Should "Jedi Knight" be a recognized religion?

[baldguy]

Jedi Knights seek Human Rights

http://images.thesun.co.uk.nyud.net:8090/picture/0,,2006530848,00.jpg

Jedi demo ... the Force followers and Chewbacca outside London's UN building

UNITED Nations chiefs today felt the Force from two Jedi Knights fighting for interstellar 'human rights'.

Self-proclaimed Jedis ‘Umada’ and ‘Yunyun’, joined by hairy wookie Chewbacca, called for official acceptance of their ‘religion’ at London’s UN headquarters.

The fictional Jedis fought evil villain Darth Vader in the blockbuster Star Wars movie trilogy - leading to a cult following among sci-fi fans and students.

more
http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2006530367,00.html

[WindRavenX]

1. what it comes down to is this:

Christianity can be boiled down to the worship of a zombie. Jesus died and rose three days later. Some say that's a miracle, I say it's a zombie.

Hell, compared to that, Jedism seems the more rational of the two.

[baldguy]

6. Sweet Zombie Jesus!

[Redstone]

2. So, let's see, I'm supposed to vote in a poll on whether two clearly delusional lunatics

should be...Aw, damn, I just can't continue typing with a straight face.

Redstone

[KamaAina]

3. I heard a number of people in Australia and/or NZ put "Jedi Knight"

on their census forms!

[u4ic]

9. Canada, too n/t

[Kutjara]

10. I think that's what started this in the UK.

I heard that any belief system that claims more than some percentage of the population (I've heard 1, 5% and 8% in different retellings) can claim official status as a religion in Britain. During the 2000 UK census, more than the required number of people put 'Jedi' in the box marked 'faith.' making it eligible for legal status as a religion.

As religions go, it's less odious than most.

[Random_Australian]

12. It's biggest in the U.K., where this is happening, I think we're the next

highest percentage. :)

[TimeChaser]

4. Well, why not?

:shrug:

[evirus]

5. jedi, sure, but

Knight would be like a preist maybe master like pope or something.

[anarch]

23. I wonder what the practices are for lay Jedi

I mean, I totally see your point...there's tons of Catholics for instance, but not all of them are "Bishops" or "Priests", and tons of Buddhists who are not monks, etc. And knights in general have to have such a title conveyed on them by someone with authority to do so, right? These people had damn well better be highly skilled in the combative arts, including mastery of the sword, to call themselves "knights". Sheesh.

[philosophie_en_rose]

7. If Scientology is recognized, why not Jedi?

Both created by science fiction franchise creators.

[Conan_The_Barbarian]

8. Of course

what right does anyone have to deny the legitimacy of their religion?

Besides recognizing these crackpots simply illuminates the absurdity behind the construct of religion.

[Reverend_Smitty]

11. why the hell not?

it's no more strange or outrageous than any other religion. Just imagine what the Romans thought about Christianity in the first few centuries AD

[Swamp Rat]

13. LOLOL!!!!!

:rofl:

[Arugula Latte]

14. Makes as much if not more sense than the major religions.

Frankly, I can think of few sillier things than believing Jebus is gonna come back to save us all ...

[ghostsofgiants]

15. Fuckin' nerds.

[Richard Steele]

17. ...

NERDS!!!

[TheBaldyMan]

16. In a far off Galaxy a long time ago ...

The UK census was inundated by entries professing that the subject's religion was Jedi, this was placed in the box covering religions that did not have a pre-printed entry.

This was because of a rumour on the internets that claimed if enough people put Jedi down as their religion it would be recognized as a real religion in the UK.

The claim made by this rumour was utterly false.

[Lady Freedom]

18. So if they think thats the path, then that is those peoples decision.

When it comes to religion, government, including the UN Needs to keep their nose out. Unless it is harming people like as in a genocide due to one group believing a different way than another.

[YankeyMCC]

19. Freedom of religion

No matter how wacky. As long as their practices don't involve slicing up other people with their light sabers. lol

Of course once they start marrying Wookies...well that's sure to get the religious right in a tizzy.

