You might think it’s a no-brainer – if you aren’t religious,that’s what you’ll mark. Unfortunately,both the way the question is phrased and its positioning on the overall census,lend themselves to unconsciously inaccurate reporting.
OK,so it’s unlikely that anyone will accidentally write Jedi,Pastafarian or Satanist against the ‘other’ box – but also please don’t do this. As much as we all very much wish for there to be many Jedis walking the streets of our towns (may the Force be with us all in this time of pestilence),answers such as these will be counted as types of religion.
Increasing the proportion of people identifying as religious helps to support and defend funding for religious activities and perpetuates the current poor delineation betweenChurch and State in Australia. This includes the huge over-representation of religion in school,hospital and military wellbeing programs (‘chaplaincy’),prayers at council or parliamentary sittings and the enormous battles over compassionateending of life for the terminally ill by doctors who are willing and able to do so.
Aside from those people who unwittingly inflate the religious count by recording a fake religion,there are also a number of other ways that the current question on religion prompts accidental over-reporting. Firstly,and most importantly,the wording of the question presumes a positive answer. “What religion are you?” is more likely to be answered with your religion of origin,the religion of school days or long since passed Sunday School in the 1970s.
It is also the final question in the topic labelled cultural diversity – this surrounds the question with the aura of cultural religious traditions. Evoking memories of Midnight Mass,Seder meals and dusty confirmation gowns lulls people into selecting a religious option that at a different point in the census,would simply not occur to them.
The question itself provides a selection of possible religions with “No Religion” now appearing at the top of the list. The question also provides examples for “Other” (which again will be counted as a religious affiliation). These examples include Lutheran,Judaism and Atheism. Many people are indeed passionate about their lack of belief,but,if atheism is your answer,it is not an “Other” religion – it’s No Religion.