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Star Wars Prequels Media Movies Privacy

Canadian Census: 20,000 Jedi Worshippers 466

Posted by CmdrTaco from the liar-liar-pants-on-fire dept.
Lev13than writes "Canada.com is reporting that some 20,000 Canadians listed "Jedi" as their religion in the last national census (2001). Apparently this is the offshoot of an Internet joke which originated in Australia a few years back. The results are interesting on a couple of levels. While it show that some people may have too much time on their hands, it also raises questions of privacy rights, Internet activism and data integrity. Although it's not statistically significant given Canada's population of 31.5 million, 20,000 lightsabre-wielding census-takers is nothing to sneeze at. StatsCan's full report (with no mention of Jedis) can be found here."
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Canadian Census: 20,000 Jedi Worshippers More

Canadian Census: 20,000 Jedi Worshippers

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  • In other news.... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Gortbusters.org ( 637314 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @08:09PM (#5950780) Homepage Journal
    There are about 20,000 single guys who enjoy D&D and star wars in Canada!

  • Just Wondering (Score:3, Interesting)

    by dirkdidit ( 550955 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @08:11PM (#5950789) Homepage
    There's not an organized society for the Jedi religion like there is for other larger religions is there???
    • like Oprahism?

      Anyone remember the Star Trek religion on futurama? All the worshippers were killed by being tossed into volcanoes, the method most befitting virgins.

    • Re:Just Wondering (Score:5, Interesting)

      by swordboy ( 472941 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @09:28PM (#5951300) Journal
      There's not an organized society for the Jedi religion like there is for other larger religions is there???

      I would imagine that some enterprising individuals will take advantage sooner or later. At least here in the United States, a religion gets tax-free benefits. Wouldn't it be cool if someone organized a religion and then created a business underworld to avoid the government ala scientology?

      For example,

      A business could hire a Jedi employee. But instead of paying him/her with US currency, they could be paid in Jedi Dollars - JD (insert creative currency name here). The JD's could then be spent at any participating Jedi establishment - merely tax free. If so inclined, the Jedi could ask the employer to pay in a portion of taxable US dollars or the employee could trade them at market rate.

      The opportunity is endless. When someone does implement it, I sure hope that they aren't as crooked as those fucking scientologists.

      • There's just one fatal flaw with your otherwise excellent proposal, exemplified thus:

        Checkout Guy: That'll be $22.95, please.
        Darth Jeff: We don't have any proper money, but (waves hand) Jedi Dollars will do fine.

        You see the problem? :)

  • They might just as well have put (Score:5, Funny)

    by Faust7 ( 314817 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @08:11PM (#5950793) Homepage
    "Virgin (Y/N)?"

  • No wonder (Score:5, Funny)

    by quantaman ( 517394 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @08:12PM (#5950798)
    How else can you explain all the Americans who can't figgure out where the heck Canada is! And yes I'm Canadian :)

    p.s. This isn't the country you're looking for.

  • This is no surprise. Besides drinking beer and watching hockey, what else is there to do in Canada besides using the force?

    Besides, the hairy palms insulate against the cold winters.

  • Census takers (Score:5, Funny)

    by worst_name_ever ( 633374 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @08:13PM (#5950807)
    20,000 lightsabre-wielding census-takers is nothing to sneeze at.

    I think you mean census respondents... census-takers are the people who come to your door asking you to fill out the census form. If one of those folks whipped out a lightsaber on me I think I'd try to do an extra-good job of filling in the little bubbles...

    • Yeah... but it'd be nice for a change to see a census-taker eat someone else's liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.
    • Me personally, I'm not afraid.

      A census taker once tried to test me.-- I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti.

  • Go England! (Score:4, Funny)

    by big_groo ( 237634 ) <groovis.gmail@com> on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @08:13PM (#5950814) Homepage
    In the U.K., for example, there are more Jedis than Jews. Nearly 400,000 people identified themselves as Jedi in the 2001 census. Only 260,000 said they were Jewish. The Jedis seemed to be concentrated in England and Wales.

    *waves hand* There is nothing to see here. Move along.

