Some conservatives—for example, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, a professing evangelical—are suggesting that people not fill out the Census coming in the mail, or at least not to answer certain questions (e.g., on your race). Others are suggesting that some answers be falsified (e.g., checking “Native American” because you were born in America).
The reason is that the government will use racial information for purposes of reapportioning congressional seats as a result (which is true).
But even if you don’t like how this information will be used, Christians in particular should remember that it’s a violation of federal law to leave answers blank or to provide false answers. Even if you think the law is crummy, it does not require you to break any Scriptural laws, and therefore it would be a violation of Scripture to break this law.
On the law, attorney Hans A. von Spakovsky reminds us:
In Article I, Section 2, the Constitution says that an “Enumeration” must be conducted every ten years “in such Manner as [Congress] shall by Law direct.” Congress has directed through a federal law that anyone who “refuses or willfully neglects…to answer, to the best of his knowledge, any of the questions” on the Census form can be fined $100 (18 U.S.C. § 221). If you deliberately give a false answer, you can be fined up to $500.
It sounds as if you could actually be fined $5,000 if you refuse or deliberately falsify all the questions.
Upshot:
Everyone should realize that if you don’t complete a Census form, you are violating federal law. The chances of actual prosecution may be remote, but it could happen. The only real answer to this problem is for Congress to prohibit the Census Bureau from collecting such information and to make all government programs (and the reapportionment process) explicitly race-neutral.
