The old joke that won’t go away: Australians again urged to not declare themselves a ‘Jedi’ for national census
The joke arose years ago when an email campaign wrongly claimed that if 8,000 people put themselves down as Jedi it would have to be officially recognised as a religion
Atheists are urging Australians not to describe themselves as “Jedi” in the upcoming census, warning that doing so in homage to “Star Wars” makes the country appear more religious than it really is.
Ahead of the August 9 five-year census, the Atheist Foundation of Australia has requested citizens mark themselves down as having “no religion” if they do not consider themselves tied to a faith.
“If old religious men in robes do not represent you... don’t mark yourself as ‘Jedi’,” says a campaign poster featuring Yoda and two other Jedi masters.
“’Jedi’ and other joke religions are not placed in the ‘No Religion’ category but in ‘Not Defined’. This makes Australia seem more religious than it really is.”
Foundation president Kylie Sturgess said she was encouraging people “to be counted as what they are”.