Source: News.com.au

By Charis Chang

AUSTRALIANS are being warned not to mark “no religion” on the Census survey over fears we could become a “Muslim country”.
But emails and Facebook posts highlighting concerns have been labelled a “scare campaign” driven by racists and other right-wing groups.
The battleground over Australia’s spiritual beliefs has become especially fierce this year after the Australian Bureau of Statistics decided to move “no religion” to the top of the list on the Census.
The move is in line with international practice and consistent with it being the second highest response to the religion question.
But some have suggested marking “no religion” could in fact lead to Australia being declared a “Muslim country”.
The post from the Gladstone Region Safe Communities. Pic: Facebook.
The post from the Gladstone Region Safe Communities. Pic: Facebook.Source:Supplied
According to the Christian ethics action group Salt Shakers, an email is being circulated that asks Australians to avoid the “no religion” option.
“Bear in mind that although many Australians have no religion these days, the Muslim population in Australia will all declare that they are Muslim and this fact will be counted to ascertain what type of country we are in regard to religion,” the email states.
“Even though you may now have no religion, please consider entering the religion you were christened or born into, when answering this question.
“Otherwise in time Australia will officially be declared to be a Muslim country – because the Australian Bureau of Statistics Census will reflect this.”

Salt Shakers has warned its members to delete the email and not send it on, noting that “ironically” some Islamic groups in the past had suggested Muslims were afraid to declare their religion.
Australian Christian Lobby managing director Lyle Shelton said he did not agree with the email’s advice.
“I don’t think anybody should be motivated by fear,” Mr Shelton said. “We want an honest picture of what Australians believe.”
He said one of the best things about Australia was that people were free to worship and to do that publicly.
“Tick Muslim if you’re Muslim and Christian if you’re Christian. If your religion is not there (as there are only nine options), we encourage people to use the boxes to specify.”
Atheist Foundation of Australia vice president Michael Boyd said the claims made in the email were obviously ridiculous and false.
“A small minority of Australians claim to be Muslim, the notion that we’ll see sharia law introduced because of this two per cent is ridiculous,” he told news.com.au.
Just 2.2 per cent of Australians identified their religion as Islam in the 2011 Census and this was lower than the 2.5 per cent who identified as Buddhists.
In comparison, those identifying as Catholic — the top response — made up 25.3 per cent.

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