    • In other news, a glowing blue image of Sir Alec Guinness wishes all these damned kids would get off his lawn.

    • Re:Go England! (Score:5, Informative)

      by Chicane-UK ( 455253 ) <chicane-uk@[ ]world.com ['ntl' in gap]> on Wednesday May 14, 2003 @02:21AM (#5952559) Homepage
      I really wanted to put Jedi down on my Census, but the I had heard rumours that the UK government were going to fine people who put religion as Jedi so I chickened out.

      As it turns out, the only part of the census the government can't fine you for is the religion option... as this snippet from a 2001 Register article says here :

      We spoke to the Home Office - which was not overly entertained especially since the Census is supposed to be deadly serious. However the Home Office would not say what constituted a religion and we subsequently discovered that while you can be heavily fined for putting down false details on a census form, it does not apply to the religion question.

      Ah well... I think 400,000 was more than enough anyway ;)

  • hmmm... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by jeffy124 ( 453342 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @08:14PM (#5950819) Homepage Journal
    (standard disclaimer: IANAL)

    I know in the US someone can register for religious recognition if they have something like 100 followers. (i dont know the exact number) The application can be accepted as long as no animal or person is sacrificed or otherwise eliminated as part of the religion's practice. Other requirements probably have to be met, but I do know that religious killings are a no-no.

    Canada probably has something similar. Maybe someone should consider institutionalizing the Jedi religion and filing the proper paperwork.

    • Re:hmmm... (Score:5, Funny)

      by Greyhand ( 673151 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @08:34PM (#5950978)
      If someone set up an "official" jedi religion, George Lucas would sue the hell out of them. This in turn would set a precident allowing religions to be sued.
      1. Someone creates the official jedi religion
      2. George Lucas sues them
      3. Precident set : religions can be sued
      4. I sue the major world religions for upsetting world peace
      5. PROFIT!!!!

    • Re:hmmm... (Score:4, Informative)

      by GMontag ( 42283 ) <gmontag@guymontagDEGAS.com minus painter> on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @08:45PM (#5951043) Homepage Journal
      The US government is Constitutionally prohibited from sanctioning any state religion. In recent decades that has been bastardized into not recognizing any religion.

      Others responding to you seem to be confusing IRS not-for-profit status with religion. They are not the same. The Catholic Church and the NAACP both enjoy not-for-profit status, but the latter is not a religion even though they both have the same tax status.

      BTW, not-for-profit != "non-profit", the former is a tax status (more precisely a not-federally-and-other-places-taxed status) and the latter means you do not make a profit. Yes, there is a huge reality difference and a small technical difference.
      • The US government is Constitutionally prohibited from sanctioning any state religion. In recent decades that has been bastardized into not recognizing any religion.

        By far one of the most intelligent statements I've read on /. in years.

        Others responding to you seem to be confusing IRS not-for-profit status with religion. They are not the same. The Catholic Church and the NAACP both enjoy not-for-profit status, but the latter is not a religion even though they both have the same tax status.

        Granted, there

        • Nice response! Well thought, but I believe I responded to this:

          So, theoretically, the failure of hundreds of dot-com businesses could have been slowed, or even stopped, by petitioning for IRS Not-for-profit status? Certainly would have been more descriptive of their business practices.

          in the paragraph you were responding to. Nope, the dot-coms were for-profit and did not make a profit. Quite a difference from what I wrote.
          • Nope, the dot-coms were for-profit and did not make a profit.

            But does the intention to make a profit, and not actually making a profit, render them unqualified to receive IRS Not-For-Profit status. Jesse Jackson's Rainbow Coalition has Not-For-Profit status, and yet his organization has earned a profit. I'm sure the NAACP would love to make a profit if they could.

      • Re:hmmm... (Score:2, Informative)

        by balthan ( 130165 )
        The US government is Constitutionally prohibited from sanctioning any state religion. In recent decades that has been bastardized into not recognizing any religion.

        "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion..." Seems pretty straight forward to me.
        • Yep, "he US government is Constitutionally prohibited from sanctioning any state religion,== "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion..." Quite different from recognizing any at all.

