Australians urged not to pledge ‘Jedi’ as their religion in Census

Any thoughts ? I think if Jediism is not your religion you should not pledge it as such , you dont pledge to be Jewish if you are not i think , but what are your thoughts ?

Article

I read this article last night and considered posting it as well, but I decided to sleep on it first and give it some time to sink in.

After thinking about it again this morning, it seems like a fundamental misunderstanding of Jediism on the part of the Atheist organization. While we all readily admit there are some who don't take the Path seriously or are just fans of the fiction that go a little too far with it, I think it is unfair of this group to assume that everyone who calls themselves "Jedi" fall into these categories. This is an opportunity for education. I don't think people should be identifying as "Jedi" on the census if they are not, but I also do not see the harm coming from it that the Atheist group does.

I was relieved and also proud to see so many positive reactions to Jediism as a whole and our Temple in particular in the comment sections of the various articles and Facebook posts about this. The general consensus seemed to be that this Atheist group should either "live and let live" and not worry about Jedi, or that they should actually research our community before writing it off as some kind of prank.

I was also excited to see so many current and former military pointing out that "Jedi" is now an acceptable faith to put on dog tags. Despite the history of "Jedi" being used erroneously on census forms as a joke, the tides seem to be shifting toward more serious consideration of the faith.

I'll be curious to see where this conversation goes next.

" your throwing off our count man! "
Hard not to get offended.

carlos.martinez3 wrote: " your throwing off our count man! "
Hard not to get offended.

I understand , but the thing is , we are a religion , as are other religions , one should not claim to be a Jedi if one does not believe in the Force , i mean treat it as a Joke to boost up the count ..that i find disrespectfull

Senan wrote: I read this article last night and considered posting it as well, but I decided to sleep on it first and give it some time to sink in.

After thinking about it again this morning, it seems like a fundamental misunderstanding of Jediism on the part of the Atheist organization. While we all readily admit there are some who don't take the Path seriously or are just fans of the fiction that go a little too far with it, I think it is unfair of this group to assume that everyone who calls themselves "Jedi" fall into these categories. This is an opportunity for education. I don't think people should be identifying as "Jedi" on the census if they are not, but I also do not see the harm coming from it that the Atheist group does.

I was relieved and also proud to see so many positive reactions to Jediism as a whole and our Temple in particular in the comment sections of the various articles and Facebook posts about this. The general consensus seemed to be that this Atheist group should either "live and let live" and not worry about Jedi, or that they should actually research our community before writing it off as some kind of prank.

I was also excited to see so many current and former military pointing out that "Jedi" is now an acceptable faith to put on dog tags. Despite the history of "Jedi" being used erroneously on census forms as a joke, the tides seem to be shifting toward more serious consideration of the faith.

I'll be curious to see where this conversation goes next.

I agree with you Senan , i dont agree with the Atheists stance of treating this religion as a joke , because its becoming more and more clear that we are not And that we are a Force to be reckoned with

I think the message is fair, but they could have been more careful to note that if you're not a member of a Jedi temple/church/community, don't mark that as your religion. I mean, if it's your religion, why not put it down? If it's not, don't. It's not rocket science.

Leah Starspectre wrote: I think the message is fair, but they could have been more careful to note that if you're not a member of a Jedi temple/church/community, don't mark that as your religion. I mean, if it's your religion, why not put it down? If it's not, don't. It's not rocket science.

Loll thats what i thought , although the atheists are convinced we are not a real religion that is their choice , you cannot tell people to put down anything and some or a lot of australian Jedi are actually people who resist putting down religion and being registred as such .. it was a form of protest as i remember it , its not even the governments bussiness to know what religion you are imo , but if you are not a Jedi , then dont claim to be one

I agree with you Marta, I think you shouldn't put Jedi as your religion if you aren't a Jedi. I can see where the people urging others not to choose Jedi are coming from too. If you are non-religious you probably shouldn't be putting Jedi or anything else as your religion. I don't like that they're calling Jediism a "joke religion," but most people probably don't understand that Jediism is a real religion. I also understand the urge to answer the census question incorrectly though. The government has no real business asking what religion people are so I understand why people would choose a religion that they don't really identify with just to stick it to the government.

What this really should be is "Don't lie on the census." I get why they spoke out against Jedi specifically since so many people did it, but the real issue isn't that they're saying Jedi, it's that they aren't being honest. If that many people had put Pastafarian then that's what the article would be about. Though it might not have gotten as much attention.

70,000 isn't a joke nor does that sound like a typo.... that's ALOT...