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Star Wars Religion Doesn't Make Census
Part 2: Star Wars Theology
 More of this Feature
• Part 1: May the Farce Be With You
• Part 3: The (British) Empire Strikes Back
 
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• Star Wars Fans
 
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• Australian 'Jedi' Warned of Census Fines
• George Lucas: The Theology of Star Wars
 

Is there such a thing as a Jedi religion?  Only in the fictional world of the "Star Wars" films — and even there it amounts to little more than a CliffsNotes approximation of spirituality, at best.

"Star Wars" creator George Lucas has said in interviews that he intentionally imbued the series with religious themes, but his aspiration stopped short of inventing a fully realized faith. His aim, rather, was to "re-create myths" and "[take] the issues that religion represents and ... distill them down into a more modern and easily accessible construct."

Luke Skywalker's use of "the Force," for example, is easily recognizable as a leap of faith — a surrender to a mystical higher power. But the particulars of that are left up to the viewer's imagination.

Says Lucas: "I put the Force into the movie in order to try to awaken a certain kind of spirituality in young people — more a belief in God than a belief in any particular religious system. I wanted to make it so that young people would begin to ask questions about the mystery."

He's getting more than he bargained for.

Return of the Jedi Email A new version of the hoax tailored for Australian consumption appeared around April Fools' Day, though that country's national census won't take place until August 7. The message recommended that anyone without "a dominant religion" enter "Jedi" as their creed.

The government official in charge of the 2001 census, John Struik, responded bluntly in The Age: "If we get 10,000 Jedis they will go down as no official religion."

To qualify for recognition, Struik said, devotees would have to demonstrate an actual belief system and a "formal organizational structure."

Pretending to be "Star Wars" characters in Internet chat rooms would presumably not qualify.

Here is the Australian version:


Ever wanted to make a difference??

As some of you may know there is a census coming around on August the 7th. For those who don't know, a census is where the government collates general information about it's residents (number of people living in your house, religion, etc). If there are enough people in Australia, who put down a religion that isn't mentioned on the census form it becomes a fully recognised and legal religion. It usually takes about 10,000 people to nominate the same religion.

It is for this reason that it has been suggested that anyone who does not have a dominant religion to put "Jedi" as their religion.

Send this on to all your friends and tell them to put down "Jedi" on their census form. And remember ......If you are a member of the Jedi religion then you are by default a 'Jedi Knight'.


Jedi wannabees Down Under would do well to consider that providing false information on census forms could be punishable by a $1,000 fine.

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