One’s religious values are predominantly influential in an individual’s everyday actions and lays down the foundation of their contributions to society. Both the Coptic Orthodox Christian and Muslim religious communities in NSW show a trend in large family structures, but overall, they represent small minorities in an overwhelmingly populated Australia. As Australia’s economic and environmental sustainability remains a contentious issue in our society, with many adherents from both faiths experiencing financial hardship and concern about human wellbeing, religious leaders may have a role to play in advocating ecological awareness and civic responsibilities.
The responsibility of environmental stewardship has Biblical roots in Genesis, in which God gave humans dominion and responsibility over the Earth and its animals. “God said to them, fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that [h]moves on the earth.” Nevertheless, Christians aren't the only ones to embrace green issues. Other religions hold the environment sacred as well. Like Christians, Muslims see themselves as caretakers over God's creation. “And do not commit abuse on the earth, spreading corruption”
When asked “What role do you believe religion should play in making Australia more economically and sustainably efficient?”, Political MP Mr Edmond Atalla believes that one’s religion plays a role in their beliefs, in which the decisions will be influenced by their religious values, placing a religious umbrella over those in parliament with religious beliefs, but today in general they believe in separation of state and religion. He suggests we need to focus on providing economic benefits such as job creation that would be automated in the near future, and to do so “we need to change the way we educate people, to be able to accommodate the new way of life that is anticipated to grow in the near 10-20 years”. He says, infrastructure and technologies such as schools, hospitals and means of transport are all factors that should be the focus of Australia’s economic growth.
Similarly, interviewee Father Antonios Khaldas, as a leader of the Coptic Orthodox community proposes that to make Australia economically and environmentally sustainable, “We need to escape our reliance on coal and move to renewable energy”. He believes that society should opt for immaterial things in life such as bettering our relationships and values rather than indulging in material possessions as “material wealth does not increase one’s happiness” , but one should be “content with what they have” . This complements Maslow’s hierarchy of needs which promotes the idea that self-actualisation is achieved when basic and psychological needs are met; self-fulfilment is not acquired through materialism contrary to what many people long for in society.
However, he also believes that families are gradually altering their way to becoming more environmentally mindful as “thirty years ago no one recycled, and councils did not provide a recycling collection service”. Instead he believes that “large families are more than balanced out by the growing proportion of couples without children at all, and people staying single their whole lives.”
On the other hand, Interviewee Imam Wisam Saad believes that to make Australia more economically and environmentally efficient, Muslim and non-English speaking families should improve their English proficiency, to prevent cultural clashes and implement better communication, improving the Australian economy and concern for the environment. He says, “it is the nature of the Muslims to shoot for the best and to aim high'. He believes that once immigration and migration to Australia becomes “less interesting” to Muslim families leaving all types of situations such as wars that “the trend of large families will decrease as their will be third, fourth and fifth generations of Australian born Muslims and hence it will become much more homogeneous.”
While both responses imply that religious leaders can guide and influence adherents to focus less on consumerism and more on contributing positively to the economy and environment; simultaneously, my questionnaire results show 26% of Copts believe religious leaders should encourage people to care for the environment and use birth control and family planning methods, 18% of Copts believe religious leaders should encourage people to care for the environment; however birth control and family planning is not the solution and 4% believe it is not the responsibility of religious leaders to care about the environment, people should not use birth control because only God can decide how many children a couple have While the vast majority, 52% of Copts believe that religious leaders should not be responsible for Australia’s economic and environmental sustainability.
Whereas the answers for Muslim respondents differed; 58% of Muslims believe that religious leaders should not be responsible for this issue, as it is the responsibility of the government leaders. Whereas only 8% of Muslims believe that religious leaders should encourage people to care for the environment and use family planning methods to have less children, 4% of Muslims believe it is not the responsibility of religious leaders to care about the environment, people should not use birth control because only God can decide how many children a couple have and the remaining 30% believe religious leaders should encourage people to care for the environment, but birth control and family planning is not the solution.
Additionally, my findings suggest that 48% of Copts and 32% of Muslims believe it is good for our environment and economy to have more children, 18% of Copts and 10% of Muslims believe it is not good for our environment and economy to have more children. However, the overwhelming 34% of Copts and 58% of Muslims are not sure about their opinion on this issue. This could be due to a general lack of environmental awareness both faith communities.
Indisputably concerns about Australia’s population and environmental sustainability will continue to make headlines; nevertheless, people in authority including politicians, religious leaders and prospective parents in Coptic and Muslim communities all have a role to play in preserving the environment for future generations. As science advances, the cost of living increases, and ecological awareness grows, it is likely that the trend of having large families in both the Islamic religious
