Little Angry Doll2006 Jedi Census
September 4th 2006 17:45
2006 Jedi Head Count
In the 2001 Australian census, some 70,000 people declared their religion to be Jedi. For the 2006 Census, we joined the ranks.
While the Australian Bureau of Statistics posted a response to the Jedi movement following the census, declaring that it was not warning or threatening anyone who listed their main religion as Jedi, they did encourage people to fill in the religion question accurately.
From the ABS website:-
ABS recognises that people have a wide range of belief systems
If your belief system is "Jedi" then answer as such on the census form. But if you would normally answer Anglican or Jewish or Buddhist or something else to the question "what is your religion?" and for the census you answer "Jedi" then this may impact on social services provision if enough people do the same.
ABS has not issued warnings or threats to anyone
http://www.abs.gov.au/852563C300810973/0/86429D11C45D4E73CA256A400006AF80?Open&Highlight=0,jedi
The reason they asked people to consider their religion more seriously is for future planning, noting that religious organizations provide the largest number of services outside the government. Schools, hospitals, aged care social services etc.
But by assuming people were answering the religion question with Jedi as a joke started me thinking. In the 2001 census, we stated “no religion”. That was before the birth of our two boys and the death of my mother.
The eldest is 3 & ½. He has a light saber and he thinks he can use the Force (you have to drop dead when he “whooshes” with an open palm directed at you). He thinks he can fly, he believes Yoda is real and he knows that I can scare away the monsters that get into his room just before bedtime.
When my mother died, he had so many hard questions. We used the venerable wisdom of the Jedi to explain to him that everything has a living force and when we die, our force is released. Because it was something he could understand and relate to, he accepted her death. And he doesn’t worry about “going to hell”.
He may not remember that he held his nana’s hand while she was dying, but I’ll never forget the peace my mother found from having his beautiful soft skin against hers.
The ABS recognized over 124 religious groups, including Satanism, Druidism and Voodoo. Why not Jedi?
In the 2001 Australian census, some 70,000 people declared their religion to be Jedi. For the 2006 Census, we joined the ranks.
While the Australian Bureau of Statistics posted a response to the Jedi movement following the census, declaring that it was not warning or threatening anyone who listed their main religion as Jedi, they did encourage people to fill in the religion question accurately.
From the ABS website:-
ABS recognises that people have a wide range of belief systems
If your belief system is "Jedi" then answer as such on the census form. But if you would normally answer Anglican or Jewish or Buddhist or something else to the question "what is your religion?" and for the census you answer "Jedi" then this may impact on social services provision if enough people do the same.
ABS has not issued warnings or threats to anyone
http://www.abs.gov.au/852563C300810973/0/86429D11C45D4E73CA256A400006AF80?Open&Highlight=0,jedi
The reason they asked people to consider their religion more seriously is for future planning, noting that religious organizations provide the largest number of services outside the government. Schools, hospitals, aged care social services etc.
But by assuming people were answering the religion question with Jedi as a joke started me thinking. In the 2001 census, we stated “no religion”. That was before the birth of our two boys and the death of my mother.
The eldest is 3 & ½. He has a light saber and he thinks he can use the Force (you have to drop dead when he “whooshes” with an open palm directed at you). He thinks he can fly, he believes Yoda is real and he knows that I can scare away the monsters that get into his room just before bedtime.
When my mother died, he had so many hard questions. We used the venerable wisdom of the Jedi to explain to him that everything has a living force and when we die, our force is released. Because it was something he could understand and relate to, he accepted her death. And he doesn’t worry about “going to hell”.
He may not remember that he held his nana’s hand while she was dying, but I’ll never forget the peace my mother found from having his beautiful soft skin against hers.
The ABS recognized over 124 religious groups, including Satanism, Druidism and Voodoo. Why not Jedi?
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