| Like lots of people, I put down my religion as 'Jedi' in the | | | | Hinduism and Sikhism) entered the scene, all through |
| last census. Maybe this is a bit silly, maybe a bit | | | | online Networking. |
| juvenile. But maybe it makes an interesting political | | | | People talk about key moments which define ages. |
| point. The whole thing started in 2001 as an email, | | | | There were obviously loads in the sixties, the eighties |
| imploring people to claim they were Jedis or 'Knights of | | | | was a little dry, but the 'naughties' will surely be defined |
| the Jedi'. The idea was that if enough people said it, | | | | by the massive increase in Internet usage and the |
| Jedi would be recognized by the government as an | | | | growth of Social Networking sites. If anyone's looking |
| official religion. Clearly, this is just a massive practical | | | | for a key moment in this trend, they couldn't go far |
| joke - a great, but peaceful way of sticking it to the | | | | wrong in starting with the 2001 'Jedi email'. This is the |
| government. It worked! 390,000 people listed their | | | | online form of social networking that actually changed |
| religion as Jedi in England in 2001. | | | | the world, that impacted massively on culture. Forget |
| But in a way it's more than just a practical joke. The | | | | about your whining Facebook groups or your Myspace |
| 'Jedi' movement empowered people to break out of | | | | bands, the Jedi email did it all first. It changed the world. |
| the rigidity of bureaucracy. This Internet phenomenon | | | | Proof of this, if you need any more proof than the fact |
| impacted culture and the way we think about religion. | | | | that a simple email created a major world religion, can |
| Suddenly, the walls surrounding the major world | | | | be seen in a little news story that hit the press today. In |
| religions were broken down and, out of the blue, a new | | | | a diversity questionnaire, eight police officers in |
| religion (which in England was larger than Buddhism, | | | | Scotland listed their religion as Jedi! |