Results of a YouGov survey concerning religious belief and citizenship

Profoundly pious citizens, many of whom may be members of religious orders, would be an obvious category. Others with a deeply felt spirituality would seem to be next. That spirituality could be more personal than expressed publicly.

One thing we know for sure, as Graham Young points out in On Line Opinion5 February 2026, there is a distinction between Christianity and Islam in that passages in Islamic texts can be read as justifying terrorism.

With that said, we must also remember that a white-supremacist Australian citizen massacred about 50 citizens in mosques in Christchurch in 2019.

The former Australian Human Rights Commissioner, Chris Sidoti, has detailed the beyond dreadful treatment of innocent Palestinians caught up in the Hamas-initiated war disaster in his report for the Independent International Commission of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel.

No belief system has got clean hands when it comes to violence.

So, even a very small proportion of those who state their religion is more important than their citizenship could pose a threat to Australian civil society, as discussed recently by ASIO 's Mike Burgess. He said 14 "significant terror-related cases" have been resolved since the Bondi terror attack in December last year.

The 2026 Census will be next month. If we redo this religion/citizenship question again after the results have been tabulated there may be an increase in the percentage of citizens who state their religion is more important than their citizenship.

If there is an upward trend, that would join the upward trend of minority religions in Australia and the main group of citizens who opt for the 'no religion' category as mainstream religions will likely continue their downward trend.