not gone to church in more than a year. The number of people attending church in the month before the survey dropped from 32 per cent in 1974 to 28 per cent this year.

The survey pinpoints the country’s deepening mysticism as the most significant religious trend in the last nine years. It also shows that most people who believe in an after-life imagine it to be a happy, holy place which welcomes all those who believe in God.