21,000 Jedi in Canada

Religion News Service blog pointed us to the story that 21,000 people in Canada wrote "Jedi Knight" as their religion in a recent census.

Religion: Jedi Knight


From Religion News Service

[Priest]: May The Force be with you.

[Response]: And also with you.

Did George Lucas accidentally create a new religion?

Unlike in the U.S., the National Census of Canada contains a question on religion that is asked every 10 years. The entire census is optional, including the religion question.

In the 2001 Canadian census, however, 21,000 people put "Jedi Knight" for their religion. This in a nation that accepted, in 2009, the Order of the Jedi Knight, Inc., as a federally incorporated non-profit religious entity.

. . .

I have to admit, I don't expect to see Jedi Knight make an appearance in a world religions textbook. But I can't help but feel as though this appearance is indicative of something larger. Is this innocent satire, or are these individuals making a statement? Could you be a Christian and a Jedi Knight simultaneously?

Posted by Peter Carey on August 5, 2010 10:30 AM | |
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