Census.

Noo

The Raptor wrote: »

There's no 'i don't know' option. Do i tick roman catholic because i celebrate Christmas. Except for last Christmas where i skipped it and had less hassle from family. I didn't even have a tree. What am I?

Are you a practising catholic? Do you go to church, pray etc.? When you say you celebrate christmas do you celebrate the birth of christ religiously or do you just celebrate the tradition of being around friends and family?

When you say you skipped Christmas last year, stll you still celebrate christ in your own way and go to church etc.? Do you celebrate any other religious festivals in a religious manner?

Do you actually believe in god?

If i was back in ireland i would be answering no religion. I enjoy the festivities at christmas for their tradition of the season rather than religious side and would go to church out of duty for a funeral or wedding. But i do not practice any religion or believe in god.

The Raptor

Noo wrote: »

Are you a practising catholic? Do you go to church, pray etc.? When you say you celebrate christmas do you celebrate the birth of christ religiously or do you just celebrate the tradition of being around friends and family?

When you say you skipped Christmas last year, stll you still celebrate christ in your own way and go to church etc.? Do you celebrate any other religious festivals in a religious manner?

Do you actually believe in god?

If i was back in ireland i would be answering no religion. I enjoy the festivities at christmas for their tradition of the season rather than religious side and would go to church out of duty for a funeral or wedding. But i do not practice any religion or believe in god.

Yes, sounds like me. No religion

Speedwell

I work from home. What time do I go to work and how long does it take me to get there? Right. I just put down my daily start time and "0". They'll figure it out. In the meantime, my husband asked, "I'm your husband OR wife?" Right, dude, look here where I marked the box for "male". "No religion" for both of us was easy, though if there was a box for "take all that useless ****e and shove it back up your arse where it came from", he would probably check that. I would probably content myself with "thumbing my nose at the Presbyterian Church and daring them to come get me back".

Adyx

gordongekko wrote: »

so there is no reason for the forms not to be put into the letterbox

No she asked me a couple of questions when she delivered it. (How many people in the house etc). It's not like they can just assume there's only one household per house.

.300 WinMag

The homeless people are required to fill this out right??!! WTF is wrong with the country, 54 million spent on this census I think I read somewhere, Holy **** how many housing units would that buy?, priorities are really arseways in this government, and have always been, If I were one of these poor homeless people, Id refuse to fill it in, screw the law, it only serves to make the rich richer anyway.

freshpopcorn

.300 WinMag wrote: »

The homeless people are required to fill this out right??!! WTF is wrong with the country, 54 million spent on this census I think I read somewhere, Holy **** how many housing units would that buy?, priorities are really arseways in this government, and have always been, If I were one of these poor homeless people, Id refuse to fill it in, screw the law, it only serves to make the rich richer anyway.

If the government cancelled the census because of the homeless this time five years down the line they'd end up cancelling it because of something else and we'd never end up with a census being complete.

Into The Blue

L1011 wrote: »

Next time around, allegedly. If you believe the Indo, which isn't the best idea.

Believing the indo? Or online census?

stoneill

forgot to fill it out last night.

namloc1980

.300 WinMag wrote: »

The homeless people are required to fill this out right??!! WTF is wrong with the country, 54 million spent on this census I think I read somewhere, Holy **** how many housing units would that buy?, priorities are really arseways in this government, and have always been, If I were one of these poor homeless people, Id refuse to fill it in, screw the law, it only serves to make the rich richer anyway.

Really hate this argument. Apart from the fact that the Government has very little to do with the Census, what you're saying is basically unless money is spent on housing then it shouldn't be spent.

murpho999

.300 WinMag wrote: »

The homeless people are required to fill this out right??!! WTF is wrong with the country, 54 million spent on this census I think I read somewhere, Holy **** how many housing units would that buy?, priorities are really arseways in this government, and have always been, If I were one of these poor homeless people, Id refuse to fill it in, screw the law, it only serves to make the rich richer anyway.

Why does all normal society norms have to stop becuase of this perceived homlessness crisis.

You do realise that even if people had buildings them that the people on the streets would most likely still be there due to other problems they face?

Speedwell

The homeless have to be counted because otherwise they don't count. No money for social services will be allotted to their assistance if they can't be shown to be part of the population. What social assistance is available won't be concentrated in the areas of greatest need if the numbers of homeless in each location aren't known. The census is the one single best way homeless people can link their existence to a location and have it taken seriously by public policy.

mariaalice

The what time do you usually leave for work had me scratching my head. I work shift and have 4 different start times, so have 4 different times I leave for work.

L1011

Into The Blue wrote: »

Believing the indo? Or online census?

