Irreligion in New Zealand

In 2008, the International Social Survey Programme was conducted in New Zealand by Massey University.

The results of this survey indicated that 72% of the population believed in the existence of God or a higher power, 15% are agnostic, and 13% are atheist (the survey had a 3% margin of error).

In 2008, the International Social Survey Programme was conducted in New Zealand by Massey University. The results of this survey indicated that 72% of the population believed in the existence of God or a higher power, 15% are agnostic, and 13% are atheist (the survey had a 3% margin of error).

The New Zealand Census of 2013 lists Christianity below 50% and no religion at 41.9%. However, Pew Research found that 72% of people in the United States who put "None"/"no religion" on surveys believe in the existence of God/gods, but do not subscribe to a particular religion or to a particular religious organization so perhaps the same may be occurring in New Zealand. In addition, in the United States, it was found that individuals who attend nondenominational churches sometimes put "None"/"no religion"/"unaffiliated" on surveys because they regard their relationship with Jesus Christ to be personal and spiritual rather than religious and perhaps the same may be happening in New Zealand. See also: "No religion" responses on the New Zealand census data survey and poor survey design

Organized irreligion is very weak in New Zealand

According to an international study done by William Bainbridge, atheism is frequent among people whose interpersonal social obligations are weak and is also linked to lower fertility rates in advanced industrial nations (See also: Atheism and fertility rates).

The New Zealand atheist Bob Brockie wrote: "Atheists are not united in one band in New Zealand. In fact they are not organised at all. If you want to get in touch with an atheist you will find like-minded souls in the New Zealand humanist or rationalist societies, or the NZ Skeptics. The Atheist Republic has a consulate in Auckland."

In the Western World, atheists are generally apathetic, have weak leadership and engage in a significant amount of infighting (see: Atheism and apathy and Atheism and leadership and Atheist factions). Numerous atheists have declared that the "atheist movement is dead" or that it is dying (see: Decline of the atheist movement).

21st century New Zealand: Irreligion, religion and religious immigrants

See also: Religion and migration and Labor shortages and desecularization projected to be faster in New Zealand in the 21st century

According to Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand (an online encyclopedia run by the New Zealand government): "New Zealand has never had an official religion, and the church and state have always been separate. However, churches had a strong influence on issues such as alcohol, censorship, gambling and education."

Filipinos at an annual Christmas parade in Hamilton, New Zealand. Irreligion in the Philippines is particularly rare among Filipinos.

Due to the sub-replacement levels of births for the irreligious/nonreligious, countries with significant irreligious/nonreligious population often have higher levels of immigration than otherwise might be the case and many of the immigrants are religious (see: Atheism and fertility rates and Desecularization). The 2016 fertility rate of New Zealand was 1.87 births per woman. That is below the replacement level of 2.1 births per woman.

In 2015, the New Zealand Herald reported: "Pasifika are a major factor but so are most migrant groups." Catholic migrants, from countries such as the Philippines and India, had made Catholicism the most popular Christian denomination for the first time with 492,000 followers."

In November 2017, China was the largest source of immigrants to New Zealand and China is currently experiencing an explosive growth of evangelical Christianity (see: Growth of Christianity in China).

In November 2017, India was the second largest source of immigrants to New Zealand and India is a very religious country.

In 2018, New Zealand has about 50,000 immigrants from the Philippines. (Filipino New Zealanders are known as kiwipinos). The Philippines is a very religious country. According to Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia founded by an atheist and agnostic, "Irreligion in the Philippines is particularly rare among Filipinos...". In 2017, in terms of country of origin, Filipinos were the 5th greatest source of immigrants to New Zealand.

Large-scale Muslim immigration to New Zealand started in the 1970s with the arrival of Fiji Indians, which was followed in the 1990s by refugees from various war-torn countries. The number of Muslims in New Zealand according to the 2013 census is 46,149, up 28% from 36,072 in the 2006 census.

On December 28, 2018, the New Zealand Herald reported, "New data obtained by the Herald from the Department of Internal Affairs reveals that people born in India top the list of new citizens living in Auckland." According to the 2012 WIN-Gallup Global Index of Religion and Atheism report, 81% of Indians were religious, 13% were non-religious and merely 3% were convinced atheist.