[NMMNG]

20. No wackier than Scientology

Whatever. :crazy:

[billyskank]

21. There was a thing back in 2002, when the UK did its last census

For the first time, the census form had an "other" box in the religion section, where you could write in your religion if it wasn't listed in the multiple choices. There was a campaign to persuade people to write "Jedi" in, the idea being that if a sufficient number of people declared themselves as Jedi knights, the government would be compelled to recognise it as an official religion. I have no idea whether this is actually true or not, but it was an amusing idea.

[democracyindanger]

24. Another article about this

referred to Jedi as the UK's fourth largest religion.

[billyskank]

28. Ha ha! But I do not think that can be the case

According to the last census, the four most popular religions in Britain are, in order (biggest first):

Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Sikhism.

Judaism trails behind in 5th place. A fuller analysis is:

There are 37.3 million people in England and Wales who state their religion as Christian. The percentage of Christians is similar between the two countries but the proportion of people who follow other religions is 6.0 per cent in England compared with 1.5 per cent in Wales.

In England, 3.1 per cent of the population state their religion as Muslim (0.7 per cent in Wales), making this the most common religion after Christianity.

For other religions, 1.1 per cent in England and 0.2 per cent in Wales are Hindu, 0.7 per cent in England and 0.1 per cent in Wales are Sikh, 0.5 per cent in England and 0.1 per cent in Wales are Jewish and 0.3 per cent in England and 0.2 per cent in Wales are Buddhist.

In England and Wales 7.7 million people state they have no religion (14.6 per cent in England and 18.5 per cent in Wales).

The English region with the highest proportion of Christians is the North East (80.1 per cent). London has the highest proportion of Muslims (8.5 per cent), Hindus (4.1 per cent) Jews (2.1 per cent) Buddhists (0.8 per cent) and people of other religions (0.5 per cent).

Fifty-eight per cent of people in London gave their religion as Christian, with the highest proportion in the borough of Havering (76 per cent). Thirty-six per cent of the population of Tower Hamlets and 24 per cent in Newham are Muslim. Over one per cent of the population of Westminster are Buddhist, while Harrow has the highest proportion of Hindus (19.6 per cent) and Barnet the highest proportion of Jewish people (14.8 per cent). Over eight per cent of the populations of Hounslow and Ealing are Sikh.

Sixteen per cent of the population of London say they have no religion, including 25 per cent in the City of London.

Outside London, the counties with the highest proportion of Christians are Durham, Merseyside and Cumbria, each with 82 per cent or more. The districts with the highest proportions of Christians are all in the North West: St Helens, Wigan and Copeland (Cumbria) each have 86 per cent or more.

The district with the highest proportion of Sikhs is Slough. One person in seven of the population of Leicester is Hindu. One person in nine of the population of Hertsmere in Hertfordshire, is Jewish. Over one per cent of the population of Cambridge are Buddhist. Brighton and Hove has most people stating other religions (0.8 per cent).

The districts with the highest proportions of people with no religion are Norwich, Brighton and Hove and Cambridge, all with over one-quarter.

In Wales, the highest proportion of Christians is found on the Isle of Anglesey (79 per cent) and the fewest in Blaenau Gwent (64 per cent). Rhonnda, Cynon, Taff has the highest proportion with no religion (25 per cent). Cardiff has the highest proportion of Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and Jews. Ceredigion has the highest proportions of Buddhists and people of other religions.

At the time the Census was carried out, there was an internet campaign that encouraged people to answer the religion question "Jedi Knight". The number of people who stated Jedi was 390,000 (0.7 per cent of the population).

The religion question was voluntary, and 4,011,000 people chose not answer it (7.7 per cent).

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/profiles/commentaries/ethnicity.asp#religion

[buddhamama]

25. i remember discussing it here

i believe RogueTrooper posted an article about it here in the Lounge. :hi:

[buddhamama]

22. Indeed it should.

It is a philosophy- a set of principals/ideals to live one's life by. hardly different than other major religions.

[RedStateShame]

26. Well, I was thinking it's no dumber than Mormon, but nevertheless....

I find England's lack of faith most disturbing.

[xchrom]

27. with them the force is!