Jediism

Jediism (or Jedism) is a philosophy, and in some cases tongue-in-cheek joke religion, mainly based on the depiction of the Jedi characters in Star Wars media. Jediism attracted public attention in 2001 when a number of people recorded their religion as "Jedi" on national censuses. Jediism is inspired by certain elements of Star Wars, namely the fictional religion of the Jedi. Early websites dedicated to bringing up a belief system from the Star Wars films were "The Jedi Religion and regulations" and "Jediism". These websites cited the Jedi code, consisting of 21 maxims, as the starting point for a "real Jedi" belief system. The real-world Jediism movement has no leader or central structure. Although followers of Jediism acknowledge the influence of Star Wars on their religion, by following the moral and spiritual codes demonstrated by the fictional Jedi, they also insist their path is different from that of the fictional characters and that Jediism does not focus on the myth and fiction found in Star Wars. While there is some variation in teaching, the Jedi of the Temple of the Jedi Order follows the "16 teachings" based on the presentation of the fictional Jedi, such as "Jedi are mindful of the negative emotions which lead to the Dark Side" and "Jedi are guardians of peace and justice". Adherents also follow "21 maxims". Jedi census phenomenon Jediism received press coverage following a worldwide email campaign in 2001 urging people to write "Jedi" as their answer to the religion classification question in their country's census, resulting in the Jedi census phenomenon. The majority of such respondents are assumed to have claimed the faith as a joke. In 2005, the Temple of the Jedi Order was registered in Texas. It was granted IRS tax exemption in 2015. In May 2005, an article on the growth of Jedi religion by Catholic author Jon M. Sweeney was the most read article on the website Explorefaith.org that year. During the drafting of the UK Racial and Religious Hatred Act, an amendment was proposed that excluded Jedi Knights from any protection, along with Satanists and believers in animal sacrifice.