Facebook group - JEDI as your Religion 2011 Census

allanb49

In the 2001 census in the United Kingdom 390,000 people entered their religions as "Jedi" boosting it to the rank of fourth largest religion there.

Here in Ireland our next census will be taken on the 11th April 2011.

According to the 2006 census the top 4 religions in Ireland ranked by follower numbers are:

Christian - Roman Catholic 3,681,456
Christian - Church of Ireland 125,580
Islam 32,539
Christian - Presbyterian 23,546

How many Jedi's will we have this year? You decide.


http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=155171104541308

I'm seriously thinking about doing this,

Anyone else?

Recon

Nope, I'm marking "no religion"

Penn

Recon wrote: »

Nope, I'm marking "no religion"

Same here. If you have no religion, tick "No Religion". Putting yourself down as being Jedi will:

a) do nothing. Big whoop, Jedi might be recognised as being a religion. That means absolutely nothing, and no one will care because they'll know you're taking the piss

b) split the No Religion vote. If people who were going to say No Religion now say Jedi, there will be less No Religions. Be honest, if you have no religion, say no religion

c) allow Christians to appear like more of a majority than it is if the No Religion vote is split in two. This isn't the X Factor and trying to get Rage Against The Machine to the Xmas No1 instead. This actually matters for your locality and the nation.

Whatever your religion or lack thereof, please tell the truth on your census form.

Besides, saying you're a Jedi when you aren't is a Sith thing to do

biko

No religion here too.

RichieC

I'm in.. it's as good as no religion.

krudler

RichieC wrote: »

I'm in.. it's as good as no religion.

It really isnt, if people want anything to change then no religion is what you mark down, picking made up religions (and this is coming from a lifelong Star Wars fan) is silly, and wont change a thing.

pawrick

If your plan is to take the piss then at least try to be original, copying what another country did a few years back is sad.

If no religeon is the point your trying to make then say that as the other poster says.

GLaDOS

allanb49 wrote: »

Christian - Roman Catholic 3,681,456
Christian - Church of Ireland 125,580
Islam 32,539
Christian - Presbyterian 23,546

No religion, however, was the 2nd highest answer: http://www.cso.ie/statistics/popnclassbyreligionandnationality2006.htm

I hope to see it higher this year.

As you can see from there, "other" religions seem to get lumped into one.

I would find it amusing to see Jedi though

Bondvillain

Yeah, personally, I think this kind of thing is only funny to the kind of person who still votes for "Dustin" on ballot papers.

If you're religious, tell 'em what denomination you are, if you aren't say "no religion". Saying you're a Jedi just skews the figures.

And most importantly, if it were to suddenly to become apparent that Ireland harboured x amount of Jedis, it would leave us wide open to an attack from the dark side, and the defence forces here simply aren't prepared enough to be able to intercede in lieu of untrained jedi knights. Think of the children.

gman2k

Think of the FAS courses/third level that will need to be set up for training young Jedis in the ways of 'The Force', and also manufacturing jobs in the light sabre industry.

RichieC

Bondvillain wrote: »

And most importantly, if it were to suddenly to become apparent that Ireland harboured x amount of Jedis, it would leave us wide open to an attack from the dark side, and the defence forces here simply aren't prepared enough to be able to intercede in lieu of untrained jedi knights. Think of the children.

Good point, I'm marking down Sith.

giggsy664

krudler wrote: »

It really isnt, if people want anything to change then no religion is what you mark down, picking made up religions (and this is coming from a lifelong Star Wars fan) is silly, and wont change a thing.

"made up religions"

:pac:

BizzyC

meh, it's an old joke and it wont really make as big an impact as people marking no religion.

upandcumming

I'll be putting down no religion, save that, Notbeingadickheadism is looking awfully good beside this crap.

Pdfile

im putting down catholic or me mas will bate me

Leiva

whats this ?

No religion is the new religion ?

GLaDOS

mixednuts wrote: »

whats this ?