Auckland, New Zealand will grow in influence and population in New Zealand due to religious immigrants and the higher fertility rate of religious immigrants

See: Auckland, New Zealand will grow in influence and population in New Zealand due to religious immigrants and the higher fertility rate of religious immigrants

Growth of evangelical Christianity in New Zealand

See also: Growth of evangelical Christianity in New Zealand

Rutland Street Church, Christchurch, New Zealand.

According the New Zealand census, from 2013 to 2018, the number of "Evangelical, Born Again and Fundamentalist Christians" grew from 15,381 individuals to 38,127 individuals from 2013 to 2018.

In countries that are irreligious than most countries, it is common for evangelical Christianity to be experiencing growth and sometimes rapid/explosive growth (see: Growth of evangelical Christianity in irreligious regions).

According the New Zealand census, from 2013 to 2018, the number of "Evangelical, Born Again and Fundamentalist Christians" grew from 15,381 individuals to 38,127 individuals from 2013 to 2018.

Stuart M. Lange, author of the book A Rising Tide: Evangelical Christianity in New Zealand 1930–65, wrote evangelical Christianity saw a resurgence in New Zealand in the 1950s/1960s.

According to Christianity Today, evangelical Christianity grew from approximately 13,800 followers in 2006 to 15,400 in 2013."

The Christian organization Operation World indicates there are now 784,015 evangelical Christians in New Zealand (18.2 percent of the population) and that the evangelical population in New Zealand is growing at an annual rate of 0.5 percent.

According to the New Zealand Christian Network:

“

We are the NZ member of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) and are committed to representing evangelical faith positions. But we recognise also that the term ‘evangelical’ has different meanings in different countries and contexts, so we are very careful in its usage. NZ evangelicalism seeks to be faithful to scripture and is broad politically and socially. We offer an opportunity for a visible expression of unity which connects us beyond ourselves, across ministries, towns, cities, local churches, and denominations. Reliable figures suggest 14.5-15% of New Zealanders attend church weekly. 18-19% ‘regularly’. Approximately 500,000 of these Christians are evangelical. This represents a significant constituency that NZCN seeks to serve and represent in different ways.

”

A postsecular New Zealand in the 21st century

See also: Postsecularism and New Zealand in the 21st century and Desecularization and aging populations and Desecularization and Acceleration of 21st century desecularization and Postsecularism

Smrithi Kamtikar performing at Rythm and Rhapsody, Auckland, NZ.

On December 28, 2018, the New Zealand Herald reported, "New data obtained by the Herald from the Department of Internal Affairs reveals that people born in India top the list of new citizens living in Auckland."

According to the 2012 WIN-Gallup Global Index of Religion and Atheism report, 81% of Indians were religious, 13% were non-religious and merely 3% were convinced atheist.

Jens Köhrsen, a professor for religion and economics at the Centre for Religion, Economy and Politics (ZRWP), wrote:

“

[ Jürgen Habermas ] ...argues that a new age, the age of post-secularity, has begun. Previously vastly secularized societies, like the highly developed countries of Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, would experience a new awareness of religion and attribute a new public role to religion. From now on, religion would constitute a relevant dialogue partner in the public debates of these societies (Habermas, 2008). Moreover, Habermas presents a normative argument about public religion: he recommends that post-secular societies should facilitate religious contributions to the public sphere. Religious reasoning could contribute to public debates about the ethical values of contemporaneous and future societies. Habermas believes that modern societies might find some answers to the moral questions of our time by listening to religion in public debates (Habermas, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2008). A similar position to that of Habermas is proposed by Leclerc (2001) and French sociologist Willaime (2004a, 2004b, 2005[1995]: 76-78, 2008). Willaime observes that even the highly secularized public and political sphere of France is exhibiting a new, more open attitude towards religion. The hypersecularity of France would stimulate a restructuration process of religion. According to Willaime, religion can form an important resource for public debates and be engaged in the identity construction process of individuals and collectives.

”

In 2018, a New Zealand news website declared: "Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern speaks during centenary celebrations at Rātana Church in November. She gifted her Bible to the movement, saying it was a symbol of her promise to lead be a government that was kind and compassionate." Jacinda Ardern is an agnostic.

Eric Kaufmann is a professor of politics at Birkbeck, University of London and author. His academic research specialty is how demographic changes affect religion/irreligion and politics.

