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At the time of the national census, there was none more evangelical than the various atheist organizations. Not content with recording their own lack of religious belief on the census form, these groups appear every five years – at their best proselytizing – to encourage Christians and Catholics in particular to move to the “no religion” box in the census. .

This year is no exception.

A marketing campaign, supported by opinion pieces published in sympathetic media, calls on people to shed their cultural Catholicism and declare themselves to be religion-free.

Activists target those who do not practice a particular religion or who might struggle or even reject certain religious teachings, insisting that it is the same as not having a religion. In doing so, these activists deliberately or out of ignorance distort what religion is.

Religion comes from the Latin word reread, which means ‘to bind’. Religion is the bond of each individual to God and to each other. Declaring “no religion” therefore declares that we have severed these ties with God and the people, or at least that we aspire to do so. It’s not the severing of ties with a particular teaching you might disagree with, a particular priest or bishop you don’t like, or a particular scandal you can’t ignore: it’s the ultimate. rejecting the baby with the bathwater, stating that you are giving up all aspects of religious belief and practice.

Atheist activists want you to believe that such “untying” brings freedom; that, even if removed from a cultural or sentimental attachment to God and to others, will be liberating. They will also tell you that this is the most “authentic” way to describe yourself. “After all,” they whisper, “you can’t be religious if you don’t go to church.

The opposite is true.

It is our bond with God and with one another that delivers our true freedom and reveals to us our most authentic selves. This has always been true, but it has been particularly evident over the past 18 months, as places of worship have been closed and Australians have been encouraged to socially distance themselves or forced into self-isolation.

We know from our experience of this pandemic that our bonds with family, friends and community are an expression of our true freedom. We know that even those who rarely darken the door of a church (or a synagogue or a mosque or a temple) know that something is missing when those doors are closed.

We know that even those who may not be the best or the most frequent prayers always turn to God during times of great trial, confident that as long as they have practiced social distancing with Him, He will. is bound to us all for eternity. , and waits to hear from us when we call. This has been clear throughout the pandemic, with a third of Australians saying they have increased their prayer and spiritual practices during the lockdown.

atheist activists… appeal to their feeling that they are not “real” Christians and to their fears of having strayed too far from the God who loves them.

Just as God remains linked to humanity, the Catholic Church does so too. Catholic schools educate Catholics and non-Catholics across the country and support many of our most disadvantaged and vulnerable students. Catholic hospitals provide care and care to everyone, regardless of their religious beliefs or lack of it. The same goes for Catholic elderly care facilities and retirement homes.

Catholic welfare agencies offer assistance to everyone, without checking the box they checked on the census form. Priests baptize our babies and bury our loved ones, even when their families have been away from the Church for a long time. Because our priests and those who work in various Catholic ministries have bonded with God and the people of God.

Atheist activists want to take religion, reread, the bonds that unite them by appealing to their feeling of not being “true” Christians and to their fears of straying too far from the God who loves them. Such a campaign is insidious and diabolical, as these activists have no interest in being a community for or with those they encourage away from the Church. Instead, they are only interested in using them.

Behind their pressure for statistical confirmation that Australians are losing their religion is the desire for a more secular state, a state where religious beliefs and believers are marginalized, as well as pressure to suppress the public funding of Catholic schools, hospitals and welfare organizations, despite themselves. provide essential services to Catholics and non-Catholics.

The Catholic Church declares that people are always an end and should never be used as a means. Atheist activists have no problem using people as a means of reaching a secular militant end. Why anyone would choose to join its ranks is beyond me.

Even though you were taken away from the Catholic Church from your upbringing, it is still your home. It’s always a place you’ll be welcomed back whenever you find yourself craving an end to social distancing and isolation, and seeking to be bonded with whoever bonded to you. Identify yourself as part of our family and tick “Catholic” on the census.