Introduction

This introduction covers the key concepts and themes of this book, such as social memory and post-secularism. It first outlines the history of religion in Australia and how it has been practised and understood, and then argues that, as culture and society change, religion has also changed over time. For, while the numbers of people attending churches and other traditional religious buildings are going down, and while less people report being religious in the census, it does not mean that religion is necessarily in terminal decline, as the recent freedom of religion debate in Australia indicates. This chapter then links the discussion of freedom of and from religion to the debate on freedom of speech before providing the structure to the remaining chapters of this book.