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Revision as of 06:14, 22 August 2005 by Philwelch (talk | contribs) (undo silliness)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)The Jedi census phenomenon was a grassroots movement in 2001 for citizens in a few English-speaking countries to record their religion as "Jedi" or "Jedi Knight" (after the fictitious religious order from the Star Wars films) on the national census. Their motivations were unknown, but Australian Star Wars Appreciation Society president Chris Brennan reported to The New Zealand Herald that while some may have actual religious convictions they chose to describe as "Jedi", the majority of self-reported Jedi "either did so for a laugh or to poke borax at the Government." . Other news reports also interpreted the exercise as a massive practical joke.
The campaign was loosely organized by circulating emails claiming that if enough people entered "Jedi", it would be recognized as an official religion by the government. The emails also implored people to report their religion as "Jedi" "because you love Star Wars" or "just to annoy people". Other reasons that have been suggested for this behaviour have included frivolity, a protest or mockery of the census or religion, or a desire to claim or pretend that one is a Jedi.
In Australia more than 70,000 people declared themselves members of the Jedi in the 2001 census, while 53,000 listed themselves as Jedi in New Zealand and 20,000 listed themselves as Jedi in Canada. New Zealand has the highest per capita population of purported Jedi in the world, with 1.3% marking "Jedi" as their religion on the census.
In England and Wales 390,000 people (0.7%) stated their religion as Jedi on their 2001 Census forms, surpassing Judaism and making it the fourth largest reported religion in the country. The highest such responses were typically in cities with high student populations. The percentages of religious affiliations (excluding atheists and non-respondents) were:
- Christian: 94.0%
- Muslim: 3.1%
- Hindu: 1.1%
- Jedi: 0.7%
Jedi is still not recognised as an "official" religion in any nation where the movement took place; however, it was assigned its own code in the United Kingdom for census processing. Officials from the British Office for National Statistics have pointed out that just because "Jedi Knight" has been given its own code, that does not confer on it the status of official recognition; it merely means that it has been registered as a common answer to the "religion" statistic.
The UK National Statistics Office has noted that the joke may well be on the people who started the rumour. It has been suggested that many people who would otherwise not have completed a Census form did so solely to record themselves as Jedi, so this joke actually improved the quality of the Census.
One possible reference to this phenomenon emerged in June of 2005 when Jamie Reed, Member of Parliament for Copeland in the United Kingdom, declared himself to be a Jedi during his maiden speech. The statement, made in the context of an ongoing debate regarding a "Incitement to Religious Hatred" bill, was confirmed by Reed's office to be a joke instead of a serious statement of faith.
See also
External links
- National Statistics Online (2001), "390,000 Jedis There Are"
- Article about this phenomenon at Snopes.com
- JEDI Census, unofficial web page for the campaign