ATLANTA -- The government and houses of worship will join hands to pray this weekend, crossing the constitutional divide that separates church and state in the spirit of getting an accurate census count.
Gov. Roy Barnes has asked preachers, priests and rabbis; imams, lamas and gurus to pitch the 2000 census in their sermons for the next few weeks.This weekend, however, has been designated "Census Sabbath" because a week remains until the April 1 deadline suggested for returning completed questionnaires. The big push targets the religious community because those organizations run social service efforts that benefit people who are historically hard to reach but at the same time depend on federally funded programs.
Georgia is the only state to propose sermons, according to Brenda August with the U.S. Bureau of the Census in Washington. The federal agency distributed brochures and written announcements to be given to worshipers.
"Ours are not sermons," August said. "A number of organizations all over the country are implementing programs that are targeted to their communities, (and) they have designed their programs in their own way."
Civil libertarians question the use of the sermons.
"At the ACLU, we are concerned any time a governmental agency attempts to shape the message delivered from a pulpit," said Debbie Seagraves, executive director of the Georgia Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. "That is one of the things we fear the most when we stress the importance of separation of church and state. This may seem innocuous on the face of it, but which agency will come next? Could it be the Justice Department?"
James Holmes, regional director for the census bureau, did not object to a government-drafted religious message with a census theme.
"We have tried to cover the entire spectrum, and what every state is doing is complementing what we are doing," Holmes said. Some churches will receive more information than others, he said, adding, "I'm not overly concerned about excluding any."
Cathy Carey, a spokeswoman for the Census Bureau in Georgia, said the focus is churches with a large number of black, Hispanic or Asian members.
"Only certain churches are doing it," she said.
Jay Kaiman, executive director of the Anti-Defamation League, worried that the focus could be too restrictive.
"I do think they have to be careful that the message they are sending is inclusive of all religions," Kaiman said. "There is a problem if they forget certain religions that do not follow certain doctrines. That would show a lack of understanding."
Most of the emphasis of the somewhat disorganized state program has been on the Christian faith.
"I'm not overly sensitive," said Rabbi Shalom Lewis, who leads the conservative Congregation Etz Chaim in Marietta. "These are just suggested texts. Any rabbi or imam can come up with their own."Jewish law if they are counted.
Some religious leaders, especially those who minister to immigrants, are reluctant to participate in the government program. They or members of their congregations do not trust the Census Bureau's assurances that it will not share information with any other police or federal agency, such as the Immigration and Naturalization Service or the Internal Revenue Service.
"Most of them say they are not speaking from the pulpit," said Jacqueline Rosier of the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Educational Fund in
Lewis said he may include the census in his weekend message but he already has had to answer questions from worshipers who are concerned they will violate Atlanta.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution staff writer Mark Bixler contributed to this article.