No religion is the new religion ?

Plazaman

mixednuts wrote: »

whats this ?

No religion is the new religion ?

All the cool kids are doing it.

I'll remain true to my lifelong religion and put down catlick catolic catylic ..... hmmm a conversion may be on the cards before April.

Mahatma coat

If Mammy gives me Sh!t about no religion then I might mark it Sith

Dravokivich

If I was to follow a religion based on something made up by a SciFi writer... I'll pick Scientologist...

kthxbai

Pj!

How many of these 'no religion' people have been baptised, confirmed and wed in a church. And will be buried in a church graveyard?

:rolleyes:

Penn

Pj! wrote: »

How many of these 'no religion' people have been baptised, confirmed and wed in a church. And will be buried in a church graveyard?

:rolleyes:

Wasn't my decision to be baptised or confirmed. Hopefully going to be cremated. As for being wed in a church, why do you think I want as many people to put down No Religion as possible? If I had children where I currently live, the ONLY choices of schools are Church-run schools. If I didn't get married in the church and have my kid christened there, they most likely wouldn't be accepted in the school enrolement. That's just one of the reasons why a larger percentage of No Religion votes will force the Church to give up control of many schools like they have already admitted they will have to, and give control over to the State, which is only right seeing as how the state funds the schools.

So yes, I have been baptised. I have had my First Communion. I have had my Confirmation. I was even an altar boy for 2 years. Still doesn't mean I believe in God.

Cupcake_Crisis

Im a jedi. And thats the way its staying.

pasta-solo

Pj! wrote: »

How many of these 'no religion' people have been baptised, confirmed and wed in a church. And will be buried in a church graveyard?

:rolleyes:

The more people put down no religion, the less likely it will be for future generations of children to be baptised/confirmed against their will. I'm not necessarily saying that everyone would choose not to be baptised, but obviously a baby has no opinion or thoughts on the matter so baptising an infant into its parents religion seems ridiculous.

Remember, everyone is born an atheist!

As for being wed in a church? No thanks.

krudler

Pj! wrote: »

How many of these 'no religion' people have been baptised, confirmed and wed in a church. And will be buried in a church graveyard?

:rolleyes:

and how many who put down "Catholic" eat meat on Fridays, have sex before marriage, use condoms and dont believe in transubstantiation?

krudler

giggsy664 wrote: »

"made up religions"

:pac:

Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side :cool:

allanb49

krudler wrote: »

Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side :cool:

The Lightsabre is the weapon of a Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy or random as a blaster; an elegant weapon for a more civilized age.

RichieC

krudler wrote: »

and how many who put down "Catholic" eat meat on Fridays, have sex before marriage, use condoms and dont believe in transubstantiation?

I'd like to think everyone who put down catholic

mrodub

If your not a catholic say so

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cns44mnqIRw

Sisko

krudler wrote: »

It really isnt, if people want anything to change then no religion is what you mark down, picking made up religions (and this is coming from a lifelong Star Wars fan) is silly, and wont change a thing.

All religions are made up, hence the point people are making by voting jedi. Still as much as I'd like to, no religion is the smarter choice in the end.

Pj! wrote: »

How many of these 'no religion' people have been baptised, confirmed and wed in a church. And will be buried in a church graveyard?

:rolleyes:

How many people who have merely been baptised, confirmed wed in a church and will be buried in a graveyard but do not practice religion in any way, believe the bible is true or go to church every sunday - have had sex before marriage etc etc etc and yet will still put down catholic? :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

Son Of A Vidic

allanb49 wrote: »

In the 2001 census in the United Kingdom 390,000 people entered their religions as "Jedi" boosting it to the rank of fourth largest religion there.

Yip, I was one of those and I think everyone at the hospital I worked in followed suit. Thankfully, there was no fuckwitbook Facebook around at the time. So sorry FB your a decade late on this one.

Minstrel27

allanb49 wrote: »

I'm seriously thinking about doing this,

Anyone else?

