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Jedi census phenomenon
In some national population censuses which include a question on religious identity, media report numerous respondents giving their religion as Jedi (or "Jedi Knight") after the quasi-religious order in the Star Wars science fiction franchise. While a few individuals claim to practise Jediism sincerely, the answer can also be a joke or a protest against the question. While giving false information on a census form is often illegal, any religion question is sometimes an exception; in any case, prosecutions are rare.[citation needed] The Jedi census phenomenon sprang from a 2001 urban legend spread by chain email before the separate censuses that year in New Zealand, Australia, and the United Kingdom. The email asserted that any religion passing a minimum threshold (given variously as 8,000 or 10,000) would be entitled to some form of official recognition. Other reasons proffered include "do it because you love Star Wars" or "just to annoy people". The 2001 censuses recorded Jedi as the religion for 1.5% of New Zealanders, 0.37% of Australians, and 0.8% of Britons. Later censuses there and elsewhere have recorded smaller proportions. In some cases, any "Jedi" responses are collected under "other" rather than reported separately.
In Australia, more than 70,000 people (0.37%) declared themselves members of the Jedi order in the 2001 census. The Australian Bureau of Statistics issued an official press release in response to media interest on the subject. The ABS announced that any answers that were Jedi-related in the religion question were to be classified as "not defined" and stressed the social impact of making misleading or false statements on the census. An ABS spokesperson said that "further analysis of census responses has been undertaken since the release of census data on 17 June to separately identify the number of Jedi-related responses". It is believed that there is no numerical value that determines a religion per the definition of the ABS, but there would need to be a belief system or philosophy, as well as some form of institutional or organisational structure in place.
The push for Australians to declare themselves as members of the Jedi order was one of the first examples of a concept going "viral" on the internet in Australia. The website, which was set up to promote the concept, was visited over 100,000 times in five weeks and was first archived by the Wayback Machine on 21 October 2001.
The 2006 census recorded 58,053 Jedi. In the 2011 census, the numbers listing their faith as Jedi had picked up from the 2006 census to 65,000. Close to 48,000 people reported themselves as Jedi for the 2016 census.
The Jedi census phenomenon attracted the attention of sociologist of religion Adam Possamai who discusses it in his book Religion and Popular Culture: A Hyper-Real Testament. Possamai's study placed Jediism in the context of a specific methodological classification ('hyper-real religions') and attempted to demonstrate that hostility existed towards new religions in Australia.
In the lead-up to the 2006 census, there were reports that writing Jedi on the 2006 census could lead to a fine for providing "false or misleading" information. This is despite previous admissions by the ABS that they were "fairly relaxed" about the issue in 2001 and that nobody had been prosecuted in at least 15 years.
In the lead-up to the 2016 census, there was a push from atheists warning not to use Jedi, imploring that it could be counted as being religious. The Australian Bureau of Statistics did not publish the number of people claiming Jedi as their religion in its reports on the 2016 census.
In the 2001 census, 21,000 Canadians put down their religion as Jedi Knight. This fact was referenced by the prime minister's office as a rationale for making the 40-page-long census form voluntary. In the 2011 National Household Survey, the number fell to 9,000.
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Jedi census phenomenon
In some national population censuses which include a question on religious identity, media report numerous respondents giving their religion as Jedi (or "Jedi Knight") after the quasi-religious order in the Star Wars science fiction franchise. While a few individuals claim to practise Jediism sincerely, the answer can also be a joke or a protest against the question. While giving false information on a census form is often illegal, any religion question is sometimes an exception; in any case, prosecutions are rare.[citation needed] The Jedi census phenomenon sprang from a 2001 urban legend spread by chain email before the separate censuses that year in New Zealand, Australia, and the United Kingdom. The email asserted that any religion passing a minimum threshold (given variously as 8,000 or 10,000) would be entitled to some form of official recognition. Other reasons proffered include "do it because you love Star Wars" or "just to annoy people". The 2001 censuses recorded Jedi as the religion for 1.5% of New Zealanders, 0.37% of Australians, and 0.8% of Britons. Later censuses there and elsewhere have recorded smaller proportions. In some cases, any "Jedi" responses are collected under "other" rather than reported separately.
In Australia, more than 70,000 people (0.37%) declared themselves members of the Jedi order in the 2001 census. The Australian Bureau of Statistics issued an official press release in response to media interest on the subject. The ABS announced that any answers that were Jedi-related in the religion question were to be classified as "not defined" and stressed the social impact of making misleading or false statements on the census. An ABS spokesperson said that "further analysis of census responses has been undertaken since the release of census data on 17 June to separately identify the number of Jedi-related responses". It is believed that there is no numerical value that determines a religion per the definition of the ABS, but there would need to be a belief system or philosophy, as well as some form of institutional or organisational structure in place.
The push for Australians to declare themselves as members of the Jedi order was one of the first examples of a concept going "viral" on the internet in Australia. The website, which was set up to promote the concept, was visited over 100,000 times in five weeks and was first archived by the Wayback Machine on 21 October 2001.
The 2006 census recorded 58,053 Jedi. In the 2011 census, the numbers listing their faith as Jedi had picked up from the 2006 census to 65,000. Close to 48,000 people reported themselves as Jedi for the 2016 census.
The Jedi census phenomenon attracted the attention of sociologist of religion Adam Possamai who discusses it in his book Religion and Popular Culture: A Hyper-Real Testament. Possamai's study placed Jediism in the context of a specific methodological classification ('hyper-real religions') and attempted to demonstrate that hostility existed towards new religions in Australia.
In the lead-up to the 2006 census, there were reports that writing Jedi on the 2006 census could lead to a fine for providing "false or misleading" information. This is despite previous admissions by the ABS that they were "fairly relaxed" about the issue in 2001 and that nobody had been prosecuted in at least 15 years.
In the lead-up to the 2016 census, there was a push from atheists warning not to use Jedi, imploring that it could be counted as being religious. The Australian Bureau of Statistics did not publish the number of people claiming Jedi as their religion in its reports on the 2016 census.
In the 2001 census, 21,000 Canadians put down their religion as Jedi Knight. This fact was referenced by the prime minister's office as a rationale for making the 40-page-long census form voluntary. In the 2011 National Household Survey, the number fell to 9,000.