Details on the “Census 2011 Act” can be found in the plenary minutes of the Bundestag. The law has not yet been signed. According to the minutes, the committee’s recommendations had all been taken into account. In contrast to the previous censuses, only a random sample is surveyed by interviewing selected households.
The Humanist Association of Germany (HVD) comments on the data collection regarding religious and ideological beliefs in this census:
The HVD is in favor of every person being able to profess a worldview or religion of their own free will. If the survey is therefore necessary, it can only provide a true reflection of the diversity of the population in our country if no legal restrictions prevent this. According to § 3 Abs. 1 No. 27 now also asks about membership of a religious community under public law – this is an addition to the previous version. This was controversial. The HVD had demanded equal treatment of all convictions.
§ Section 7 concerns the household survey on a sample basis. In paragraph 4, numbers 18 and 19 are new. 18 concerns the “legal affiliation to a religious community under public law” and 19 the “commitment to a religion, denomination or worldview (Sunni Islam, Shiite Islam, Alevi Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and other religions, denominations or worldviews).”
Dr. Horst Groschopp, President of the HVD, “welcomes the fact that the law that has now been passed not only asks about Christian religious affiliation, but also about ideological affiliation as a denomination. We had concerns that the large group of the population that does not belong to either church or is non-denominational would not have played a role in the survey results.”
This knowledge is all the more important as the Federal Government explicitly points out in the explanatory memorandum to the law that the data should not only provide reliable and up-to-date population figures, but should also be used to obtain important basic data for political and economic decisions and planning.
“Non-denominational people should be advised to declare their atheistic, humanistic or similar worldviews when questioned. In order to reform ethics lessons, for example, we need more knowledge about the actual ‘beliefs’ in Germany,” continued Dr. Groschopp.
