The IBGE was right; we have jumped to conclusions
Contrary to the information released on the internet by many contributors and readers of this magazine, please note that the IBGE did not make a mistake when setting the rules for the census which is being carried out in Brazil since early August.
The insistence on disclosure the alleged error has influenced even the Brazilian Spiritist Federation (FEB), who acknowledged this mistake only days later. This fact came to the attention of this magazine on Friday, August 6, when our weekly edition was ready, with the articles already translated into Spanish and English. As a consequence it was not possible, due to lack of time, to rectify what was eventually published here.
A Note from the Brazilian Spiritist Federation, signed by the confrere John Pinto Rabelo, Director of Communications, reads:
"As per instructions of the President Nestor João Masotti, who is currently in New York attending an event in the honor of Chico Xavier, at UN headquarters, we hereby rectify the information transmitted on August 2nd, regarding the 2010 Census population, sponsored by the IBGE.
In face of new information, obtained directly from IBGE, it has been clarified that the population will be able to answer all alternatives related to the code 610, which are all linked to the same option: Spiritist. For instance, it will be possible to answer: Allan Kardec, Cardecism, Cardecist, Kardecism, Kardecist, Spiritist Centre, Spiritist Doctrine, Brazilian Spiritist Federation, Spiritism, among others, as per the attached IBGE document”.
In a subsequent information, it was clarified that IBGE and ISER (Institute of Religious Studies) have defined categories for the item Cult or Religion. They have added several categories to the initial basic list, however despite having so much information, it can still be incomplete. Because of this, the agents have been instructed to accept what is told by the person and they cannot, in any circunstances, change the answer given, which implies that, if a particular religion or cult mentioned by the person is not part of the list, the agent will log the information as declared by the person.
The spiritism has been given the code 610, which is different from the codes of Umbanda and other African religions.
We have reproduced below the list of names linked to the religious code 610, as we can see the word "spirit"is indeed part of the list, contrary to what some people have said, however we do not know the origin of this misunderstanting:
"ADEPTO ESPIRITISMO"=>"610",
"ALAN KARDEC"=>"610",
"AMOR E CARIDADE"=>"610",
"AMOR E VERDADE"=>"610",
"ANDRE LUIZ"=>"610",
"CARDECISMO"=>"610",
"CARDECISTA"=>"610",
"CENTRO DE MESA"=>"610",
"CENTRO ESPIRITA"=>"610",
"CENTRO ESPIRITA ALAN KARDEC"=>"610",
"CENTRO ESPIRITA ANDRE LUIZ"=>"610",
"CENTRO ESPIRITA BENEFICIENTE"=>"610",
"CENTRO ESPIRITA BEZERRA DE MENESES"=>"610",
"CENTRO ESPIRITA LUZ DA HUMANIDADE"=>"610",
"CENTRO ESPIRITA RAMATIS"=>"610",
"CENTRO ESPIRITA REDENTOR"=>"610",
"CENTRO RADIACAO ESPIRITA"=>"610",
"COMUNHAO ESPIRITA"=>"610",
"CRUZADA ESPIRITA"=>"610",
"DOUTRINA ESPIRITA"=>"610",
"ESPIRITA"=>"610",
"ESPIRITA AMOR DIVINO"=>"610",
"ESPIRITA BEZERRA DE MENESES"=>"610",
"ESPIRITA CAMINHO DO DAMASCO"=>"610",
"ESPIRITA CARDECISTA"=>"610",
"ESPIRITA CIENTIFICA"=>"610",
"ESPIRITA CIENTIFICA FILOSOFICO"=>"610",
"ESPIRITA CIRCULO BRANCO"=>"610",
"ESPIRITA ECUMENICA"=>"610",
"ESPIRITA FRANCISCO DE ASSIS"=>"610",
"ESPIRITA FRATERNIDADE"=>"610",
"ESPIRITA FRATERNIDADE MICAEL"=>"610",
"ESPIRITA FUNDAMENTALISTA"=>"610",
"ESPIRITA JOANA DARC"=>"610",
"ESPIRITA KARDECISTA"=>"610",
"ESPIRITA LINHA BRANCA"=>"610",
"ESPIRITA LIVRE PENSADORA"=>"610",
"ESPIRITA MEDIUNICA"=>"610",
"ESPIRITA MESA BRANCA"=>"610",
"ESPIRITA ORTODOXA"=>"610",
"ESPIRITA RACIONALISTA"=>"610",
"ESPIRITA REDENTORISTA"=>"610",
"ESPIRITA SAMALISTA"=>"610",
"ESPIRITA TUPYARA"=>"610",
"ESPIRITA UNIVERSAL"=>"610",
"ESPIRITA UNIVERSALISTA"=>"610",
"ESPIRITA VIA DE JESUS"=>"610",
"ESPIRITA VIDENTE"=>"610",
"ESPIRITISMO"=>"610",
"ESPIRITUAL RAMOS NOGUEIRA"=>"610",
"FEDERACAO ESPIRITA"=>"610",
"FEDERACAO ESPIRITA DO BRASIL"=>"610",
"FEDERACAO ESPIRITA KARDECISTA"=>"610",
"GRUPO FRATERNIDADE HUMBERTO"=>"610",
"IRMA SHEILA"=>"610",
"IRMANDADE ESPIRITUALISTA"=>"610",
"IRMAS DA CARIDADE"=>"610",
"IRRADIACAO ESPIRITA CRISTA"=>"610",
"JESUS ESPIRITA"=>"610",
"KARDECISTA"=>"610",
"MENSAGEIRO DA PAZ"=>"610",
"RACIONALISMO ESPIRITA"=>"610",
"RAMATIS"=>"610",
"RAMATIZISTA"=>"610",
"UNIAO ESPIRITA"=>"610".
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After rectifying the mistake, we want to apologize to the IBGE and to all those workers who have created, with intelligence and care, the census instructions which we mentioned above.
We also hope that this episode serves as a warning to all of users who collect information on the internet. Journalism is not done by hearsay, it is always important to check the other side. Because an information is posted on the internet does not mean it is correct. FEB, journalists and spiritist journals should be more careful when bringing information to the public which can harm the image of a person or an institution.
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