          • Re:hmmm... (Score:3, Insightful)

            by Abcd1234 ( 188840 )
            Right now it takes DVD-Rs 2 discs to back up a movie (dual-layer vs. single layer). It would be nice to archive my movie collections using less media.

            Bah, who cares one way or another. The government, since it's meant to represent ALL the people, should not, ever, EVER, incorporate religious doctrine, symbolism, etc, into it's workings. Yes, that includes no "under god" in the pledge of allegiance, or religious phrases on currency. Why? Because it's plainly obvious (to anyone who isn't trying to argue

  • Religion Question? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by mharris007 ( 142886 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @08:14PM (#5950820) Homepage
    Which brings up a question; Should Religion be a question on a national census form?

    If people are getting offended by the race question on the U.S. census form, I can just imagine the number of people that are going to get pissed off by a religion question.

    • Re:Religion Question? (Score:5, Interesting)

      by RestiffBard ( 110729 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @08:47PM (#5951054) Homepage
      For the people that are going to say its no one's business about this or that or how many toilets they have and so forth allow me a moment. First off, the toilet question was a real question from the 2000 US Census.

      Now, before people get up in arms there are legitimate reasons for wanting this data. And they in no way harm any citizen. They are designed to help citizens.

      For instance, the Marklar race respond that on average they earn 12,000 a year and have no indoor toilet. This lets the government know 1. Marklars may not be getting the racial equality that in the US should be mandatory. 2. Marklars are not properly being serviced by their government. This is rudimentary but you get the idea (i hope).

      as for the questions, a curious thing happened in 2000. people complained about the questions, race, toilets, salary etc... Trent Lott, then Senate Majority Leader said that if people didn't want to answer the questions then the Census had no right to compel people to do so.

      Here's the funny part. 1. the Census is meant only to count heads. 2. the other questions on the Census are tacked on by Congress 3. Congress in fact gives the Census the mandate to compel people to answer. 4. Trent Lott is an obvious asshat.

      Finally for all of you clever people that thought the Census wouldn't count you if you closed the blinds when ever an enumerator came by you're wrong. Enumerators, towards the end of the Census would park at the end of your street and count people entering and leaving. How many cars in the driveway? How many people-size shadows behind the curtains? They would make an educated guess at the number and put that down.

      Where is the 2000 Census data now? Arizona. In a big vault for the most part.

      How do I know? That's where I Fed-Exed it. I was a Census Clerk for 2000. No, I really didn't care what you wrote down.

      By the way, James Weatherby of 3247 Main St. has 5 bathrooms.
      • For instance, the Marklar race respond that on average they earn 12,000 a year and have no indoor toilet. This lets the government know
        1. Marklars may not be getting the racial equality that in the US should be mandatory.
        2. Marklars are not properly being serviced by their government.

        1. Does this mean that short folks are going to get leg implants so they can be equal to us tall folks?
        2. If the Marklars REALLY want toilets, why can't they earn them, just like the rest of us did?

        Seriously, you're righ

      • Re:Religion Question? (Score:3, Insightful)

        by CharlieG ( 34950 )

        Just one nit to pick - although your description of how the census works is PERFECT I have one problem with

        2. Marklars are not properly being serviced by their government

        Where does it say that it's the Government's job to make sure that Marklars have the same number and kinds of toilets?
        It's fairly obvious that it's NOT interstate commerce, even if that is the excuse the courts use!

        The Federal Government upsurps way to many powers that were reserved for the states or the people, but thats the way it'

    • Well, in most of Canada there is a public Catholic school system that draws funding from the same source as the general public school system (property taxes or provincial income taxes, depending on where you are). Meanwhile any other religous school cannot draw upon the same government funding. Why ? Well the Catholic school system was set up before Canada was a country, so it has tradition....and Catholicism is still the largest religion in the country.
      Why have 'religion' on the census ? At some point (I h
      • Jedi's just need a good lobby to get theaters to play all the episodes in rotation along with THX1138 once in a while, and install bathrooms that have robe friendly urinals! If anything the low cost of maintaining "Jedi" as a religion should encourage the Canadian government to embrace this idea. When I give my two cents on things like this, why do I always get change?
    • If I see "race" or "religion" options on forms for employment or other legal documents I just cross them off and don't answer them. It's absolutely no one's business what the answer to either of those two questions.

