You may have got an envelope recently in which was a letter telling you about the 2021 Census (Scotland is having a census in 2022).
One of the questions is about your religion (although what my religious beliefs have to do with anyone else I am not sure – but you don’t have to answer this question, which is fair enough – and anyway see here).
But if like me, you don’t have any recognisable religious belief then that opens up opportunities for you. Last time, many people (390,127) claimed that Jedi was their religion, which was more than opted for Judaism, Sikhism or Buddhism.
This time around there will be a variety of views on life seeking your support for their life view. Here’s one example:
climate concerned sounds a good choice for people without conventional religious beliefs
I imagine any deity would be glad to see somebody use Climate concerned and stop screwing with her/it’s/his planet.
We live in a country with an established religion which enjoys certain privileges including representation in Parliament through the ‘Lords Spiritual’. Data on the relative numbers of people adhering to the established religion and to other religions, or to none (‘atheist’ is a possible answer to the question) could therefore be important in determining whether and how any reform to the laws of establishment may be required.
Also, under equalities legislation, religious belief is one of the protected characteristics so data on religious affiliation may be useful in analysing questions such as access to services, employment etc. Inclusion of religious affiliation in the census on this argument would suggest that there should also be questions on race, disability, pregnancy and maternity, gender reassignment and sexual orientation which are also protected characteristics. (I believe age and gender have long been included in the census).
What an excellent idea! I will be putting ‘Climate concerned’
There’s also a section on nationality where you can put all countries/types that you feel an affinity to….so for example, you could put English, British, European and Global
Plus: the Universe, as appeared on many a kid’s schoolbook cover!
If you don’t have access to an online device you can request a paper form at http://www.census.gov.uk
Catch 22
It’s some Catch, that Catch-22