Irreligious Australia and intelligence

Australia's national IQ is 98. The Daily Mail reported in 2014, "Evidence suggests that the IQs of people in the UK, Denmark and Australia have declined in the last decade."

After WWII, Australia has become a very secular country.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald:

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Australia is one of the least devout countries in the Western world, although two-thirds of its population identifies itself as Christian, an international survey comparing religious expression in 21 countries has found. Religion does not play a central part in the lives of many Australians: 48 per cent of Australians surveyed said they did not partake in personal prayer and 52 per cent said they rarely attended a place of worship for religious reasons.

”

In the 2011 Australian census, 22.3% of Australians (or 4,796,787 people) identified themselves as having "no religion" which was more than 3 percent higher (and 1,090,232 people more) than in the 2006 census and was the second largest category. Another 2.014 million (9.4%) were in the "not-stated or inadequately-defined" category: thus more than 31% of Australians did not state a religious affiliation in the 2011 census.

Australia's national IQ is 98.

Australia's declining national IQ

The Daily Mail reported in 2014, "Evidence suggests that the IQs of people in the UK, Denmark and Australia have declined in the last decade."

Australia, alcoholism and lower brain functionality

See also: Irreligious Australia and alcoholism

An Australian National Council on Drugs (ANCD) report indicated that 20% of Australians drink at levels putting them at risk of lifetime harm.

At least 100 studies suggests religion has a positive effect on preventing alcohol-related problems, researchers Christopher Ellison, Jennifer Barrett and Benjamin Moulton noted in an article in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion on “Gender, Marital Status, and Alcohol Behavior: The Neglected Role of Religion.” See: [[Atheism and alcoholism

In November 2013, The Australian Broadcasting Corporation indicated:

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ANCD chairman Dr. John Herron says the report shows more work needs to be done to tackle the problem. "The level of alcohol-related damage occurring in our communities is simply appalling," he said. "The health, social and economic costs associated with alcohol use simply cannot be allowed to continue at the current level." The report found 20 per cent of Australians are now drinking at levels that put them at risk of lifetime harm from injury or disease. ANCD report key findings: Almost 1 in 8 deaths of people aged under 25 is due to alcohol 60% of all police attendances (including 90% of late-night calls) involve alcohol One in 5 hospitalisations of people under 25 are due to alcohol 20% of Australians drink at levels putting them at risk of lifetime harm Almost two thirds of 18-29 year olds drink "specifically to get drunk" One in four Australians reported being a victim of alcohol-related verbal abuse.

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Alcoholism, binge drinking and brain damage

See also: Atheism and the brain and Atheism and intelligence

Alcoholism causes cognitive impairment.

A 2012 study suggests that a habit of binge drink risks serious brain damage including increasing memory loss later in adulthood.

Currently, there is a downward trend in intelligence scores in secular countries (see: Intelligence trends in religious countries and secular countries).

Australia, obesity epidemic and lower brain functionality

Obesity in Australia is currently at an "epidemic" The Medical Journal of Australia reports that obesity in Australia has more than doubled in the two decades preceding 2003. In 2007, the World Health Organization (WHO) found that 67.4% of Australian adults are overweight.

Australia, societal decline and intelligence

Children in dysfunctional homes/communities and/or homes/communities with financial problems often perform poorer on intelligence tests as result.

Peter Costello wrote in the Australian publication The Age entitled The moral decay of Australia which declared:

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Our society was founded by British colonists. And the single most decisive feature that determined the way it developed was the Judeo-Christian-Western tradition. As a society, we are who we are because of that heritage. I am not sure this is well understood in Australia today. It may be that a majority of Australians no longer believes the orthodox Christian faith. But whether they believe it or not, the society they share is one founded on that faith and one that draws on the Judeo-Christian tradition.... Unfortunately today we see that legacy fraying all around us. We do not have to look far to see evidence of moral decay around us. We can see it and hear it in entertainment like rap music, in songs that glorify violence or suicide or exploitation of others. As we speak, drug barons compete for the distribution rights to sell drugs to our children in Melbourne. These rights are so lucrative that they are prepared to kill to protect their profits, with 24 or 25 unsolved gangland murders in Victoria since 1998. These barons sell young people into addiction. Drugs break up families and marriages. Many addicts end up in prostitution or burglary. These outcomes are the very antitheses of all those values set out in the Ten Commandments about how to order society. People well known to the police apparently live in luxury with no visible means of support or explanation as to how they maintain their lifestyles. And it seems to me that as a society we have become complacent about this issue - in some cases, the media have glamorised it.

”

As far as a comparison between atheistic/theistic homes/individuals, see:

• Secular Europe, culture and intelligence

• Atheism and culture

• Atheism and health

• Atheism and alcoholism

• Atheism and drug addiction

• Atheism statistics

• Atheism and suicide

• Irreligion and domestic violence

• Atheism and emotional intelligence

• Atheism and social intelligence

• Atheism and marriage

• Atheism and poor relationships with parents

• Atheism and the theory of multiple intelligences

For more information, including how economic/societal deterioration is lowering intelligence scores in some secular countries, please see: Intelligence trends in religious countries and secular countries

See also

• Atheism and intelligence

• Asian atheism and intelligence

• Secular Europe and intelligence

• Irreligious Australia and loneliness