Only when it suits the State...
Article
YOUR PAPERS, PLEASE ...
Ministers recruited
for census sermons
Pastor balks at Bureau's push
to preach government gospel
By Julie Foster
© 2000 WorldNetDaily.com
A pastor who received an urgent package in the mail
from the U.S. Census Bureau containing pamphlets and
mini-sermons for his congregation is outraged at what he
perceives to be government intrusion into church affairs.
Last week, Federal Express delivered an overnight letter
to Pastor Albert Hitchcock of Wiser Lake Chapel in
Lynden, Wash. The return address was "Bureau of the
Census" in Jeffersonville, Ind., and inside were two
high-gloss report folders titled, "Census 2000 information
for congregations" -- one in English and the other in
Spanish.
The folders contained announcements and messages for
the next six weeks to be printed in church bulletins and
announced to church members during worship services.
Pamphlets, more than a hundred to be passed out to
parishioners, were accompanied by a letter from Census
Bureau Chief Kenneth Prewitt.
"Census 2000 must enlist strong partners to achieve the
most accurate and complete census possible," the letter
states. "Your dedication to your congregation and your
community as well as your credibility throughout the
community makes you an ideal partner for this critical
endeavor. By helping us spread the word that the Census
is important and safe, you will play a key role in making
Census 2000 a success."
Hitchcock is incensed.
"Almost every day I read something wherein the Church
is being told to stay out of government's business --
indeed out of the public square altogether," the pastor
told WorldNetDaily. "If I put out voting guides, I am told
I jeopardize our tax-exempt status, for example. So,
where does the Census Bureau think they get the right to
commandeer God's Church to do [government]
business?"
Now retired from military service, Hitchcock emphasized
he is not "anti-government" and that he approves of a
census in its "original context." But he will not participate
in Prewitt's call to "spread the word."
"Printing something in the bulletin means that we endorse
it," Hitchcock explained. "They presume that they're
going to use my authority in my congregation to put my
stamp of approval on what the Census Bureau is doing."
"There's not a chance I'm going to make these
announcements," he added.
The bulletin announcement for Sunday, March 19 states:
"The Constitution of the United States mandates a census
every 10 years to determine how many seats each state
will have in the United States House of Representatives.
But community leaders use it for everything from planning
schools and building roads to providing recreational
opportunities and managing health care services. Fill out
your census questionnaire and send it back. Include
everyone living in your home, even people who are not
related to you. This is your future. Don't leave it blank."
All information included in the package to Hitchcock is
printed in color on expensive, high-gloss paper, causing
the pastor to question the financial efficiency of the
Bureau.
Indeed, around the country, charges of waste and
bureaucracy are being leveled at the Census Bureau.
Several tons of census forms paid for by taxpayers are
not making it to the correct addresses. In Central Florida
alone, more than 160,000 forms marked "undeliverable"
were picked up by a rented truck early Friday morning to
be hauled back to the sender.
In a state with thousands of people moving in and out, it's
perhaps not unusual for so many forms to contain the
wrong addresses. So to compensate for forms not
making it to their destination around the U.S., the Census
Bureau began hiring "enumerators" and "crew leaders"
who will go door-to-door distributing forms and assisting
in their completion.
The Bureau claims it must "fill hundreds of thousands of
temporary, part-time positions to conduct the 2000
census." The new government employees began working
Jan. 2, and pay scales range from $8.25 per hour for
enumerators to $20.00 per hour for crew leaders.
A Phoenix, Ariz. regional Bureau office fired three of its
top managers this week for recruiting the fewest census
workers in a 10-state region.
The office, which serves some of the hardest-to-count
groups in the area, needs 5,080 employees by the end of
the month. So far, it has hired 3,001. Nationwide, it is in
the bottom 10 percent in recruiting efforts among local
offices.
