Who the fuck is promoting this except for Christian evangelicals? I can't see how this would benefit active else...
this post was submitted on 31 Aug 2025
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Regrettably, the ABS backed down following a media campaign by the Catholic hierarchy — who wanted to keep the question as it was, to ensure comparable data with past Censuses
I do wonder what the problem is when there's a 'No religion' option, though.
Per the article, without a "no religion" option people will pick the religion of their parents even if they're now atheist. This inflates the christian numbers.
There already was a "no religion" option, in the last census it was the first checkbox under the question asking what religion you follow.
He does have a point in that the proposed question would have been a more neutral way of determining whether someone is religious, the combination of the implicit assumption in the old question that having a religion is normal and providing an single tick option for selecting common ones probably does make a small percentage say yes that would not in the proposed question. Claims of coercion and human rights abuse though seem a bit over the top and are probably coming more from a dislike of religions (and their political power) rather than a desire for accurate data.
What wasn't mentioned in the article but is something I would consider likely that the main difference with the proposed question might not be from the question itself but from extra effort of writing out a religion name rather than ticking a box - it's a small effort but there'd be a lot of people who just want to go through the questions as fast as possible.
Just my opinion but I think it could be used as a mechanism to eventually remove tax exempt status for churches. “Look at the outsize influence they have in politics while only 20% identifies as Christian” or something like that.
Anti-Lock Brakes?
Australian Bureau of Statistics
Of all the things going on in the country, the specific wording of a census question is right up there on my list. 😃
If ever the option of Atheist / Agnostic / Non-Religious is missing, then I’ll opt to mis-classify as a Sikh, Hindu or other peaceful minority religion so that they have more of a chance to be recognised.