      Those two questions are only used for political purposes and I refuse to play that kind of a game.
    • sure, how else can we continue to provide programs for the 'oppressed?'

    • Re:Religion Question? (Score:5, Funny)

      by daveo0331 ( 469843 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @09:34PM (#5951341) Homepage Journal
      Excerpt from Census form:

      9. Describe your religious beliefs:

      a. Christian conservative
      b. Other Christian
      c. Please add my name to John Ashcroft's list of "suspicious persons"

  • Originated in NZ then UK (Score:5, Informative)

    by MrOrn ( 469069 ) <ornkelly@@@gmail...com> on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @08:14PM (#5950826)
    Actually the Jedi answer for the census form started in New Zealand, then spread to the UK around April 2001. Australia's census wasn't until October.



    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/new_med ia /1271380.stm

  • Use the Force eh? (Score:5, Funny)

    by oogoliegoogolie ( 635356 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @08:15PM (#5950833)
    The force will be with you, always, you hoser!
  • What's the null hypothsesis?
  • Is the Gvt of canada now deciding the name one can use to descrbe ones religion? I'm a discordian. It is the best description, and closest philospy that describes my worldview. Are they going to give me a hard time because thats not an approved/accepatable religion?

    To put it bluntly, fuck off. You left that part of the form as fill in the blank. If you dont like my answer, maybe you shouldnt be asking the question.
    • No, they are not deciding the name. The census is not a definition of legal religions. They are just not reporting it in the actual statistics for the country because they see it as UNIMPORTANT.

      Who is giving you a hard time? Has a single one of the Canuck Jedi been harassed in any way because of the census? NO, because census data is for statistical purposes only, not personal targetting. Nobody cares about this, except the meida.

      Who is complaining? Seems the media is making more noise than stats canada i

  • Funny ... (Score:5, Funny)

    by stefanlasiewski ( 63134 ) * <slashdot AT stefanco DOT com> on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @08:18PM (#5950854) Homepage Journal
    Funny... I'm a bonafide Jedi Master, and none of these so-called "Jedi from Canada" has ever taken my Jedi classes.

    You're all frauds, the lot of you. Your probationary period is OVER, you will never become a Jedi now.
    • I'm one of the ones who filled out 'Jedi' as a write in vote.

      I took your classes, but they only led me to the dark side. The student will become the master!

    • At last! Now we will reveal ourselves!

    • Re:Funny ... (Score:5, Funny)

      by Flounder ( 42112 ) * on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @09:13PM (#5951210)
      Funny... I'm a bonafide Jedi Master, and none of these so-called "Jedi from Canada" has ever taken my Jedi classes.

      My name is Audo Jarkee, the American Federation of Jedi Knights Local 200. We show no records of you completing the level 3 Jedi Master training certification. If you continue to fraudulently claim to be a certified trainer in the Ways of The Jedi(tm) then we shall be forced to sanction you and your students, preventing them from acquiring their Labor Union cards and making them unqualified for holding positions as a Jedi Knight(tm)

      If you wish to continue in your training sessions and gain official certification as a Jedi Master, then please contact your local certification authorization office Monday thru Friday between the hours of 10am-2pm (closed for lunch 10:45am-1:15pm). Thank you for your cooperation.

  • http://www.teamabuse.com/toxic/stuff/swk.htm

  • And if IIRC, (Score:5, Funny)

    by Hawthorne01 ( 575586 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @08:19PM (#5950863)
    the number of "Jedi Worshippers" in Australia dropped dramatically in a census taken after Episode Two came out.

    Nothing like a sucky sequel to weed out the unbelievers.

    All of a sudden, I have this vision of a bunch of Christians in ancient Corinth, huddled around the latest of Paul's writings. "Wait, this sucks so much compared to his first letter! That's it, I'm leaving!"

