Caesar’s Decree Repeats
Many parents will remember
learning about the census when they were in school — in 1980 or 1990! This
year, children at every grade level will be studying the census in their social
studies, government, geography, and math classes. It’s a perfect opportunity
for Christian parents to “tie in” the life of Jesus Christ to enrich their
children’s “practical” education.
A Crash Course in Census 2000
Beginning in January 2000, the US
Census Bureau will begin its house-to-house canvassing of sparsely-populated
areas (including rural Alaska!) to confirm addresses it received from the US
Postal Service. By mid-July, every household in the United States and its
territories will receive a census form to fill out and return. The bureau will
publicize the census through direct mail, paid advertising on TV and radio, and
hundreds of special events in schools and community centers, encouraging
everyone to participate. Get ready for a media blitz!
In the United States, a census is
taken once every decade, as required by Article I, Section 3, of the US
Constitution. Census data are used to “draw up” the voting districts for the
House of Representatives and our state and local legislatures. The data
collected are also used to allocate federal money for the building of schools,
hospitals, and infrastructure (highways, water treatment plants, power plants,
etc.) — in fact, at least $182 billion will be distributed for each of the
next ten years based on Census 2000!
Two different census forms will be
distributed beginning in March 2000: a short form and a long or “sampling”
form. Both forms gather the names, genders, and ages of each member of the
household, their racial background and Hispanic origin (that is, whether on not
they are Spanish-speaking), and how long they have lived at their current
address. The “sampling” form also asks about marital status, place of birth,
employment status, income, educational background, service history in the armed
forces, language(s) spoken at home, as well as information about the home
itself: How many rooms? What type of heating? How many bathrooms?
The census forms and instructions
will be available in 50 different languages, including Albanian, Arabic,
Armenian, Greek, Hungarian, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, and Ukrainian.
The biggest controversy
surrounding Census 2000 — sure to be discussed at the middle- and high-school
level — has been the debate over the use of “statistical sampling” and the
impact estimated counts could have on the party-leanings of the voting
districts. The Supreme Court upheld section 195, title 13 of the United States
Code prohibiting the use of statistical sampling for congressional apportionment
on 25 January 1999, against a proposal by President Bill Clinton.
Additional resources for Census
2000, including downloadable census forms (both short and long, in 50
languages), historical data, and FAQ sheets, are available at http://www.census.gov
Joseph and Mary Go to Bethlehem
When the bureaucracy of the Roman
Empire took a census, it required people to travel to their family’s “home
city” to register, so no one would be missed or counted twice.
St. Joseph the Betrothed was
descended from the house of David (see his lineage in Matthew 1:1-16), so
he and his family were required to travel some 70 miles from their residence in
Nazareth to Bethlehem to register. The city of Bethlehem, six miles south of
Jerusalem, was the birthplace of king David, and the home of Ruth and Boaz.
Here is the story from the Gospel:
And it came to pass in those days that
a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.
This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria.* So all went
to be registered, everyone to his own city.
Joseph also went up from Galilee, out
of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called
Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered
with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with Child. (Luke 2:1-5)
It was during this trip that Mary
gave birth to our Lord and Savior. On the eve of the Nativity, the Church
remembers Caesar’s census as it sings:
When Mary conceived seedlessly, she was
registered in Bethlehem with the elder Joseph as being of the seed of David. The
time for birth came, and there was no room in the inn; the cave proved a fair
place for the Queen. Christ is born to raise up the image that of old had
fallen!
Troparion (Tone 4)
*Quirinius was known to have
governed the Roman province of Syria-Cilicia from 6-9 AD. Biblical historians
believe that St. Luke was referring to an earlier term of Quirinius, since the
evangelist has “otherwise proved a most reliable historian.” (Eerdmans’
Handbook to the Bible, p. 516)
Some Things to Do