Believing the Indo. Almost as bad as the Mail now.

suicide_circus

mariaalice wrote: »

The what time do you usually leave for work had me scratching my head. I work shift and have 4 different start times, so have 4 different times I leave for work.

Yes there really should be a box for shift workers leaving home at various times of the day.

sadie06

The issue of religious identification in this census (and the 'tick no religion' campaign in the build up to it) has really annoyed me. I strongly feel that the church should have no connection to schools, and that the issue surrounding school admissions should be faced head on and resolved as quickly as possible. I could not, however, tick 'no religion' despite the many articles I read telling me I absolutely had to.

I am not merely a cultural Catholic, but I also do not attend mass every week. We do not pray together as a family and my children are not indoctrinated to a degree where we could be called very religious.

We attend mass about once a month and at Easter and Christmas. We love the milestone events such as Communions and Confirmation. I had a church wedding, and will have a church funeral in the future. I have a strong connection to choral music and find nothing more uplifting than a mass with a nice choir and beautiful hymns. I am happy with this level of engagement both for myself and my children.

Why should I tick 'No religion'? It is not my fault that there is no extra question to determine the strength of my faith or the frequency with which I attend mass. If there had been a distinguishing question, I would have answered it.

Discourse in the build up to this census made it feel like the future education of non-Catholic children lay in the hands of people like me. That is unfair. I have been as honest as I can be, given the choices on the form.

TL;DR: If à la carte Catholic had been an option, I would have chosen it.

intheclouds

sadie06 wrote: »

TL;DR: If à la carte Catholic had been an option, I would have chosen it.

So you are not a Catholic by the Catholic Churches standards?

mariaalice

I could make a reasonable attempt at an Irish conversation, so what to say about speaking Irish is difficult.

sadie06

intheclouds wrote: »

So you are not a Catholic by the Catholic Churches standards?

Despite you putting this forward as an accusation, that is exactly what I am saying. There is no :'Catholic, but not by the Catholic Church's Standards' box though. There is only 'No religion'.

I was baptised, made my first Holy Communion, was confirmed, married in a church. I attend (and enjoy) mass once a month and for major feast days. I attend religious Choral events. I pray quietly, but not ritualistically with my family.

Given all of the above, do you really think I should have ticked 'No Religion'.

GLaDOS

sadie06 wrote: »

The issue of religious identification in this census (and the 'tick no religion' campaign in the build up to it) has really annoyed me. I strongly feel that the church should have no connection to schools, and that the issue surrounding school admissions should be faced head on and resolved as quickly as possible. I could not, however, tick 'no religion' despite the many articles I read telling me I absolutely had to.

I am not merely a cultural Catholic, but I also do not attend mass every week. We do not pray together as a family and my children are not indoctrinated to a degree where we could be called very religious.

We attend mass about once a month and at Easter and Christmas. We love the milestone events such as Communions and Confirmation. I had a church wedding, and will have a church funeral in the future. I have a strong connection to choral music and find nothing more uplifting than a mass with a nice choir and beautiful hymns. I am happy with this level of engagement both for myself and my children.

Why should I tick 'No religion'? It is not my fault that there is no extra question to determine the strength of my faith or the frequency with which I attend mass. If there had been a distinguishing question, I would have answered it.

Discourse in the build up to this census made it feel like the future education of non-Catholic children lay in the hands of people like me. That is unfair. I have been as honest as I can be, given the choices on the form.

TL;DR: If à la carte Catholic had been an option, I would have chosen it.

If you feel you are a Catholic that's fine, you're being honest by ticking Catholic. While I take some issue with the tone of the "tick no" campaign, ultimately it's purpose is to get people to actually think about their faith, instead of ticking Catholic automatically. It seems like you have done that so I don't think anyone reasonable could take any issue with your decision.

keano_afc

sadie06 wrote: »

The issue of religious identification in this census (and the 'tick no religion' campaign in the build up to it) has really annoyed me. I strongly feel that the church should have no connection to schools, and that the issue surrounding school admissions should be faced head on and resolved as quickly as possible. I could not, however, tick 'no religion' despite the many articles I read telling me I absolutely had to.

I am not merely a cultural Catholic, but I also do not attend mass every week. We do not pray together as a family and my children are not indoctrinated to a degree where we could be called very religious.

We attend mass about once a month and at Easter and Christmas. We love the milestone events such as Communions and Confirmation. I had a church wedding, and will have a church funeral in the future. I have a strong connection to choral music and find nothing more uplifting than a mass with a nice choir and beautiful hymns. I am happy with this level of engagement both for myself and my children.

Why should I tick 'No religion'? It is not my fault that there is no extra question to determine the strength of my faith or the frequency with which I attend mass. If there had been a distinguishing question, I would have answered it.

