If you’re a Star Wars fan or engaged with American pop culture, you might be familiar with the Jedi philosophy as depicted in its movies, novels, video games, comics and other intellectual property works. However, you might be surprised to know that there are adherents to its principles and teachings outside the science fiction series. As a small group of devotees continues to grow in number, you may encounter more real-life Jedi believers around you. How the philosophy that originated a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away became a nonfictional phenomenon is a unique saga in and of itself.
“Jedi” Census Responses Prompt Further Questions
The year 2001 marked the first instance in which people started to claim “Jedi” as a religion on their respective countries’ census forms. Perhaps as a coincidence, this was also after the release of the 1999 film “The Phantom Menace” and before the 2002 premiere of “Attack of the Clones.” The phenomenon was observed in British commonwealth nations such as Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and New Zealand as well as Ireland, Serbia and even Turkey.
In media reports about the trend, questions arose over whether believers in Jedi philosophy really existed or if the phenomenon constituted a massive global prank. Most census departments recorded the answers but did not treat them seriously. Meanwhile, atheist and secular groups expressed concerns that self-reporting “Jedis” would lessen the count of their own numbers, thus not accurately reflecting the number of non-religious people.
A Pop Culture Phenomenon Crosses Universes
Amidst the hullabaloo, Jedi religious organizations quietly began to form. Several groups exist worldwide, including the Jedi Church, the Church of Jediism and the Temple of the Jedi Order. As described on the Temple’s website, many believers in the philosophy follow several key tenets that reflect the principles depicted in the sci-fi series:
- Sanctity of the human person
- Opposition to cruelty and torture
- Laws based on reason and compassion
- Freedom of conscience and self-determination
- Separation of government and religion
- Social equality and non-discrimination
Jediism does not recognize any deities but instead insists on the existence of the Force, which connects all living things together. It possesses both light and dark sides, with some viewing them as complementary good and evil and others proposing that that they form more of a yin and yang type of balance.
What Does the Future Hold for Jediism?
Depending on what nation you’re in, your government may or may not officially recognize the Jedi faith. While the United States Census Bureau does not acknowledge it as a religion, the Temple of the Jedi Order has been granted tax-exempt status by the IRS as an international ministry and public charity. A December 2015 New York Post piece disclosed that over 250,000 people worldwide have claimed it as their faith. John Henry Phelan, a representative from the Temple of the Jedi Order, hopes that a physical temple will be built within the next decade.
Nevertheless, some administrations may view those claiming to follow the Jedi path as either a curiosity, an annoyance or a joke. The BBC disclosed in December 2016 that the United Kingdom’s Charity Commission rejected an application to grant charitable status to the Temple of the Jedi Order, stating that the organization “lacked the necessary spiritual or non-secular element” that was required to be a religion. However, true believers remain undaunted. After the Charity Commission’s ruling, the Church of Jediism proclaimed that the organization would keep performing charity work, as it has in years past. A new hope, as stated by leader Daniel Jones, is that “Jediism’s status will change in the next five years.” If they succeed, then it may prove to the known universe that the Force was indeed with them.