UK Atheists Hope to Eliminate Jedi Population

[MrJinks]

I might respond with
a) "Zoltan"
or
b) "I believe the previous government outsourced me to an IT company that they knew was shit, so you'll get nothing from me"

 

[mechanixis]

People might think this is silly, but where do you think statistics that politicians spout come from? If 50% of people put Jedi for arguments sake, then that means that the UK has a population of religious people, which means a certain amount of yours and my money gets given to whatever religious cause makes the most noise for it, which will certainly be the organised ones already balls deep in the system.

So if 50% of people put Hindu, the government might start building synagogues?

Where did this idea that any religion=every religion come from?

It's no so much that as it is this: if 25% say No Religion, 25% say Jedi, and then 40% say Christian (or any other affiliation), it looks like Christian is the dominant group, when the actual majority is No Religion. It gives the government erroneous information, which, interestingly enough, results in misguided policy!

These censuses aren't just goofy forum polls done for the hell of it. They're to keep decision makers informed of who they represent.

 

[Alar]

If you really do take it as your religion, by all means, fill it out on the census. If it's a joke, you might not want to bother.

Also, hypothetically, let's say a lesser known Eastern religion was discovered to be the equivalent of Jediism. That is, a set of beliefs and way of life from a fictional universe that was so popular it ended up getting blurred over time and becoming a real religion.

How would that make it any less of a religion?

 

[Stevepinto3]

Speaking as an atheist, I agree with their motivation to do this. They're just going about it all wrong by being antagonizing about it.

Then again, having several hundred thousand people declare themselves as Jedi kind of sends a message about religion itself, so maybe all the whole campaign achieves is making atheists look like dicks. Thanks guys. Making us look good...

 

[Baneat]

Why do they even need to know? They have no reason to care.
I'm still fucking putting Jedi.

Well, if they're reviewing how they should run the country, the last thing you want is to be strengthening their argument for religious-based country-running by inflating the religious' statistical significance. Deliberately skewing data isn't nice.

All right I'm putting atheist this time

 

[Tanis]

Aren't Jedi the ultimate Atheists?

I mean, they're all like science pro and fight against the evil people with reason...

 

[mechanixis]

If you really do take it as your religion, by all means, fill it out on the census. If it's a joke, you might not want to bother.

Also, hypothetically, let's say a lesser known Eastern religion was discovered to be the equivalent of Jediism. That is, a set of beliefs and way of life from a fictional universe that was so popular it ended up getting blurred over time and becoming a real religion.

How would that make it any less of a religion?

Well the point is that, if it was an actual religion, the people this is directed at wouldn't be telling the government they were part of it. Their motivation is more along the lines of "Hur hur, culture reference."

 

[Unesh52]

...if we ever see "Atheists" in the news, it's always about bringing down Religion. There are some wonderful atheists, there are some wonderful religious people - but it's just another side to the fight when it gets a capital A.

They're campaigning for an accurate census!

Never gonna happen. Which is what this whole thing is all about. No-one wants an accurate census as it would tell the public (and the civil service) exactly what they don't want to know.

...

There's an ulterior motive. Whatever honest and useful action it may serve won't be born out.

The leading nature of the question and the flippant attitude of the public is creating a misrepresentation of the facts in an area where a glance at the data could decide how hundreds of thousands of tax dollars are appropriated.

No, it really isn't. The flippant attitude of the public is EXACTLY what should be being looked for. People DON'T CARE about census's - which makes them not only a waste of money - but a true denotation of what public attitude is.

...

People are voting in one way because they trust the actions of Trolls more than Politicians. That's a huge denotation of public opinion. And against the actions of using a census to herd them into little boxes.

"A capital 'A?'" Are you serious? Not only do I disagree that Atheists are only in the news when they're bringing religion down (not that it would be particularly indicative of the nature of most Atheists anyway -- no more than the news about the WBC are indicative of the nature of Christians), but I was not aware that considering Atheism a proper noun indicated that I was talking about the anti-religious hate group. Just imagine if I called a Christian a bigoted asshole and tried to defend it by going, "No, you said Christian with a capital 'C' -- the ones that rape little boys." I think what you're looking for is "anti-theist." Hitchens is always trying to use that term to differentiate between the "live-and-let-live" type of Atheists and the ones that think it's the bane of free thought and living culture. Now then...

Why would the public not want to know about the demographics of the place they live in? An accurate census would be incredibly useful to everyone. If you think there's an ulterior motive, can you explain to me why you think that? Is it just (as I suspect considering your statements about 'A'theists) that you're prejudiced against those who claim no God? And are you suggesting that the public simply cannot be convinced to participate meaningfully in a national poll? That's a little cynical and pessimistic, if you ask me.

I really start to loose you at the end of the post. Please explain to me the last part of the quote above, specifically what "trolls" people are trusting over politicians. The very last sentence lacks a subject entirely, and I can't figure out what it's saying. Is it that you think a census unfairly pigeonholes people? Then there's this:

Who is the "you" here, first of all?

Depends on who "you" are. If you think "The Selfish Gene" is great work, Dawkins. If you think the Bible is, God. If you think Star Wars, Obi Wan.

