Religion
Pre-European Māori religion was polytheistic. One of its major features was tapu (sacred and/or forbidden), which was used to maintain the status of chiefs and tohunga (priests) and also for purposes such as conserving resources. Some of the earliest European settlers in New Zealand were Christian missionaries, mostly from the Church of England but also from Protestant denominations and the Catholic Church. From the 1830s onwards, large numbers of Māori converted. Throughout the nineteenth century a number of movements emerged which blended traditional Māori beliefs with Christianity. These included Pai Marire, Ringatu, and in the early twentieth century, Ratana. They typically centred on a prophet-leader. These churches continue to attract many followers; according to the 2006 census, 50,565 people are Ratana believers, and another 16,419 are Ringatu. 1,689 people stated that they followed Māori religion. Many Māori members of mainstream churches, and those with no particular religion, continue to believe in tapu, particularly where the dead are concerned, although not to the same extent as their ancestors.
Pākehā have become steadily less religious over the course of the twentieth century. In the 1920s there was still a reasonably high level of sectarianism and anti-Catholic prejudice, but this has since died down and the major churches generally co-operate with each other. The churches and religious lobby groups have little political influence where Pākehā are concerned. The vast majority of religious Pākehā are Christian, but a small number follow non-Christian religions, particularly Buddhism, and a larger number have a vague belief in new age ideas such as the healing power of crystals.
Pacific Islanders in New Zealand have significantly higher rates of both nominal Christianity and church-going than other New Zealanders. There are a number of Pacific Island Christian churches in New Zealand, Other non-Pākehā migrants have brought with them a range of religions including Islam and Hinduism, although many are Christian or have no religion.
The 2006 census found that 2,136,258 New Zealanders identify as Christian. The most followed denomination is Anglican (554,925), followed by Catholic (507,771) and Presbyterian (385,350). The most commonly practiced non-Christian religion was Hinduism, with 63,540 followers, followed by Buddhism (52,158) and Islam (35,858). A total of 1,297,104 New Zealanders have no religion.
Read more about this topic: Culture Of New Zealand
Famous quotes containing the word religion:
“I fancy it must be the quantity of animal food eaten by the English which renders their character insusceptible of civilisation. I suspect it is in their kitchens and not in their churches that their reformation must be worked, and that Missionaries of that description from [France] would avail more than those who should endeavor to tame them by precepts of religion or philosophy.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
“If therefore my work is negative, irreligious, atheistic, let it be remembered that atheism—at least in the sense of this work—is the secret of religion itself; that religion itself, not indeed on the surface, but fundamentally, not in intention or according to its own supposition, but in its heart, in its essence, believes in nothing else than the truth and divinity of human nature.”
—Ludwig Feuerbach (1804–1872)
“Every religion is good that teaches man to be good; and I know of none that instructs him to be bad.”
—Thomas Paine (1737–1809)