They’re gonna count the Aussies
It’s a census, by design—
First they’ll write it up in English
Then translate it into ‘Strine
It’s been five years since they’ve done it
So it’s time to ask once more
Coming up, the ninth of August
That’s what Aussies have in store.
And they’ll ask them their religion—
Question nineteen, if you search—
And this tells them how much money
They can send off to the church
And it’s not just any money—
It’s your taxes they collect!
So it’s yours—your hard-earned money—
And that matters, I suspect.
Who decides if you are Christian?
Who decides if you are not?
Were you born into a culture,
Or, more aptly, were you not?
Do you believe that you are Christian?
Do you hold the Nicene Creed?
If you don’t, why does it matter?
That’s the question: why, indeed?
As my Australian readers know better than I do, this is a Census year, and this August they will be surveyed. The Atheist Foundation of Australia wants to make sure that people know the purpose behind one perhaps seemingly innocent question–question 19, which asks their religion. (Please do explore that link; there are a lot of questions answered there, making a good case for marking “no religion” even if you, a non-believer, have usually identified as a member of a particular religion for traditional, cultural, or social reasons.)
I know I have my share of readers down under (actually, perhaps more than my share; I may have someone else’s share as well), but my tentacle-print is still quite small; I encourage one and all to spread the word over the next couple of months (not my verse; it’s crap–but the linked page, and perhaps the one I will talk about in the next paragraph). It’s nice when you can make a real difference in the world.
If you want to help the effort to spread this campaign a bit more directly, you can also support (and/or urge the support of others) the indiegogo campaign, here, to fund media buy-ins.
The bottom line is, why does the government (via the Census) care what religion you are, if the government is secular? The answer, as it so often is in government… is money. Your tax money, to be specific, which… y’know, that first link (and here it is again) has a whole section on “why does it matter?” The thing is… it does.
Thanks for this Digital Cuttlefish – from an Aussie who”has previously listed ‘Jedi’ and ‘Çricket’ in the religion column of the census and thought it pretty much a completely pointless joke. Very interesting.
Hardly a disinterested, objective reference, that site.
It does, does it? How, specifically?
There’s a great paucity of specific information as to how identifying as non-religious will actually reduce funding to religious bodies.
Bah.
The more I look at that site, the more sophistic it seems.
OK, so one is not marked as ‘no religion’ — but one is not marked as religious, either.
…
OK, so one is marked as ‘no religion’ — which means one is not marked as religious.
Either way, one is not marked as religious — in both cases, one is part of the complementary set to those identifying as religious, no?
—
I fail to see any merit to the claim that the former “therefore advantages the religion count” in contrast to the latter.
John Morales #3
I understand it that way that you are placed in the “religious but undefined” category as soon as you write/tick something else than “no religion”. It’s just a distinction between the main religions and the countless minor ones, but still religious.
tardigrada, can you adduce any evidence for your belief?
FYI, two relevant links, both from “the horse’s mouth”:
1. http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/Lookup/by%20Subject/2008.0~2016~Main%20Features~Religious%20affiliation~111
2. http://stat.abs.gov.au/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=ABS_CENSUS2011_B14
Note the distinction in the latter between “Other religious affiliation” and “Religious affiliation not stated”.
The question itself is the evidence.
The question is “What is the person’s religion?”. There is a box labelled No Religion, then a list of boxes labelled with (I assume) the most common religions, then “Other (please specify)”.
I can’t see how an answering “other” can be counted as anything but religious.
kage, you can refer to my first link above to confirm that the question is optional (which is prominently noted in the form), so that no response need be given (resulting in “not defined” for tallying purposes).
In short, not answering yields the same result as answering (say) “Jedi”: http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/censushome.nsf/home/2001jedi?opendocument&navpos=320
(Link last updated 24 September 2013)
Pullquote:
Why does this issue cause argument every census? The issue of religion Is no ones business. Why is it included? I’m a very proud Australian and atheist. –
M
I’m Australian, I’m atheist and that will probably be the only question I answer honestly on the form.