No.

Galvasean

If you put down Jedi you'll just get lumped into the 'Other' group along with the Scientologists, Hari Krishnas, Mormons etc. It's not particularly helpful to anyone.
Although to be honest, ANYTHING is better than putting doen 'Catholic'. They need their numbers slashed in this census because the Catholic Church still has a disproportionate say in matters of state (particularly the eduvcation system) because on the last census most people ticked 'catholic' out of habit without thinking about it.
If you still believe in Jesus, but not the teachings of the Catholic Church (literal eating of the body of Christ on Sundays, no condoms allowed etc.) / don't go to Mass I would recommend, writing 'Christian' on the census. That way you are still counted as a Christian, but you are not letting the RCC have any extra undeserved power.

If you don't have a religion just tick 'No religion'. It's really that simple.
Interestingly, figures for the Czech Republic indicate that 60% of their country is not religious. We can do better than that!!! :pac:

Go-Go-Gadget

http://www.independent.ie/and-finally/no-force-to-stop-jedi-census-answer-2549683.html

Looks like Jedi's gonna be marked down in the census this year!!!

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=155171104541308

Definitely attending.

WindSock

This Jedi as a religion thing was mildly amusing when I heard of it 10 or so yare ago. It has not had the same impact since.

Penn

Anyone who puts down Jedi better know how to use a lightsaber cos I'm going to come round to their house an kick their ****ing face in using the Force of a steel-toe boot

allanb49

Barrington wrote: »

Anyone who puts down Jedi better know how to use a lightsaber cos I'm going to come round to their house an kick their ****ing face in using the Force of a steel-toe boot

waves hand

violence is not the answer, it will lead you to the dark side :cool:

Galvasean

From the CSO today:

In 2006 responses to the religion question which contained the word 'Jedi'
were coded by CSO to 'Not stated' and appeared in this category in the
publication on religion. CSO will follow the same procedure for similar
responses in Census 2011.

Looks like there will be no recognised Jedis in Ireland so.

JBnaglfar

Galvasean wrote: »

From the CSO today:


Looks like there will be no recognised Jedis in Ireland so.

That's good to hear, Jediism has not faired will in Australia or New Zealand either::

Statistics New Zealand also assigned Jedi an official code, but a spokeswoman said the resulting total was lumped in with The Church of Elvis and Rugby, Racing and Beer as "responses deemed outside the scope of recognised religions".

She said prospective Jedi might be disappointed to hear that no magic number of followers was needed to be an official religion.

Australia's Bureau of Statistics categorised all Jedi-related responses as "not defined for Census output purposes".

[Jackass]

I'll be ticking no religion because, well, I'm not religious.

But just as a matter of interest, what difference does it make if you put no religion? Is something supposed to change?

Eire-Dearg

You're all going to hell.

Galvasean

[Jackass] wrote: »

But just as a matter of interest, what difference does it make if you put no religion? Is something supposed to change?

The Census is used for seeing what the needs of the country's people are. In the last census 88.4% of the Irish population was listed as being 'Catholic' (clearly not true, but still binding). This means that the Catholic Church has a lays claim to having the vast majority of Ireland's population as followers, giving them a large say in important matters of state.
For example, in terms of primary school schooling over 90% of Irish primary schools are ones with a Catholic ethos in place. Effectively this means that in situations where the school has more applicants than places they are legally allowed to discriminate on who gets in based on their religion.
If a very large portion of people tick 'no religion' (and/or there is an influx of other religions - bear in mind 'joke' answers such as Jedi, Winning etc. don't even count as 'other religion'. They get lumped into the 'not stated' category and are not counted among official percentages) the percentage of Catholics in the country will be significantly lower, giving the RCC less sway in matters of state.
Eg: There would have to be more schools not run by the Catholic Church which would fairly accommodate people of different faiths or none.