According to the Census Bureau, "Most people will be
needed for the largest census operation, Non-response
Follow Up, when census takers go door-to-door to
enumerate households that did not respond to the census
questionnaire mail-out."
Apparently, 3,000 people is not enough to do the job in
an area "often undercounted because residents are
transient, little educated or undocumented," according to
the Arizona Republic.
But more employees may not help government get the
answers it wants to questions on the census form. Many
Americans have refused to participate in the
questionnaire beyond indicating the number of persons in
their households. An increasing number of citizens regard
personal questions related to race, occupation,
transportation and even disability as an invasion of
privacy, and many are engaging in what amounts to civil
disobedience.
The penalty for not completing the form in its entirety is
$100,according to U.S. Code, Title 13, Section 221.
Proffering false answers renders a fine of up to $500.
Some citizens have even included $100 checks with their
forms, on which they indicate only the number of people
in their household.
One census critic called the Census Bureau hotline asking
where to send his $100 fine, as he would not be
completing the form in its entirety. After being transferred
to an agency supervisor, he was told the Bureau had no
information regarding fines for failure to participate,
suggesting there is no mechanism in place for collecting
the punitive fee.
Whether Census 2000 employees will attempt to collect
fees for non-compliance remains to be seen, but the
Bureau's solicitation of assistance from churches has
already begun.
Hitchcock interprets that solicitation as a violation of the
First Amendment.
"We have come full circle," the pastor said. "The
Constitution guarantees that the government will not
intrude into people's religion, though religion was always
free to be the conscience of government. But now the
tables have been completely turned. Churches are to
keep their mouths shut and keep their hands off public
life, but the government feels free to intrude into the
Church at will to advance its policies."
"To assume you can take the authority of ministers of the
gospel and make them pawns of government policy is
just a huge presumption on their part," Hitchcock
concluded.
Related story:
U.S. incensed over census
Julie Foster is a staff reporter for WorldNetDaily.
------------------
"Quis custodiet ipsos custodes" RKBA!
[This message has been edited by DC (edited March 18, 2000).]
Article
YOUR PAPERS, PLEASE ...
Ministers recruited
for census sermons
Pastor balks at Bureau's push
to preach government gospel
By Julie Foster
© 2000 WorldNetDaily.com
A pastor who received an urgent package in the mail
from the U.S. Census Bureau containing pamphlets and
mini-sermons for his congregation is outraged at what he
perceives to be government intrusion into church affairs.
Last week, Federal Express delivered an overnight letter
to Pastor Albert Hitchcock of Wiser Lake Chapel in
Lynden, Wash. The return address was "Bureau of the
Census" in Jeffersonville, Ind., and inside were two
high-gloss report folders titled, "Census 2000 information
for congregations" -- one in English and the other in
Spanish.
The folders contained announcements and messages for
the next six weeks to be printed in church bulletins and
announced to church members during worship services.
Pamphlets, more than a hundred to be passed out to
parishioners, were accompanied by a letter from Census
Bureau Chief Kenneth Prewitt.
"Census 2000 must enlist strong partners to achieve the
most accurate and complete census possible," the letter
states. "Your dedication to your congregation and your
community as well as your credibility throughout the
community makes you an ideal partner for this critical
endeavor. By helping us spread the word that the Census
is important and safe, you will play a key role in making
Census 2000 a success."
Hitchcock is incensed.
"Almost every day I read something wherein the Church
is being told to stay out of government's business --
indeed out of the public square altogether," the pastor
told WorldNetDaily. "If I put out voting guides, I am told
I jeopardize our tax-exempt status, for example. So,
where does the Census Bureau think they get the right to
commandeer God's Church to do [government]
business?"
Now retired from military service, Hitchcock emphasized
he is not "anti-government" and that he approves of a
census in its "original context." But he will not participate
in Prewitt's call to "spread the word."
"Printing something in the bulletin means that we endorse
it," Hitchcock explained. "They presume that they're
going to use my authority in my congregation to put my
stamp of approval on what the Census Bureau is doing."