    ;-)

    • Why the h8? (Score:2, Interesting)

      by ehiris ( 214677 )
      I mean really, I thought that Star Wars Episode II was very good. The only problem was Jar Jar appeared for a little but at least he was calmed down quick.
      The weapons were cool, the clone factory was cool, the fights were cool so why all the h8?
      • It was cool mixed with cheeze-whiz...

        Lucas replaced the annoying Jar Jar sequences with annoying C3PO-switched-heads-with-battle-robot, and he was emphasized way too much.

        Dumb car racing through the city of Corscucant with aliens saying "Jedi do-do!", and "What the-".

        Cheeeesy love sequences.

        Another bad actor playing Anakin... are the Skywalker men doomed to be played by bad actors?

  • Of course we use the force. (Score:4, Funny)

    by csguy314 ( 559705 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @08:23PM (#5950888) Homepage
    Why do you think we're so damn good at hockey?

  • Obvious...? (Score:5, Funny)

    by DirtyJ ( 576100 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @08:25PM (#5950909)
    From the report: Prior to 1971, fewer than 1% of the Canadian population reported having no religion. In 2001, that percentage increased to 16% of the population.

    I find their lack of faith disturbing.

    [ducks]

  • What this shows is what any mandatory [web] survey shows...

    People will fill out a form if you make them fill out a form. If you want actual demographic info with some relation to reality it must be a voluntary form. [and even then there is a self-selection bias, but at least you drop the folks who say they were born in 1804].

  • Sometimes I wonder if the Star Wars franchise was intentionally undermined by George Lucas as a way to responsibly curtail the religion that it could never become, in his eyes. The latest two Star Wars movies are by no means the epic they came from, IMHO. Not having released those movies would have just as equally preserved the environment in which this faith is fostered. Only by releasing shoddy Hollywood knockoffs could he effect this sort of disdain.

    Being the creator, I am sure that Mr. Lucas would have

  • And so what? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Jeremy Erwin ( 2054 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @08:32PM (#5950966) Journal
    In the UK, some 390,000 individuals are followers of the force [bbc.co.uk] But as the original Canada.com article [canada.com] notes, the Jedi religion choce may have been a protest agains the government surveying religious preference.
  • That would make them Sith, eh? :-P
  • Personal privacy isn't much of a problem with such broad statistics.
    There is no personal private information that is traceable to you.

    Now if it was possibly traceable, or gave a particular impression. (ie 90% of the 10 men in this room masturbate to anime porn) That could be a personal information, but when it is sufficiently vague as to who the data relates to it is a non issue.

    It isn't that this data should be unknown, it is that your data should not be known as yours.

  • What angers me... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Davak ( 526912 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @08:39PM (#5951009) Homepage

    What angers me is that everybody assumes that these people do not actually Worship jedi!

    Articles [colorado.edu] and films [ifilm.com] already exist regarding this spiritual movement.

    Plus, we already admit that other such religions exist:

    - Star Trek - Leonard Nimoy Should Eat More Salsa Foundation [rr.com]

    - Hicks - Love thy Mullet [mulletsgalore.com]

    - Plastic surgery - Cosmetics for the holy [eyeforgod.com]

    Anyway...

    Davak

  • Dodgy reporting? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by gwernol ( 167574 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @08:41PM (#5951020)
    So if as the article claims:

    "Statistics Canada didn't report the number of people who responded Jedi in tables listing response rates for other religions, saying that their analysis did not include the "media-driven'' response, in part because the sample was so small. However, statisticians did when asked produce tables showing a much smaller number of Rastafarians, Scientologists and Satanists."

    How do they know that 20,000 Canadians declared themselves to be Jedi? Could it be (gasp) just a number that the web site made up so it could write a story about the NZ and UK census returns?
  • It actually "originated" in New Zealand, in the March 2001 census (cf August in Australia)... I remember cause I did it myself in the NZ census which was the first in the world dangit.

    Though I hear the actual email which started the whole thing may have come from the UK, not sure which.