Ok, here's the original quote:

It's not like the polls have any more function than voting, other than which figurehead you get to stand behind.

I'm going to assume that the people you're talking about are the "figureheads" that one "stand behind," or supports, by voting or answering polls. So why must you stand behind a different figure when when polling rather than voting? What figure might you have to switch to? More generally, just what are you talking about here?

 

[WittyName]

Shame, I would be torn between "Jedi" and "Adeptus Astartes".

Such choices....

 

[Nimzar]

If the government interprets the population of "Jedi" as devoutly religious there is a bit of a problem in the area of COMMON SENSE.

You are talking about RELIGION you realize? Since when did sense ever enter the equation?

No. I'm talking about the government's evaluation of census data.

 

[Alar]

If you really do take it as your religion, by all means, fill it out on the census. If it's a joke, you might not want to bother.

Also, hypothetically, let's say a lesser known Eastern religion was discovered to be the equivalent of Jediism. That is, a set of beliefs and way of life from a fictional universe that was so popular it ended up getting blurred over time and becoming a real religion.

How would that make it any less of a religion?

Well the point is that, if it was an actual religion, the people this is directed at wouldn't be telling the government they were part of it. Their motivation is more along the lines of "Hur hur, culture reference."

Eeehhh, I don't think they're all like that. There may be hundreds, possibly thousands out there who genuinely believe the path of the Force is worthy enough to be their religion.

But yes, there were probably a LOT of people just doing it as a joke.

 

[Goody]

Aww, come on! The Jedi movement is awesome. Some atheists should know how to take a joke.

And other people need to learn when to make jokes, and when to take things seriously.

The Census is to inform the government of how they shoud invest in communities, by putting a joke religion down on a serious thing the so called jedi's are making the country seem more religious than it really is, and thus getting the governemnt to invest in more religious communities over anything else, or simply making this generation look like a bunch of immature jokers that don't want a better community or care enough to allow it to be improved.

 

[RatRace123]

Well phewie on those spoil sports.
Why would you want to choose boring old "non religious" when you can be a Jedi?
And who says Jedi can't be as legitimate as other beliefs? It has understandable tenants, good lessons and a vast, expansive lore.
Sounds like a valid religion to me.

More power to the Jedi, I say.

 

[theNater]

People might think this is silly, but where do you think statistics that politicians spout come from? If 50% of people put Jedi for arguments sake, then that means that the UK has a population of religious people, which means a certain amount of yours and my money gets given to whatever religious cause makes the most noise for it, which will certainly be the organised ones already balls deep in the system.

So if 50% of people put Hindu, the government might start building synagogues?

Where did this idea that any religion=every religion come from?

It's no so much that as it is this: if 25% say No Religion, 25% say Jedi, and then 40% say Christian (or any other affiliation), it looks like Christian is the dominant group, when the actual majority is No Religion. It gives the government erroneous information, which, interestingly enough, results in misguided policy!

These censuses aren't just goofy forum polls done for the hell of it. They're to keep decision makers informed of who they represent.

Anybody who thinks a group that is 60% non-Christian is dominated by Christians has deeper problems than inaccurate data.

 

[FirstPersonWinner]

I think this is hilarious.

The problem is they want people to not put jedi and instead support their actual religion or put 'no religion'. The thing is that most of the people who put this are not really 'athiests' so they don't want to put 'no religion' but also are not followers of any kind of church or religious organization; this leads to them just putting 'jedi' since it is funny.

 

[Flatfrog]

I'm not reading through all 9 pages of this thread, but no one seems to have mentioned that the religion question is the only one specifically marked as 'Optional' on the census paper. So all those people moaning about why anyone needs this info should really give it a rest. If you don't want to say your religion, there's no need to deliberately skew the data, just leave it blank.

Personally I'm with the campaign. Anyone who wants to make the point that 'all religions are shit' should do so unambiguously by ticking the No Religion box. Having clear data is always a good thing.

Regards obtrusiveness, I'm far more bothered by the number of questions geared towards gathering unemployment data, which seems very out of place in my opinion.

 

[mechanixis]

People might think this is silly, but where do you think statistics that politicians spout come from? If 50% of people put Jedi for arguments sake, then that means that the UK has a population of religious people, which means a certain amount of yours and my money gets given to whatever religious cause makes the most noise for it, which will certainly be the organised ones already balls deep in the system.

So if 50% of people put Hindu, the government might start building synagogues?

Where did this idea that any religion=every religion come from?

It's no so much that as it is this: if 25% say No Religion, 25% say Jedi, and then 40% say Christian (or any other affiliation), it looks like Christian is the dominant group, when the actual majority is No Religion. It gives the government erroneous information, which, interestingly enough, results in misguided policy!

These censuses aren't just goofy forum polls done for the hell of it. They're to keep decision makers informed of who they represent.

Anybody who thinks a group that is 60% non-Christian is dominated by Christians has deeper problems than inaccurate data.

You realize those were hypothetical statistics that I pulled out of my ass to illustrate a point, right?