UK Atheists Hope to Eliminate Jedi Population
- Thread starter Tom Goldman
- Start date
you think that because we are capable of prioritising real, tangible, important issues over jokes that we have no sense of humour?Partezan said:
do you not see how retarded that is?
every atheist that sees "jedi" in the census, laughs for a second. but then they realize that had all those people put "no religion", instead, the world would be a better place.
As an idea, religious belief displays quite a few similarities to the behaviour of cancerous cells.wildcard9 said:
I wasn't trying to belittle anybody's belief; I was merely expressing the opinion that the social organism would be better off without faith, and certainly without the governmental endorsement of faith. Apologies if it came off as deliberately offensive.
Edit: A lot of people seem to think that this is about atheists wanting to 'convert' people. That is not the case; the individuals who would list 'Jedi' as their religion of choice are most likely non-believers, barring the occasional unhinged Star Wars fan.
All that's being asked of them is that they do not let the Government fall under the impression that there are more religious people in the UK than there really are, just because of a joke.
I'm writing 'Jedi' just to send a message out about my indifference to religion. I just don't believe it has a significant enough impact on my life to warrant a mention.
Your argument is pretty loose at best. You are confusing religion and a system of categorising: religions are guides to life and morals, more often than not. Atheists are not given a moral code to abide by that is different from other members of society. Saying that atheism is a religion because it is a lack-of is like saying a ditch is a 'anti-lake'.
I think the reason the above individual was offended (if indeed they were) was because you are lumping a set of people together based off of what is essentially as general as "I don't believe in ghosts." There is no nonghostism.
If football wasn't a religion you might not be so offended when I was Manchester City is inferior to Manchester United.Saelune said:
Your argument is pretty loose at best. You are confusing religion and a system of categorising: religions are guides to life and morals, more often than not. Atheists are not given a moral code to abide by that is different from other members of society. Saying that atheism is a religion because it is a lack-of is like saying a ditch is a 'anti-lake'.
I think the reason the above individual was offended (if indeed they were) was because you are lumping a set of people together based off of what is essentially as general as "I don't believe in ghosts." There is no nonghostism.
I hope nobody takes this comment the wrong way... but to me, putting 'Jedi' in the religious box, is just as laughable as putting in any other religion.
Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not Atheist. I'm not stupid enough to believe that everything in existence just 'poofed here' from nothingness, but the belief system of most religions makes me want to giggle hysterically.
Seriously, half the religions on Earth follow the same style of Mono-theism, or one God, and the other half follow Poly-theism, or many Gods.
Yes each has it's differences in belief structure, but there are only TWO religions on Earth: Mono and Poly-theism.
The comical variety in religions is what makes me say that being 'Jedi' is just as real as being Christian, or Muslim, or Jewish, or Pagan, or whatever the hell other religion you believe in.
There is no point in trying to tell who is a devout believer anyways. In my nineteen short years, I've already come across hundreds of 'religious' people who are only claiming to be religious to comfort themselves in the event that heaven or hell, or whatever they're called, are real. That's not worship, that's just using a pre-established system to your apparent advantage.
So if you want to put Jedi, or any other hokey religion in the box instead of those listed, go right ahead, because half the 'religious' population are using 'real' religions as a joke anyways.
Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not Atheist. I'm not stupid enough to believe that everything in existence just 'poofed here' from nothingness, but the belief system of most religions makes me want to giggle hysterically.
Seriously, half the religions on Earth follow the same style of Mono-theism, or one God, and the other half follow Poly-theism, or many Gods.
Yes each has it's differences in belief structure, but there are only TWO religions on Earth: Mono and Poly-theism.
The comical variety in religions is what makes me say that being 'Jedi' is just as real as being Christian, or Muslim, or Jewish, or Pagan, or whatever the hell other religion you believe in.
