Forbidden Question

Gearing up for the U.S. Census Bureau's regular ten-year chore, Census Boss Robert W. Burgess announced that once again no questions on religion will be included in the 1960 census. Reason: pressure from such groups as the American Civil Liberties Union, American Jewish Congress, Seventh-day Adventists, some Christian Science organizations, who feel (since the public is required by law to answer census questions) that by asking about religious affiliations, the Government would be violating the doctrine of separation of church and state.

Census men are doubly puzzled by the pressure because 1) they think that statistics on religious affiliation might help the U.S. to understand itself better, and 2) in making informal population reports (where answers to questions are not mandatory) they have discovered that most people don't mind answering the question at all.

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