Subject:
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Re: Can you folks give any more info on this?
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.loc.au
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Date:
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Wed, 28 Aug 2002 00:12:08 GMT
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Viewed:
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337 times
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> 1. The $1000 fine that seems to offend a lot of people (see slashdot for
> an amazing amount of rants) is not for having a religion that isn't
> recognised by the state, but for lying on a census form. Since no-one
> who would actually be a practising Jedi (since there don't appear to be
> any particular tenets of the faith, to start with), claiming to be one
> would be lying.
The census is covered by a framework of legislation that restricts the
legitimate ways that census data can be used by the government, the purpose of
which is to protect the privacy of individuals. The reason that you have to
identify yourself is because it is well-known in surveying that anonymous
surveys get less accurate responses than those with identification. So the
identification is to improve the data quality rather than an interest per se in
who you actually are. I rather suspect that to check someone was lying and then
prosecute them for doing so would almost certainly breach the legitimate uses
of census data somewhere along the line (I'm sure a lawyer would be happy to
argue this in court!). So identifying yourself and having a fine for lying are
basically to encourage people to tell the truth, in the belief that they can be
fined if they don't. However, the realistic likelihood of this happening is
probably 0.
Also, I would like to see the court case in which we proved a Jedi-worshipper
was lying. It rather begs the question of getting a definition of religion and
a basis for testing a person's beliefs. How do we prove that someone is a
Catholic? I bet a lot of people identified on the census as Catholics haven't
been to church in years and probably say and do things not consistent with the
"beliefs" of Catholicism. Were they lying about being Catholic?
Personally I've attended all services of the Jedi faith (Episodes 1,2,4,5,and
6, some multiple times) and I have a number of books and icons (plastic images
of Jedi saints, e.g. a large Yoda and various keyrings, all sold by S@H
incidentally) in my house further attesting to my devotion to the Jedi
religion. I have certainly attended more Jedi events than any other religions
in the past couple of decades.
> 2. The CNN article isn't wholly correct. Some names and addresses are
> kept by the ABS. There was an option where you can choose to release all
> of your census answers after 100 years have elapsed. I'm sure the people
> of the future will be just thrilled to find out that I live in St.
> Lucia, and have no children.
Yes, they will be thrilled and thank you for doing it (about half of the
population did agree to preserve their data for historical purposes). I am
someone who uses census records from the UK in the 1800s and I love them.
Indeed, it was only the fact that I am someone who uses 100-year-released
census data, and hence do value its accuracy, that stopped me from claiming
adherence to the Jedi religion myself.
What I think the Jedi-on-the-census form "proves" is that an increasingly large
number of Australians thought it was an irrelevant question to ask in the first
place, which is consistent with the highest ever response of "No Religion" also
recorded in this census.
Kerry
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Message has 4 Replies:
 | | RE: Can you folks give any more info on this?
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| Hi, It's quite simple to determine if they're lying about being a Jedi: 1. Person claims to be a Jedi. 2. All Jedi have midichlorians in their blood. 3. Test blood for presence of midichlorians. 4. If test is negative, person is lying. Since (...) (22 years ago, 28-Aug-02, to lugnet.loc.au)
| | | Force and Religion
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| It is an interesting fact that there is so much debate about what does and doesn't classify as a religion. religion in my mind is simply a belief structure (As opposed to a belief by itself) But that's not the point i wanted to make. I read (and (...) (22 years ago, 28-Aug-02, to lugnet.loc.au)
| | | Re: Can you folks give any more info on this?
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| (...) One legitimate way is to sell the data to commercial interests. Now they should ask questions about Lego, TLC/G could use that sort of info. You can neglect to answer certain questions, just answer truthfully. (...) I only saw the first-half (...) (22 years ago, 29-Aug-02, to lugnet.loc.au)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | FW: Can you folks give any more info on this?
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| Hi, The CNN story pretty much covers all the details. Points to note: 1. The $1000 fine that seems to offend a lot of people (see slashdot for an amazing amount of rants) is not for having a religion that isn't recognised by the state, but for lying (...) (22 years ago, 27-Aug-02, to lugnet.loc.au)
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