    This is Russell Crowe all over again.. when he's winning oscars he's an Australian... but when he's getting totally pissed and trying (and failing) to beat the crap out of some guy he's a Kiwi... *Sigh*

    Regards,
    A

  • Story (Score:5, Funny)

    by quantaman ( 517394 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @08:50PM (#5951069)
    A few years ago, BEFORE the Episode 1 came out, we named our soccer team "The Jedi". I played fullback and during one game I was having a particularly easy time thwarting the the opposing teams attempts to get by me. Finally one play I miscalculated and a player with the ball slipped by me and started to rush up the field, about 2 seconds after he got by he collapsed with a leg cramp and had to roll himself off the field. For the rest of the season my team was convinced I had used The Force :)

  • A Time-Honored Tradition (Score:5, Informative)

    by ewhac ( 5844 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @08:51PM (#5951076) Homepage Journal

    When I first read about this phenomonon, I thought it sounded familiar to something some prankster did many years ago. Now, in this Age of Google, I have found the original article [www.tao.ca].

    The article deals with the propogation of "memes" -- infectious ideas that take on a life of their own (e.g. "All your base..."). It discusses in particular how the author faced what he thought was a rather impudent question on his college admission form -- asking for his religion -- and, with his cheeky response, inadvertently started a meme. It also discusses how the meme was extinguished by the college administration.

    The religious meme thing is about one-third of the way down, but I recommend reading the whole article. It's a good read.

    Schwab

  • Overall Religious stats are quite telling (Score:5, Funny)

    by Hamster Lover ( 558288 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @09:08PM (#5951182) Journal
    16% of Canadians have "no religion", from 12% in the 1991 census. That's nearly 5 million people in a country of 30 million. Europe and the U.K. have similar makeups. B.C. leads Canada in the "no religion" category at 35% and it is also the largest religious group in the Province.

    Also quite interesting was the shift from mainstream Protestantism to groups such as "born again" and "evangelical christian" (121% increase)and perhaps "no religion" (43% increase) or the eastern religions (roughly 85% increase). Not sure if that indicates an ideological shift or one of identity with respect to "christian". Certainly the rise in Muslin, Sikh, etc. practice can be traced to immigration, Canada has experienced enourmous diversity since the 1991 census.

    I tried to find similar information on the U.S. Census website, but was unable.

    Now, we get to the bottom of a comment where Slashdotters rarely spend time. This is where the real meat and potatoes of many comments are made. Not is this case. I am taking this space to talk of my collection of women's undergarments. Why was this not included on the census form? Surely there are large numbers of lingerie collecting atheist computer geeks out there, how could this be overlooked?

  • Words of Wisdome to Canadian Jedi (Score:5, Funny)

    by Jedi Holocron ( 225191 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @09:15PM (#5951227) Homepage Journal
    Do or do not, eh.

  • Here's my take... (Score:4, Funny)

    by Esion Modnar ( 632431 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @09:24PM (#5951275)
    Some, maybe alot, are sincere. The rest put "Jedi" because there's no checkmark for "bugger off".
  • Only 31 Million? Hell we (Michigan) can take em :D

    Of course since we have a Canadian governor, I wonder if we won't be going the other way...

  • Statistics Canada (Score:4, Informative)

    by earthforce_1 ( 454968 ) <earthforce_1@y a h oo.com> on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @10:41PM (#5951703) Journal
    I live in Canada, and it is a little known fact (even among Canadians) that failing to answer a Stats Can survey can net you a lengthy jail term. Don't believe me?

    From the statistics act: http://www.statcan.ca/english/about/statact.htm

    False or unlawful information

    31. Every person who, without lawful excuse,

    (a) refuses or neglects to answer, or wilfully answers falsely, any question requisite for obtaining any information sought in respect of the objects of this Act or pertinent thereto that has been asked of him by any person employed or deemed to be employed under this Act, or

    (b) refuses or neglects to furnish any information or to fill in to the best of his knowledge and belief any schedule or form that the person has been required to fill in, and to return the same when and as required of him pursuant to this Act, or knowingly gives false or misleading information or practises any other deception thereunder

    is, for every refusal or neglect, or false answer or deception, guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or to both. 1970-71-72, c. 15, s. 29.

