'No religion' belongs to the unspoken for

[Judas BentHer]

Photo: I'm concerned that 'no religion' - indeed, atheism itself - means something very different to the AFA than it does to me.


By ABC's Michael Collett

Updated August 10, 2011

When I attempt the fraught task of putting self to paper this census, I'll be muttering an aimless prayer before reluctantly crossing 'no religion'.

But please, don't read too much into it. It tells you what I'm not and nothing more.

Nevertheless, I fear my X may be hijacked for irreligious - that is, anti-religious - purposes.

This I speculate because the 'no religion' response has found its champion in the Atheist Foundation of Australia.

We heretics are urged to own our disbelief; to resist the hilarity of professing Jedi or Pastafarianism - or my favourite jest religion, metal music - and forsake the ritual of deferring to the faith of our parents.

This in itself is, of course, admirable. The decline of religion - or otherwise - should be properly documented. What's the point of a census if it's not answered honestly?

And so I'll do my part.