My copy of the 2010 U.S. Census came today. I filled it out and it is now waiting in my mailbox to be picked up tomorrow when the mailman comes with the mail tomorrow. It is finished. But is wasn't as bad as I thought.
You see, I have been listening to Glenn Beck and other political opinionists lately, and I have to say I agree with the recent sentiments I've heard regarding the U.S. census.
I was angered when I heard that even though the U.S. Constitution makes is lawful to conduct a census, the people in charge of it were going to put all kinds of questions in there that would invade my privacy. I determined that I would just fill out one question (the number of people living in my home) and then I would mail it back and be done with it.
I was intimidated by other things I heard as well. There would be fines for people who didn't fill it out completely. I even heard rumors of jail time.
I was confused and decided I would just decide what I would do with the questionnaire when it finally came to our home.
However, I didn't have to do that even. On Sunday we were blessed to hear from the Lord's current prophet on the earth. In a letter read to each U.S. congregation we were instructed to participate in the census in an "accurate and timely manner." Here is a link to that letter for those who would like to see it.
That's it. There was no farther need for me to wonder and guess as to what the form would have on it. What type of information they would be asking for that I wouldn't want to give. I was going to fill out the form in its entirety.
Thankfully, today when I received the form I didn't feel threatened by what it was asking for.
Lesson learned (again): follow the prophet and take courage in what I am asked to do.
3 Comments
I hope that Glenn Beck realizes that he's undermining the church he belongs to.
You can still follow the counsel in the First Presidency letter and hold onto your privacy, simply by stating that you are not comfortable answering any given question you don't like. Constitutionally, it's important to be counted and have government representation, but the letter says nothing about completely answering all the other questions as long as you are honest.
There's a difference between the small form census and the American Community Survey which asks dozens of more invasive questions ( http://www.census.gov/acs/www/Downloads/Questions_Planned_for_the_2010_Census_and_American_Community_Survey.pdf ). If you look at the contents of the ACS pdf linked, you'll find out that the information is used to allocate funds in the Welfare state. If you disagree with any government entitlement programs, racial & socioeconomic gerrymandering, or your tax dollars paying for specific groups of people, then you may prefer not to help them in those efforts.
Regardless, you can still follow the counsel in the First Presidency letter and hold onto your privacy. Simply enter the # of people in your house and note that you decline to answer any questions you don't feel comfortable with. Census records were used to find and imprison/intern US citizens of Japanese descent during WWII. I'd recommend filling out no race or other, "American" on the race line. As a member of a group that was singled out for extermination by a government executive, I'd hope you would have less faith in current government assurances that this data will never be abused, lost or stolen.
Other government agencies which have abused census info in the past include, but are not limited to, the IRS combining census data with other info to find possible offenders and local zoning boards enforcing arbitrary and after the fact rulings against residents.
@SpecKK: I agree with you. I will not "...answer any questions [I] don't feel comfortable with." And I didn't. I answered every question on the form I received, but I also didn't feel uncomfortable with filling out that information. If I would have received the ACS form I would not have filled it out. It is not something mandated by the Constitution nor is it made mention of in the letter from my church leaders. Thanks for the comment.