    I think this was a subtle form of protest. You should see the stuff I told them the last time they chose me. My NYT mandatory registration lists me as a 13 year old lawyer from Afghanistan who makes USD $150,000 a year. Let's see what the marketing Noobs make of that one, LOL... And I resent the government doing this sort of thing even more. BTW, even though they don't identify individuals, localized statistical data is available right down to your postal code, which is a tax subsidized godsend to direct marketing agencies.

  • The force is weak with this one (Score:4, Funny)

    by hayden ( 9724 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @11:20PM (#5951940)
    20,000 on a population of 31 million? Pfft. Australia managed 70,000 on a population of 18 million. Which proves either:

    1. There's more freaky people with no life in Australia.
    2. Australians are more likely to take the piss out of something they think is stupid or pointless.

  • where do they find teachers? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by dorjelorand ( 68175 ) on Wednesday May 14, 2003 @12:27AM (#5952213)
    OK, I'm late enough that probably no one will see this comment, let alone mod it up, but what the heck ...

    In the Star Wars movies, the method for becoming a Jedi was to meet one and train under him (or her?). How does anyone outside of the movies do this? Have you ever met an actual Jedi Master?

    I am both a disciple and a teacher in one of the traditions Lucas imitated when he wrote ANH. For the record, Kadampa Buddhism, which was practiced in Tibet until recently. If someone comes up to me and tells me they are a Kadampa, but they have never met a Kadampa before and have never received teachings directly, I know they are mistaken. This is a tradition that must be passed on person-to-person. I always thought Jedi was too.

    Or maybe I'm just taking this way too seriously ...

    Wangden

  • The force is strong with this one... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Charcharodon ( 611187 ) on Wednesday May 14, 2003 @02:10AM (#5952514)
    Why not, when every I fill out all the "mandatory" information I purposely put in erroneous info, because it's none of their damn business. There's got to be a couple of hundred profiles out their on me.

    I'm anywhere from 11 to 80 years of age, with my birthday falling between Jan 1 and Dec 30, and tend to make over $100,000 every year as an unemployed home maker that specializes in a technical career field. I am of multiple genders, races, and religions. I always live at 1234 Somewhere Ave. My phone number is 911-123-4567 feel free to call day or night. Now of course if it's for something important like pre-ordering Star Wars Galaxies (ok so I'm a nerd get over it), I tend to be honest enough with my info to get my credit card approved, but nothing more.

  • I would like to know... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by rediguana ( 104664 ) on Wednesday May 14, 2003 @07:11AM (#5953432)
    how they could prove that an individual who puts Jedi on the form does not believe in the faith, and hence lied, and should be fined? Sure it might not be a 'recognised' religion but authorities can't prove that it is not a religion, any less than they can prove other religions actually are real!

  • Atheists on the Rise (Score:3, Informative)

    by SubtleNuance ( 184325 ) on Wednesday May 14, 2003 @07:38AM (#5953592) Journal
    The most significant element of this release, and the greatest hope I have for my country, is that the people who report "no-religion" exploded from 12% to 16%, making "no-religion" the 2nd largest group (RC was mid40s).

    see here for a synopsis @ statcan [statcan.ca]

  • I told the census takers.... (Score:3, Funny)

    by Muad'Dave ( 255648 ) on Wednesday May 14, 2003 @07:47AM (#5953657) Homepage

    That my religious affiliation was "Elbonian". Alternatively, you could say you're Izzian or Izbian [izzicam.com].

  • Religion as entertainment... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by DrCode ( 95839 ) on Wednesday May 14, 2003 @02:15PM (#5957116)
    I agree that it sounds fairly goofy that people are claiming to follow the Jedi 'religion'. But I've thought that it's possible that other, mainstream, religions may have started in similar ways.

    Look at the Greek 'myths'; they're really good stories. Maybe they started purely as stories, and that it was only over several generations that people started to accept them as real.

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