The census isn't a fcuking facebook poll it's the CENSUS

If you want to be all cool and edgy then do it somewhere else than a document that will actually matter. PUtting down jedi is just going to be automatically converted to 'not stated'

maximoose

Eire-Dearg wrote: »

You're all going to hell.

Probably not, but in the highly unlikely event that the religious were right all along and we do sure who cares. It's where all the interesting people will be.

bipedalhumanoid

Barrington wrote: »

Same here. If you have no religion, tick "No Religion". Putting yourself down as being Jedi will:

a) do nothing. Big whoop, Jedi might be recognised as being a religion. That means absolutely nothing, and no one will care because they'll know you're taking the piss

Actually it won't ever be recognised as a religion no matter how many people claim to be Jedi. The CSO have confirmed that Jedis are counted as 'Not Stated'.

I will be marking 'No Religion'.

bipedalhumanoid

Dravokivich wrote: »

If I was to follow a religion based on something made up by a SciFi writer... I'll pick Scientologist...

kthxbai

You want to hope too many people don't answer that way or you might just find a bunch of government funded $cientology schools openning up in your area!

cursai

Jedi would be godd but i'm marking 'atheism' as my religion. i'm fanatical in my belief that i have no belief in any higher being or power. And i'll go to great pains to back up this 'non' belief.

bipedalhumanoid

cursai wrote: »

Jedi would be godd but i'm marking 'atheism' as my religion. i'm fanatical in my belief that i have no belief in any higher being or power. And i'll go to great pains to back up this 'non' belief.

Maybe you should write in 'Ignoramus'? Who knows, if enough ignoramuses answer the question honestly, the government might set up special schools for the children of ignoramuses and fund various public services based on the ignoramus ethos.

cursai

bipedalhumanoid wrote: »

Maybe you should write in 'Ignoramus'? Who knows, if enough ignoramuses answer the question honestly, the government might set up special schools for the children of ignoramuses and fund various public services based on the ignoramus ethos.

Exactly my point!

abouttobebanned

Wouldn't the world be such a better place if we all universally ticked the no religion box

Bob Falfa

Go-Go-Gadget wrote: »

http://www.independent.ie/and-finally/no-force-to-stop-jedi-census-answer-2549683.html

Looks like Jedi's gonna be marked down in the census this year!!!

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=155171104541308

Definitely attending.

Of course you're attending. You're the one who set the Facebook event up in the first place.:(

It's probably a great laugh around the campus in UCD, and the SciFi soc, but for supposedly educated people it's just a joke. Shame there's nothing funny about it.

For someone studying biochemistry, does it not bother you that you're 'joke' could help the Catholics keep their influence in Irish classrooms? Every one of the 92% of schools under Catholic control is in direct hierarchical line to the Pope. A man who doesn't even believe in evolution, FFS!
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article1645453.ece

I could care less what anybody believes, so long as my kids don't have to have their education filtered through a bronze age mindset.

You can't say you don't care about religious control in the public sphere if you have your name down on a petition to stop Sharia Law in Britain! Wake up and see that your own country has a golden opportunity to make secular education a reality.

At the very least stop deceiving your event followers:

Stop telling them that Jedi will be counted in the census returns - it wont.

Don't misrepresent newspaper articles as though they indicate Jedi is to be taken seriously - it isn't!

Don't show them an article from '02 and let on it means 2011 - it doesn't.

Don't mislead them into believing that Educate Together has any connection with your event - it doesn't.

As early as March 5th someone who worked on the last census told you the Jedi results would be discarded. in your reply you asked him if they were counted towards No Religion. It must have been on your mind back then, but then the event became popular and you are now willing to damage the valid No Religion campaign for the sake of your own ego.

You still have a chance to do something useful with the impressive number of followers you have amassed. These are people who obviously hold no religious beliefs. You could try to encourage them all to tick box 7. Anything else is playing right into Pope Palpatine Benedict's hands.

I'd love to hear what you have to say in response to this post. If I have anything wrong I'll gladly take it back.