From Jesus Christ to Jedi Knight – validity and viability of new religious movements in late modernity
Debra McCormick
School of Social and Political Enquiry
Monash University Victoria
eprints.qut.edu.au/archive/.../6636.pdf
Abstract
In 2001, a widely distributed email urged people to indicate ‘Jedi’ (from the movie Star Wars) as their religious affiliation on the National Census to be undertaken that year. The email, which may have originated from a prank, stated that if large enough numbers of people declared an affiliation to Jedi, the government would be forced to include it as a religion in future censuses. More than 70,000 Australians and 390,000 Britons heeded the call to action and recorded Jedi as their religion in the 2001 census. While the majority of people claiming affiliation to Jedism probably did so in a spirit of fun and/or rebellion, research suggests there are members of society who take the ‘religion’ quite seriously. The introduction and establishment of new religious beliefs once reliant on migration or trade is now facilitated by a global sharing of ideas through mass media and communications technology. Using Jediism and the events surrounding the 2001 National Census in Australia, Britain and New Zealand as examples, this paper explores the legality of new religious movements and; the
question of whether the study of a religion based on popular culture can provide relevant discourse on late modern religious environments, attitudes, and participation or if it should simply be dismissed as a passing fad. The results of this research will contribute to the body of knowledge relating to changes in religious affiliation in Australia.
I thought the Jedi-ism part was funny.
Debra McCormick
School of Social and Political Enquiry
Monash University Victoria
eprints.qut.edu.au/archive/.../6636.pdf
Abstract
In 2001, a widely distributed email urged people to indicate ‘Jedi’ (from the movie Star Wars) as their religious affiliation on the National Census to be undertaken that year. The email, which may have originated from a prank, stated that if large enough numbers of people declared an affiliation to Jedi, the government would be forced to include it as a religion in future censuses. More than 70,000 Australians and 390,000 Britons heeded the call to action and recorded Jedi as their religion in the 2001 census. While the majority of people claiming affiliation to Jedism probably did so in a spirit of fun and/or rebellion, research suggests there are members of society who take the ‘religion’ quite seriously. The introduction and establishment of new religious beliefs once reliant on migration or trade is now facilitated by a global sharing of ideas through mass media and communications technology. Using Jediism and the events surrounding the 2001 National Census in Australia, Britain and New Zealand as examples, this paper explores the legality of new religious movements and; the
question of whether the study of a religion based on popular culture can provide relevant discourse on late modern religious environments, attitudes, and participation or if it should simply be dismissed as a passing fad. The results of this research will contribute to the body of knowledge relating to changes in religious affiliation in Australia.
I thought the Jedi-ism part was funny.
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Re: Religious belief on the Aussie 2001 Census
Wed, May 14, 2008 - 3:00 PM<I thought the Jedi-ism part was funny.>
The Force shall be with you, Krampus, despite your skepticism. -
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Re: Religious belief on the Aussie 2001 Census
Wed, May 14, 2008 - 3:06 PMDoes my skepticism make me a Sith?
or a Clone?
or a Smuggler (Hans Solo)?
or a Wookie? -
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Re: Religious belief on the Aussie 2001 Census
Wed, May 14, 2008 - 3:24 PM<Does my skepticism make me a Sith?
or a Clone?
or a Smuggler (Hans Solo)?
or a Wookie?>
Would you believe Jar Jar? -
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Re: Religious belief on the Aussie 2001 Census
Wed, May 14, 2008 - 10:54 PMnews.yahoo.com/s/ap/odd_b...ader_raider
'Darth Vader' spared jail in Jedi church attacks
Wed May 14, 7:36 AM ET
HOLYHEAD, Wales - A man who dressed up as Darth Vader, wearing a garbage bag for a cape, and assaulted the founders of a group calling itself the Jedi church was given a suspended sentence Tuesday.
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Arwel Wynne Hughes, 27, attacked Jedi church founder Barney Jones — aka Master Jonba Hehol — with a metal crutch, hitting him on the head, prosecutors told Holyhead Magistrates' Court.
He also whacked Jones' 18-year-old cousin, Michael Jones — known as Master Mormi Hehol — bruising his thigh in the March 25 incident, prosecutors said.
The two cousins and Barney Jones' brother, Daniel, set up the Church of Jediism, Anglesey order, last year. Jedi is the faith followed by some of the central characters in the "Star Wars" films.
The group, which claims about 30 members, says on its Web site that it uses "insight and knowledge" from the films as "a guide to living a better and more worthwhile life."
"We all love the films and what they stand for. Obviously some people are going to laugh about it," the Wales on Sunday newspaper quoted Barney Jones as saying last month. "But a lot of people do take it seriously."
Unfortunately for Hughes, his March attack was recorded on a video camera that the cousins had set up to film themselves in a light saber battle.
"Darth Vader! Jedis!" Hughes shouted as he approached.
Hughes claimed he couldn't remember the incident, having drunk the better part of a 2 1/2-gallon (10-liter) box of wine beforehand.
"He knows his behavior was wrong and didn't want it to happen but he has no recollection of it," said Hughes' lawyer, Frances Jones.
District Judge Andrew Shaw sentenced Hughes to two months in jail but suspended the sentence for one year. He also ordered Hughes to pay $195 to each of his victims and $117 in court costs.
In the 2001 United Kingdom census, 390,000 — 0.7 percent of the population — listed Jedi as their religion -
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Re: Religious belief on the Aussie 2001 Census
Thu, May 15, 2008 - 4:04 PMI'm so hairy I gotta be a WOOKIE!
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Re: Religious belief on the Aussie 2001 Census
Fri, May 16, 2008 - 11:37 AMIs this the first shot in a new religious war? Will historians look back at this news article in the centuries to come and point to it as the beginning of a new holy war? I can't help but giggle a little at the thought. I suppose it can't be though, as we're lacking a Sith church to oppose the Jedis. At least, we are for now ^_^
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Re: Religious belief on the Aussie 2001 Census
Thu, May 22, 2008 - 4:19 AM<<I thought the Jedi-ism part was funny. >>
God I love Australia - faulted as it is.. This Jedi thing was actually a big deal and heaps of people said they would get behind it..
Reminds me of a story of an ex-girlfriends current other half who claims he is the High Priest of the Church of the Copulating Badger.. He needed 5,000 signatures to submit to the tax office to claim tax except status.. and got them by going around pubs and signing up patrons to his "Religion".I have no idea if it is fact or fiction - but it was an amusing story.. and more than plausible :)