"There's not a chance I'm going to make these
announcements," he added.
The bulletin announcement for Sunday, March 19 states:
"The Constitution of the United States mandates a census
every 10 years to determine how many seats each state
will have in the United States House of Representatives.
But community leaders use it for everything from planning
schools and building roads to providing recreational
opportunities and managing health care services. Fill out
your census questionnaire and send it back. Include
everyone living in your home, even people who are not
related to you. This is your future. Don't leave it blank."
All information included in the package to Hitchcock is
printed in color on expensive, high-gloss paper, causing
the pastor to question the financial efficiency of the
Bureau.
Indeed, around the country, charges of waste and
bureaucracy are being leveled at the Census Bureau.
Several tons of census forms paid for by taxpayers are
not making it to the correct addresses. In Central Florida
alone, more than 160,000 forms marked "undeliverable"
were picked up by a rented truck early Friday morning to
be hauled back to the sender.
In a state with thousands of people moving in and out, it's
perhaps not unusual for so many forms to contain the
wrong addresses. So to compensate for forms not
making it to their destination around the U.S., the Census
Bureau began hiring "enumerators" and "crew leaders"
who will go door-to-door distributing forms and assisting
in their completion.
The Bureau claims it must "fill hundreds of thousands of
temporary, part-time positions to conduct the 2000
census." The new government employees began working
Jan. 2, and pay scales range from $8.25 per hour for
enumerators to $20.00 per hour for crew leaders.
A Phoenix, Ariz. regional Bureau office fired three of its
top managers this week for recruiting the fewest census
workers in a 10-state region.
The office, which serves some of the hardest-to-count
groups in the area, needs 5,080 employees by the end of
the month. So far, it has hired 3,001. Nationwide, it is in
the bottom 10 percent in recruiting efforts among local
offices.
According to the Census Bureau, "Most people will be
needed for the largest census operation, Non-response
Follow Up, when census takers go door-to-door to
enumerate households that did not respond to the census
questionnaire mail-out."
Apparently, 3,000 people is not enough to do the job in
an area "often undercounted because residents are
transient, little educated or undocumented," according to
the Arizona Republic.
But more employees may not help government get the
answers it wants to questions on the census form. Many
Americans have refused to participate in the
questionnaire beyond indicating the number of persons in
their households. An increasing number of citizens regard
personal questions related to race, occupation,
transportation and even disability as an invasion of
privacy, and many are engaging in what amounts to civil
disobedience.
The penalty for not completing the form in its entirety is
$100,according to U.S. Code, Title 13, Section 221.
Proffering false answers renders a fine of up to $500.
Some citizens have even included $100 checks with their
forms, on which they indicate only the number of people
in their household.
One census critic called the Census Bureau hotline asking
where to send his $100 fine, as he would not be
completing the form in its entirety. After being transferred
to an agency supervisor, he was told the Bureau had no
information regarding fines for failure to participate,
suggesting there is no mechanism in place for collecting
the punitive fee.
Whether Census 2000 employees will attempt to collect
fees for non-compliance remains to be seen, but the
Bureau's solicitation of assistance from churches has
already begun.
Hitchcock interprets that solicitation as a violation of the
First Amendment.
"We have come full circle," the pastor said. "The
Constitution guarantees that the government will not
intrude into people's religion, though religion was always
free to be the conscience of government. But now the
tables have been completely turned. Churches are to
keep their mouths shut and keep their hands off public
life, but the government feels free to intrude into the
Church at will to advance its policies."
"To assume you can take the authority of ministers of the
gospel and make them pawns of government policy is
just a huge presumption on their part," Hitchcock
concluded.
Related story:
U.S. incensed over census
Julie Foster is a staff reporter for WorldNetDaily.
------------------
"Quis custodiet ipsos custodes" RKBA!
[This message has been edited by DC (edited March 18, 2000).]