Save the religious Kiwis before they become extinct

There is no accounting for the silliness of human beings, even when they otherwise show signs of learning and intelligence. The latest example comes from the USA where researchers looking at census data for NZ and some other countries have come up with the conclusion that religion is set for extinction in NZ. You can read the article here and the comments make interesting reading too.

It seems incredible that researchers could come up with such a conclusion when other evidence points in a different direction. For instance the secularization thesis (that Western countries were becoming more and more secular) has found itself undermined by both a rise in enthusiasm among Christians as well as by immigration drawing in active adherents of many faiths.

But, in particular, in NZ such a conclusion needs to account for a variety of factors such as the following: whether or not large families are drawn more from religious or non-religious ranks; immigration trends (so that, to take a  few examples, South Africans, Zimbabweans, and Koreans are contributing new members to churches, indeed often starting up new churches; then there is also the rising presence of Muslims and Hindus); and, finally, the resilience of some churches (such as the Roman Catholic church which has a mutually reinforcing commitment to active faith through its parish-and-church schools network ... certainly the 350+ Catholic congregation I was part of on Sunday did not look like becoming extinct anytime soon).

Of course it is always possible to modify a thesis in order to strengthen the certainty of the conclusion. Perhaps a better conclusion would be: religion set to become extinct among non-religious Kiwis.

Sigh.