Census 2011 – Let’s use religion to scare the Christmas carols off you

I’ve seen this on Facebook a few times and it really gets my goat.

AUSTRALIA WILL BE HOLDING A CENSUS IN AUGUST
DO NOT LEAVE THE “RELIGION” SECTION BLANK. BE SURE TO AT LEAST TICK CHRISTIAN (OR YOUR OWN FAITH).
1,000,000 MUSLIMS WILL TICK THEIR BOX.
10,000,000 AUSTRALIANS WILL LEAVE IT BLANK THEN WONDER WHY CHRISTMAS CAROLS ARE BEING BANNED IN SCHOOLS!
PASS THIS ON TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS.
IT’S NOT ABOUT RELIGION, IT’S ABOUT KEEPING OUR WAY OF LIFE .

I wonder what would happen if the following was sent out:

AUSTRALIA WILL BE HOLDING A CENSUS IN AUGUST
DO NOT LEAVE THE “RELIGION” SECTION BLANK. BE SURE TO AT LEAST TICK MUSLIM (OR YOUR OWN FAITH).
1,000,000 CHRISTIANS WILL TICK THEIR BOX.
10,000,000 AUSTRALIANS WILL LEAVE IT BLANK THEN WONDER WHY RAMADAN IS BEING BANNED IN SCHOOLS!
PASS THIS ON TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS.
IT’S NOT ABOUT RELIGION, IT’S ABOUT KEEPING OUR WAY OF LIFE .

I can imagine the uproar.

What I would prefer to see is this:

AUSTRALIA WILL BE HOLDING A CENSUS IN AUGUST
IT WOULD BE GOOD IF YOU COULD FILL IN THE RELIGION SECTION AS THIS WILL GIVE THE GOVERNMENT A TRUE PICTURE OF RELIGION WITHIN AUSTRALIA. TICK NO RELIGION IF YOU ARE NOT RELIGIOUS
BUT SINCE WE LIVE IN A FREE COUNTRY, IF YOU CHOOSE NOT TO FILL THAT SECTION IN THEN THAT’S OK TOO.

I’m glad to see that there is still room for the use of religion to scare people into doing what you want. Which is what this is all about. *sigh*