Discourse in the build up to this census made it feel like the future education of non-Catholic children lay in the hands of people like me. That is unfair. I have been as honest as I can be, given the choices on the form.

TL;DR: If à la carte Catholic had been an option, I would have chosen it.

Some of the bullsh*t telling people what to tick in this section was almost criminal. I saw one particularly nasty image saying "If you voted YES (the Yes was in rainbow colours indicating they referring to the marriage referendum) then you must vote No!" Its bullying, pure and simple.

vicwatson

sadie06 wrote: »

Despite you putting this forward as an accusation, that is exactly what I am saying. There is no :'Catholic, but not by the Catholic Church's Standards' box though. There is only 'No religion'.

I was baptised, made my first Holy Communion, was confirmed, married in a church. I attend (and enjoy) mass once a month and for major feast days. I attend religious Choral events. I pray quietly, but not ritualistically with my family.

Given all of the above, do you really think I should have ticked 'No Religion'.

Well you aren't catholic anyway, if you were you'd go to hear the eucharist every week.

Do you believe in Transubstantiation? Do you believe Mary was actually a virgin?

LordSutch

Question: 14
Can you speak Irish?

But what exactly does that mean?

Yes, I can speak Irish (but only about ten words)? or Yes I can speak Irish, but only the Cupla Focal?

Admittedly I can speak a few words of Irish, so does that mean a Yes in box 14

GLaDOS

I just ticked no for the speaking Irish question. I have a few words and phrases but could not hold any sort of conversation. That doesn't count as speaking a language.

sadie06

The Irish question is annoying also! There was nothing to distinguish between myself (can understand a lot, and speak far less) and my children, who are fluent in Irish!

ixoy

keano_afc wrote: »

I saw one particularly nasty image saying "If you voted YES (the Yes was in rainbow colours indicating they referring to the marriage referendum) then you must vote No!" Its bullying, pure and simple.

How is it possibly bullying when the census is confidential? Nobody will know what you put down. And it was an image on a site, hardly someone intimidating you. Not exactly nasty by any standard definition..

Seriously, the primary campaign is to ask you to just think about your answer, that's it. Even David Quinn wanted honest answers.

LordSutch

ScienceNerd wrote: »

I just ticked no for the speaking Irish question. I have a few words and phrases but could not hold any sort of conversation. That doesn't count as speaking a language.

The question (No 14) is as clear as mud.

sadie06

vicwatson wrote: »

Well you aren't catholic anyway, if you were you'd go to hear the eucharist every week.

Do you believe in Transubstantiation? Do you believe Mary was actually a virgin?

You did read the last line of my post, yes?

keano_afc

ixoy wrote: »

How is it possibly bullying when the census is confidential? Nobody will know what you put down. And it was an image on a site, hardly someone intimidating you. Not exactly nasty by any standard definition..

Seriously, the primary campaign is to ask you to just think about your answer, that's it. Even David Quinn wanted honest answers.

There's nothing wrong with a campaign asking you to analyse your answer. Its a different scenario when people like Roisin Ingle are coming out warning of false consequences if you dare to claim allegiance to a faith. The question could have been phrased better, but the scaremongering designed to push people to the "no religion" option was over the top.

intheclouds

sadie06 wrote: »

Despite you putting this forward as an accusation, that is exactly what I am saying. There is no :'Catholic, but not by the Catholic Church's Standards' box though. There is only 'No religion'.

I was baptised, made my first Holy Communion, was confirmed, married in a church. I attend (and enjoy) mass once a month and for major feast days. I attend religious Choral events. I pray quietly, but not ritualistically with my family.

Given all of the above, do you really think I should have ticked 'No Religion'.

I really did not intend it to be an accusation, it was simply a question.

If you perceived it as an accusation then you need to look inwards to find out the reason why.

Do I think you should have ticked No Religion? No - I think you should have ticked whatever you wanted to tick.

The question needs reframing imo and until it is reframed people are going to continue to choose Catholic when they are not Catholic.

Speedwell

Atheist here... my rule of thumb is that if you get upset when you think about checking a box, it is not the right box for you. If you get upset at any box, check the one that you are least upset about. Life is too short. The Census guidelines themselves say to think about how you identify today rather than how you were brought up, anyway, so the Catholics can think of some other way to inflate their membership rolls than to act like a crazy girlfriend who won't admit the relationship is over.

If you pray and practice and worship, you are religious. Pick the religion closest to the way you pray and practice and worship and no reasonable person can disagree with you. If you pray and practice and worship and don't mean a word of it for reals, then my unsolicited opinion is that you are a "no religion", but do whatever you feel comfortable with.