Curious Christian

Reflections on culture, nature, and spirituality from a Christian perspective

Sydney Religion Map

Published by

Matt Stone

2008-10-14

The Sydney Morning Herald published this map of the religious enclaves of Sydney yesterday. Interesting don’t you think? It doesn’t show you but I live in the Hindu heart, near Parramatta, just east of that blue blob in the middle, where many of the other religious enclaves come together.

Tags Australian, Religion

6 responses to “Sydney Religion Map”

Brett

2008-10-15

I live just south of the Muslim Arncliffe, but here is actually a mix of Orthodox, Catholic and secular people (in that order I think, secular is hard to gauge). It does make for interesting living.

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Matt Stone

2008-10-15

Yes, and its interesting to move between the enclaves too. Both my brother and sister-in-law live in Kellyville. Hillsong territory. Its culture shock driving there at Christmas time.
What’s Arncliffe like? You know Brett, the enclave I find really facinating is the Jewish one. Very alien for me since we don’t have many Jews out my way and I only get out to Bondi very occasionally.

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Eric

2008-10-15

Here’s my map of Sydney I knocked up last year, which shows the outer areas to be more Christian and the north to be more protestant. In every city I’ve looked at, the inner city is the least Christian. In Sydney’s case, Auburn stands out as well.
http://home.exetel.com.au/eric5014/geomiss/syd_att.htm
Hmm, maybe I’ll try and do a more detailed one that reveals a bit more.

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Matt Stone

2008-10-15

Thanks for that map Eric. Your findings seem to broadly match this one. I think these illustrate some of the problems of contextualization. That there is considerable religious varience across global cities like Sydney, so what then do we mean by “the shift” towards post-modernity and post-Christendom. It’s far from homogenous, so maybe we should be more wary of one-size-fits-all metanarratives about post-modernity and post-Christendom.

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Lucy J

2008-10-15

Looks like I’m between the Catholics and the Muslims to the right of Silverwater on the map. I thought it was interesting that Auburn is categorised as Buddhist when the huge Gallipoli Mosque is right there. Maybe all the Muslims at Silverwater travel to it. Some readers might be interested to find that when you google “Gallipoli Mosque Sydney” there is a link to the Sydney Atheists Meetup Group which has a revealing discussion mentioning Moslems, Christians, Evolution etc.
I realise that I’ve done some interesting things in my time… eg. been over to the Jewish eastern suburbs in Sydney a few times in relation to Messianic (Jews converted to Christianity) and Jewish dialogue kind of events involving dance; and I went to a gathering up on the Central coast which encouraged understanding between Christians, Muslims and Jews, which was sponsored by the local Anglican Church! One of the most interesting comments carved into my mind is one from a Hindu taxi driver my Aboriginal girlfriend and I engaged in conversation on a trip back to a hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. After finding out he was Hindu, we asked him which out of the myriads of deities was his favourite, and he said he worshipped the Sun god, to which we responded, we worshipped the SON God, Jesus (we thought it was easier to start there than discuss the Trinity God straight away). He very much appreciated our conversation and was quick to express his great respect for Christians over Muslims. Apparently, it was very noticeable to him how the Christians cared for the sick and the poor, which was something that neither Hindus nor Muslims in KL could match in his opinion!
Upon reflection of post-Christendom, post-modern life in my neck of the woods, I have to say I’m becoming more and more aware of disintegration and the difficulties of interrelationships than of anything particularly homogenous… and that certainly poses some challenges for contextualisation. Sometimes I wonder about how all the “specialisations” integrate into the bigger cosmological picture. I admire people who work passionately to bridge the gaps and bring hope for a more sustainable future in terms of human and environmental relationships.

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Matt Stone

2008-10-16

Thanks Lucy. You know I’d like to hear more of these stories. I am wondering how many other Sydney Christians are out there with experiences to share.

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