On Wednesday 6 June, Michael Nugent was on a panel discussion about religion and science on the Marc Coleman show on Newstalk Radio. The other panelists were Michael Kelly deputy editor of the Irish Catholic newspaper, Donal O’Sullivan Latchford of the Irish family and Media Association and Dublin City Councillor Dr Bill Tormey of Fine Gael.
These are some edited highlights of Michael’s contributions to the discussion:
And here is the full discussion:
Welcome to this week’s Secular Sunday.
This week, we’re focusing on the results of Census 2011 that were released on Thursday. We also have the usual round-up of the week’s other news and a list of upcoming events.
350,000 Irish people did not identify with any religion in the latest census. That’s 7.5% of the population.
270,000 people ticked the No Religion box, up 45% from the last census. That’s 6% of the population, by far the second-largest single census category after Roman Catholic.
Another 80,000 people either did not answer the question on religion (73,000), or else wrote either atheist or agnostic in the box titled Other Religion (7,000).
That’s a total of 350,000 people who did not identify with any religion in the census. Some of those who did not answer the question might of course be religious, but did not want to answer the question.
But the true figure for nonreligious people is likely to be much higher, based both on the reality of living in Ireland, and a leading census question that assumed that everyone had a religion and merely asked them what that religion was.
Be Honest in the Irish Census on Sunday 10 April. Think before you tick your answer to the religion question, and give an answer that matches your actual religious affiliation. If you still believe in God but you are no longer truly a Roman Catholic, please say so. If you are an atheist or agnostic or humanist and you have no religion, please tick the ‘No Religion’ box.
Atheist Ireland wants to see accurate answers to the question on religion. The last Census showed 3.7 million Roman Catholics (that’s about 87% of the population) and 186,000 people with no religion (that’s about 4% of the population). We believe the true figure for Roman Catholics is much lower than 87%, and the true figure for people with no religion is much higher than 4%.
We believe that this inaccuracy happens because many people tick their childhood religion out of habit, or tick a religion that they don’t really practice, or let somebody else fill in the answer for them. But you won’t write in your childhood home address unless you still live there. So don’t write in your childhood religion unless you still really practice it.
Why is this important?
The Census results are used to predict future demand for State services such as schools and hospitals, and other policies. If we get a falsely very high figure for Roman Catholics, and a falsely very low figure for people with no religion, it makes it more likely that the State will discriminate against people of other religions and nonreligious people when providing these services.
Also, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin says that it “does not make use of baptismal registers for calculating the Catholic population of the Archdiocese of Dublin. It relies solely on the data from the Central Statistics Office, obtained through the census, by which citizens themselves choose to record, or not, their religious affiliation.”
So careless answers to the question of religion will have an impact on the allocation of State resources, and on the political lobbying power of the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland. If you want a fair future based on accurate statistics, please answer this question honestly.
If you grew up as a Roman Catholic, and you still believe in God but you are no longer truly a Roman Catholic:
Instead, please answer whatever most accurately reflects your true religious affiliation. For example, you can write ‘Christian’ (or something else) in the ‘Other Religion’ box. Or you can tick the ‘No Religion’ box if you believe you are spiritual but not religious.
Obviously the same principles apply if you grew up as a member of any other religion that you no longer practice. We are focusing on Roman Catholicism because getting this figure accurate will have by far the most impact on the allocation of State services and other policies.
Please follow this link to see what the Census question will look like, and how the Roman Catholic figure has changed since the 1961 Census.
If you are an atheist or agnostic or humanist and you have no religion, please tick the box marked ‘No Religion’.
Please follow this link to see what the Census question will look like, and how the ‘No Religion’ figure has changed since the 1961 Census.
Summary
Census figures for other religions may also be inaccurate in the Census, but the figures for ‘Roman Catholic’ and ‘No Religion’ are likely to have the most impact on the allocation of state services and other policies. They are the largest and second-largest answers for the religion question, and getting them right will have the most impact.
So be honest in the Irish Census on Sunday 10 April. Think before you tick your answer to the religion question, and give an answer that matches your actual religious affiliation. If you still believe in God but you are no longer a Roman Catholic, please say so. If you are an atheist or agnostic or humanist and you have no religion, please tick the ‘No Religion’ box.
What else can you do to help?
If you grew up as a Roman Catholic, and you still believe in God but you are no longer truly a Roman Catholic, please be honest in the Irish Census on Sunday 10 April. Think before you tick your answer to the religion question, and give an answer that matches your actual religious affiliation.
What will the census question look like?
The question will look something like the extract above. If you’re not truly a Roman Catholic, we’re asking you to not tick box number 1, which says ‘Roman Catholic’. Instead please answer whatever most accurately reflects your true religious affiliation.
For example, you can either write ‘Christian’ (or something else) in box number 6, which says ‘Other: write in your RELIGION’. Or you can tick box number 7, which says ‘No Religion’, if you believe you are spiritual but not religious.
Please remember that the Census is not a survey of theological beliefs. It is a measure of social changes, including in religious affiliation, to help plan the allocation of State services and other policies.
How many Irish people are Roman Catholic?
The figure for Roman Catholics has steadily dropped from 95% (in 1961), to 94% (in 1971), to 93% (in 1981), to 91% (in 1991), to 88% (in 2002) and 87% (in 2006). With even normal change, that figure should be lower now. And with the dramatic changes in Irish society since the last Census, the true figure may be much lower.
Just last year Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin said that Ireland “is undergoing a veritable revolution of its religious culture” but “many in Ireland and in the church in Ireland have not yet understood the full extent of the cultural change taking place and continue to act as if we were still simply living in a culture with a Catholic majority”.
We believe Archbishop Martin is correct about this. We hope that the Census results for 2011 will accurately reflect this. You can help to make this happen.
What else can you do to help?
If you are an atheist or agnostic or humanist and you have no religion, please be honest in the Irish Census on Sunday 10 April. Think before you tick your answer to the religion question, and give an answer that matches your actual religious affiliation.
What will the census question look like?
The question will look something like the extract above. If you’re not religious, we’re asking you to tick box number 7, which says ‘No religion’. You’ll notice it is hidden away at the end, despite the fact that the ‘No religion’ figure was the second highest after Roman Catholic in the last census.
Please don’t write in ‘Atheist’, or anything else that is not a religion, in box number 6, which says ‘write in your RELIGION’. That makes some people mistakenly think that atheism is a religion, and creates the impression that there are far fewer atheists than is actually the case.
How many Irish people are nonreligious?
In the last Irish Census, over a quarter of a million people either ticked the ‘No Religion’ box (186,000), or didn’t answer the question (70,000), or wrote in an answer that isn’t a religion (over 2,000). Overall, that’s about one person in every fifteen. On its own, the ‘No Religion’ figure is the second-largest group after Roman Catholics.
And we believe the real figure is much higher than that. The ‘No Religion’ figure has risen from 1,000 (in 1961), to 7,000 (in 1971), to 39,000 (in 1981), to 66,000 (in 1991), to 138,000 (in 2002) and 186,000 (in 2006). With even normal change, that figure should be higher now. And with the dramatic changes in Irish society since the last Census, the true figure may be much higher.
We hope that the Census results for 2011 will accurately reflect this. You can help to make this happen.
What else can you do to help?
Irish People Abandoning Religion
Irish people are among the least religious in the world. That’s according to the latest Global Index of Religion and Atheism released by WIN-Gallup International.
The index is based on surveys conducted in 57 countries, representing more than 73% of the world’s population. Read More »