Unholy war over Census question on religion

A FEAR campaign is spreading across the country over one previously uncontroversial question in the national Census survey.

AUSTRALIANS are being warned not to mark “no religion” on the Census survey over fears we could become a “Muslim country”.

But emails and Facebook posts highlighting concerns have been labelled a “scare campaign” driven by racists and other right-wing groups.

The battleground over Australia’s spiritual beliefs has become especially fierce this year after the Australian Bureau of Statistics decided to move “no religion” to the top of the list on the Census.

The move is in line with international practice and consistent with it being the second highest response to the religion question.

But some have suggested marking “no religion” could in fact lead to Australia being declared a “Muslim country”.

The post from the Gladstone Region Safe Communities. Pic: Facebook.

According to the Christian ethics action group Salt Shakers, an email is being circulated that asks Australians to avoid the “no religion” option.

“Bear in mind that although many Australians have no religion these days, the Muslim population in Australia will all declare that they are Muslim and this fact will be counted to ascertain what type of country we are in regard to religion,” the email states.

“Even though you may now have no religion, please consider entering the religion you were christened or born into, when answering this question.

“Otherwise in time Australia will officially be declared to be a Muslim country – because the Australian Bureau of Statistics Census will reflect this.”

Salt Shakers has warned its members to delete the email and not send it on, noting that “ironically” some Islamic groups in the past had suggested Muslims were afraid to declare their religion.

Australian Christian Lobby managing director Lyle Shelton said he did not agree with the email’s advice.

“I don’t think anybody should be motivated by fear,” Mr Shelton said. “We want an honest picture of what Australians believe.”

He said one of the best things about Australia was that people were free to worship and to do that publicly.

“Tick Muslim if you’re Muslim and Christian if you’re Christian. If your religion is not there (as there are only nine options), we encourage people to use the boxes to specify.”

Atheist Foundation of Australia vice president Michael Boyd said the claims made in the email were obviously ridiculous and false.

“A small minority of Australians claim to be Muslim, the notion that we’ll see sharia law introduced because of this two per cent is ridiculous,” he told news.com.au.

Just 2.2 per cent of Australians identified their religion as Islam in the 2011 Census and this was lower than the 2.5 per cent who identified as Buddhists.

In comparison, those identifying as Catholic — the top response — made up 25.3 per cent.

Muslims pictured at Friday prayer, led by Imam Yahya Safi, at Lakemba Mosque, in Sydney's west. Picture: Dan Himbrechts

“No religion” came a close second on 22.3 per cent. This was the highest growing category, increasing by 29.4 per cent since 2006.

While the popularity of Islam did grow from 1.7 per cent to 2.2 per cent, Hinduism saw the most growth among non-Christian religions. It went from 0.7 per cent to 1.3 per cent, an increase of 86 per cent.

Mr Boyd said his organisation had been countering the “scare campaign” about Islam.

“It’s really been driven by racist, far-right wing groups,” he said. “They’ll take any position to scare people about Muslims”.

WHY YOU SHOULD CHOOSE ‘NO RELIGION’

The Atheist Foundation of Australia has been campaigning to increase the “no religion” vote, and like most things the debate comes down to money.

The more people who chose “no religion”, the weaker the argument becomes for taxpayers to keep subsidising religious institutions.

The foundation wants more people to consider marking “no religion”, even if they have been baptised or have grown up in a religious household.

Mr Boyd said it was important for the government to get a true picture of how religious Australians were because churches currently pay no tax and do not have to report on their activities like other charitable organisations do.

“We know that the Catholic and Anglican churches are very wealthy organisations,” he said.

But it’s unclear how much churches earn because they don’t have to report on their finances. He said a recent Senate inquiry estimated that the government could be missing out between $1 billion and $8 billion a year in tax revenue.

The Atheist Foundation of Australia is ramping up its crowd-funded Mark ‘No Religion’ campaign. Picture: Michael Findlay

Mr Boyd said their tax-free status dated back to 1600 when most people were religious but times have changed.

“At the moment the 22 per cent of people who say they have no religion are subsidising, through the tax system, the 78 per cent who have religious beliefs,” he said.

In other countries such as the UK, those saying they had no religion had overtaken other options and was as high as 30-40 per cent. If Australia followed that trend, the government may have to reassess whether a significant number of taxpayers should be subsidising other people’s beliefs.

“When you look at the figures it’s extremely unfair,” Mr Boyd said.

FACTORS TO THINK ABOUT

Both the Australian Christian Lobby and the Atheist Foundation of Australia are encouraging people to answer the religion question even though they don’t have to. It’s the only Census question that’s not compulsory to answer.

If you follow the Australian Christian Lobby’s advice, it’s important for people to nominate a religion even if they’re not active members.

Mr Shelton said many people believed in God but were not part of a religious community.

“That doesn’t mean they have ‘no religion’,” he said.

“Many people who say they have no religion will, on deeper reflection, realise that they do believe in something and so should indicate that on the Census if they feel comfortable.

“Many people may not regularly attend church but they do appreciate their Christian heritage and have an attachment to their religious cultural heritage.

“The ACL encourages people to fill in their religion so that policy makers have a clear understanding of the religious make-up of the population.”

Mr Shelton believes the Atheist Foundation’s campaign for a higher no religion vote may lead to a misleading picture of spirituality in Australia.

“Very few people are atheists and believe in nothing,” he said.

“Most believe there is a spiritual dimension to the human creature or to the cosmos. Like me, they are all a bit gullible and believe in something.”

While there was nothing wrong with someone ticking the “no religion” box if they were unsure of their beliefs, Mr Shelton is worried the campaign will lead to claims of a boost in atheism.

“It seems like they (the atheists) are trying to enlarge their congregation,” Mr Shelton said.

To make their selection clearer this year, Mr Shelton believes atheists should mark “Other” and then write atheist.

But the Atheist Foundation of Australia disagrees.

“Atheism means ‘no religion’, I believe people should just mark ‘no religion’,” Mr Boyd said.

He said listing atheism as a religion was a misconception of atheism and “seems a bit silly”.

Do you believe Jesus died on the cross for your sins? Picture: Tim Marsden

He also encouraged those who did not attend church to think about ticking “no religion”.

Regardless of whether they have been raised as a Catholic or Muslim, Mr Boyd said people should reflect on their beliefs.

“If they think ‘I don’t pray, go to church and it’s not part of my life’, perhaps they’re not religious,” Mr Boyd said.

Even if someone was open to the existence of God or some other entity, Mr Boyd said that sort of person was not religious.

“They don’t rely on or look to a spiritual being in any of their interactions with other people and the things they do in daily life,” he said.

People who are spiritual and believe in God but don’t identify with a particular religion may also prefer to mark “Other” and then just write “Christian” so they are not counted as Anglican or Catholic.

But Mr Boyd did warn against people writing “Jedi”, which has become a popular choice in previous surveys, because it took away from the No Religion vote and was not counted anyway.

“We are simply asking people to take a bit of time to consider their response,” he said.

After misguidedly listing Jedi as my religion for most of my adult life... pic.twitter.com/awq4wvwUR2

— Adam Valentine (@Adam86Valentine) July 27, 2016

Got the questions over the Census? See our explainer here.