Yuyutsu,

I did find some of the questions in the census quite invasive, particularly the one about if you wanted to have your details available to others in about 99 years via the Australian National Archives and I said no. I suggested such an option be taken out, when putting forward suggestions at the end of the Census.

I suppose re this issue for myself if people are going to have to fill in a Census form or face penalties, it is not unreasonable to recognise people and be more inclusive. I know of some people who had to be recognised as Chinese when they are not. They wanted no link to China at all and yet they had no choice.

Some have also highlighted there is no other way of recording the amount of certain types of people in the community, such as LGBTIQ+ in Australia, but I don't know if that is necessary. To each their own. Some may want privacy respected and if they want to identify themselves fully there is nothing stopping that in real terms via other forms such as speaking out, talking with others, Facebook pages etc, but I generally don't like to discriminate in circumstances like this one.

Nathan,
How is a question invasive if one does not have to answer it?

Census returns, when they are released after everyone is dead are invaluable to historians, particularly to those engaged in genealogical research.

I’m more than happy to have researchers in the future know what I was and where in 2021.

Dear Nathan,

You may be interested to know that the Bible forbids censuses and consider them a sin: King David disobeyed and conducted a census, resulting in a plague with 70,000 fatalities.

The census is spiritually detrimental because it encourages us to falsely identify with whatever material things we temporarily have: our homes, our jobs, our cars, our gender, our age, our name, our family arrangements and now some are even asking to add sexual orientation to the list. We are none of these!

The census accepts any lies other than the Truth of who we are, as expressed in the following poem: http://shlokam.org/nirvanashatakam

(continued also over the next post)

"
Neither am I the mind nor intelligence or ego,
Neither am I the organs of hearing (ears), nor that of tasting (tongue), smelling (nose) or seeing (eyes),
Neither am I the sky, nor the earth, neither the fire nor the air,
I am the ever pure blissful consciousness; I am Shiva, I am Shiva,
The ever pure blissful consciousness.

Neither am I the vital breath, nor the five vital airs,
Neither am I the seven ingredients (of the body), nor the five sheaths (of the body),
Neither am I the organ of speech, nor the organs for holding (hand), movement (feet) or excretion,
I am the ever pure blissful consciousness; I am Shiva, I am Shiva,
The ever pure blissful consciousness.

Neither do I have hatred, nor attachment, neither greed nor infatuation,
Neither do I have passion, nor feelings of envy and jealousy,
I am not within the bounds of dharma (righteousness), artha (wealth), kama (desire) and moksha (liberation) (the four purusarthas of life),
I am the ever pure blissful consciousness; I am Shiva, I am Shiva,
The ever pure blissful consciousness.

Neither am I bound by merits nor sins, neither by worldly joys nor by sorrows,
Neither am I bound by sacred hymns nor by sacred places, neither by sacred scriptures nor by sacrifies,
I am neither enjoyment (experience), nor an object to be enjoyed (experienced), nor the enjoyer (experiencer),
I am the ever pure blissful consciousness; I am Shiva, I am Shiva,
The ever pure blissful consciousness.

Neither am I bound by death and its fear, nor by the rules of caste and its distinctions,
Neither do I have father and mother, nor do I have birth,
Neither do I have relations nor friends, neither spiritual teacher nor disciple,
I am the ever pure blissful consciousness; I am Shiva, I am Shiva,
The ever pure blissful consciousness.

I am without any variation, and without any form,
I am present everywhere as the underlying substratum of everything, and behind all sense organs,
Neither do I get attached to anything, nor get freed from anything,
I am the ever pure blissful consciousness; I am Shiva, I am Shiva,
The ever pure blissful consciousness.
"

Yuyutsu,
Whatever you do, do not leave the house ! Repeat, do not leave the house !

Is Mise,

Invasive:

4: tending to infringe

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/invasive

So, I only need feel my personal space being infringed upon and I am put off or find such questions in the census "invasive".

I may not be forced to answer a particular question, but I do find such a move invasive as per the above definition and I was shocked such questions were even asked, like the one referring to the national archives.

Let's say a swarm of wasps or bees were near your own home, I could say, well they'll go away, don't worry about it or I could argue they are invasive.

I kept a diary (a personal one), not just one required at high school. I'm glad I got rid of it and it's not part of an historic family collection or something the national archives or others can read 99 years down the track. That itself is invasive as people would know so much about my private life!