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Census: Atheists and Christians want you to fill in question 19

4:07pm Monday, 8th August 2011  

Karen Mudge

Question 19 “what is (your) religion?” has become the most controversial part of this year’s census which most Australians will fill in tomorrow night.

Both the Atheist Foundation of Australia (AFA) and the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) are campaigning to make sure this question gets filled in, but they want different answers, especially from people who are nominally Christian.

The AFA has unveiled billboards across the nation in major cities stating "Census 2011: Not religious now? Mark 'No religion' and take religion out of politics." They urge people who are only nominally religious to mark ''No Religion'' at the bottom of question 19.. “The coming census in Australia is an important chance to make sure your interests are met in decision making and funding, that views you do not hold are not over-represented in the coming years” say the atheists.

The Australian Christian Lobby urge Christians to be clear about their faith in the census, and also to “encourage those you know to at least put ‘Christian’ in answer to question 19”. The ACL says “Not every person who holds Judeo-Christian values attends a church, but if enough of them leave this section blank, some will use this to minimize the importance of basic Christian values in this country.  We need to prove the size of the constituency who hold these values.”

When asked whether the census will represent the number of Christians in the country, Mark McCrindle from McCrindle Research replies, “No, the census will represent what it intends with question 19; it will identify how many Australians identify with Christianity as their religion.”