In April 2010, Kaufmann, who is an agnostic, declared "the rate of secularisation has flattened to zero in most of Protestant Europe and France." Kaufmann also declared that secularism "appears exhausted and lacking in confidence".

On December 23, 2012, Kaufmann wrote:

“

I argue that 97% of the world's population growth is taking place in the developing world, where 95% of people are religious. On the other hand, the secular West and East Asia has very low fertility and a rapidly aging population... In the coming decades, the developed world's demand for workers to pay its pensions and work in its service sector will soar alongside the booming supply of young people in the third world. Ergo, we can expect significant immigration to the secular West which will import religious revival on the back of ethnic change. In addition, those with religious beliefs tend to have higher birth rates than the secular population, with fundamentalists having far larger families. The epicentre of these trends will be in immigration gateway cities like New York (a third white), Amsterdam (half Dutch), Los Angeles (28% white), and London, 45% white British.

”

According the New Zealand census, from 2013 to 2018, the number of "Evangelical, Born Again and Fundamentalist Christians" grew from 15,381 individuals to 38,127 individuals from 2013 to 2018. See also: Growth of evangelical Christianity in New Zealand

See also: Religion and migration

Regarding the Western World as a whole and the growth of the religious population in the West, Kaufmann wrote:

“

...this paper claims that the developing world will not only never catch up, but that, ironically, it is the West which will increasingly come to resemble the developing world. Committed religious populations are growing in the West, and will reverse the march of secularism before 2050. The logic which is driving this apparently anti-modern development is demography, a shadowy historical force whose power multiplies exponentially with the modernisation process. Demography is about raw numbers, and, in an age of low mortality, its chief components are fertility and migration.

”

For more information, please see:

• Postsecularism and New Zealand in the 21st century

• New Zealand, its growing problem of hyper-aging areas and desecularization

21st century New Zealand, its aging population and desecularization

See also: 21st century New Zealand, its aging population and desecularization

The article Developed countries may become more religious in 20 years indicates:

“

Researchers from HSE University and RANEPA found that in high-income countries, age, rather than the cohort effect, has more impact on religiosity. They predict that this may have an impact on societal structure in the future. The study was published in Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. It has long been observed that older people tend to be more religious than younger people. However, it is still disputable whether this fact should be attributed to people generally becoming more religious with age per se (age effect), or to the process of secularization, wherein earlier cohorts (to which the now older people belong) used to be more religious than those that appeared later, i.e. younger cohorts (cohort effect). HSE University scholars decided to analyze this issue using data from six waves of the World Values Survey (2016) in high-income OECD countries. A total of 16 countries were studied, including Australia, the USA, Canada, Great Britain, Israel, New Zealand, Japan, Germany, as well as other European countries. The researchers used logistic models and multiple linear regression to determine that the age effect has a higher impact on religiosity than the cohort effect. Older people are more inclined to believe in God, attend church, and believe it is important to instill religion in children.. The cohort effect impacts other factors analyzed by the scholars, such as church attendance and a belief in religion's importance in life, but the age effect still strongly prevails over the cohort effect... The transition from religious to secular values may slow by 2040 in high-income OECD countries and, probably, there will be a resurgence of religiosity, the symptoms of which can be observed in Japan. On the other hand, widely divergent socio-cultural settings in different countries have an impact on religious behavior and attitude, and this must be taken into account in further research.

”

NZ church attendance has remained constant since 2013 and its implications

See: New Zealand church attendance has remained constant since 2013 and its implications

Other demographic changes and New Zealand desecularization

See also: Desecularization and Religion and migration

The majority of atheists are East Asians/Whites (see: Global atheism and Atheism, race and gender and Asian atheism). The white population in New Zealand is declining at a rate of about .35% per anum and the New Zealand Asian fertility rate is below that of whites. By 2085, due to immigration and a sub-replacement level of births, whites could become a minority in New Zealand Furthermore, globally the percentage of atheists/agnostics is expected to shrink in the world according to demographers so immigration is going to erode the percentage of irreligious in New Zealand in the 21st century (see: Religion and migration).

See also

• Growth of the "nones" in New Zealand, its cap on future growth and expected decline, its effect on New Zealand politics
• Irreligion in Australia
• Atheism in the Anglosphere
• Growth of evangelical Christianity in irreligious regions

Essays:

• Will New Zealand's secular population peak before or after 2050?
• The future of religion/irreligion in New Zealand