There is no point in trying to tell who is a devout believer anyways. In my nineteen short years, I've already come across hundreds of 'religious' people who are only claiming to be religious to comfort themselves in the event that heaven or hell, or whatever they're called, are real. That's not worship, that's just using a pre-established system to your apparent advantage.
So if you want to put Jedi, or any other hokey religion in the box instead of those listed, go right ahead, because half the 'religious' population are using 'real' religions as a joke anyways.
Come on, Atheism is sold at Hot Topic these days. It's such an overused trope that those who originally considered themselves Atheist are still looking for a new word to seperate themselves from the mass of douchebags who think they're 'deep' by simply saying 'no' to the notion of religion.*
But going up against Jediism? Against perhaps one of the most creative and awesome developments in Religion since the Flying Spaghetti Monster? No one likes a party-pooper.
*- disclaimer: This does not go against any Atheist who has considered what that actually means. What I am talking about are people who claim to be for the lack of a better answer.
But going up against Jediism? Against perhaps one of the most creative and awesome developments in Religion since the Flying Spaghetti Monster? No one likes a party-pooper.
*- disclaimer: This does not go against any Atheist who has considered what that actually means. What I am talking about are people who claim to be for the lack of a better answer.
you dont seem to know what atheism is. atheism is a position on a claim. specifically, the claim that a god exists. the position is of disbelief, or rejection.Darius Brogan said:
as you can see, this has absolutely nothing to do with "everything in existence just 'poofed here' from nothingness"
if you disbelieve in any gods, you are an atheist. if you believe in gods, you are a theist.
if you are agnostic, you dont believe that knowledge of god is 100% certain (which is the only intellectually honest position)
i myself, am an agnostic atheist, because i dont believe in god and dont believe i can prove to myself or anyone else with absolute certainty that no god exists.
hopefully ive cleared that up for you.
Yeah, but that is the entire point. They're not complaining about Christianity because they know it is a real religion that is actually practised. Jediism is unlike Christianity in the sense that very few people who claim to be one, actually practise it or believe in it. It IS a joke based on a film franchise, and people only started putting it on forms when prompted to by stand-up comedians. Most of that 400,000 person demographic are pretending to be religious for a laugh. This is misleading the census, which will skewer the statistics, and in turn, have repercussions when the government want to refer to it whilst making changes in any given area. It is the same as lying about your age, or your ethnicity.ysqure3 said:
Obviously, this doesn't apply to those who do actually believe in the force, or rather, have taken to treating their Jedi faith seriously. They can honestly stick it on their form.
Because knee-jerk reactions against "uptight atheists" are in fashion.coolerthanice21 said:
Indeed, how dare a group of people who generally like empiricism put forth the notion that accurate information is a good thing. Humorless assholes, obviously...
Well a reasonable politician would differentiate with Jedi and more orthodox religions. But if someone wants to game the statistics, they only have to say "I recent survey showed that 40,000 more people in this community have found a religion". Thus, they have compelling ammo, by not mentioning these 40,000 put jedi. Also, it means that they can say "look how few athiests there are! There are fewer athiests than people claiming to be jedi!", again ignoring the fact that many of those jedi would be otherwise non-religious.WrongSprite said:
Adding to the confusion, just because a person puts jedi doesn't mean he is an athiest in reality. He could be Catholic or Sikh or whatever. The government needs to know the demographics to accurately make a call on issues like building faithschools or churches. Calling yourself jedi is a refusal to provide the necessary information, making it harder to form a decision.
Nothing fishy at all. If you call yourself a jedi as a joke, you are basically depriving the census of useful information as to what religion you really are. It is harder for the government to make calls regarding faith schooling or churches when many of the people surveyed give improper answers. As many of these people who call themselves jedi aren't committed to a real religioun (and so should put "non-religious", if that is the case).Witty Name Here said:
Pfft, heretics!
Everyone knows the Church of the Great Patrick Stewart and the Enterprise is the better of the two.
Get your tricorders and phasers today, people!
...
..Also, just damned put "no religion" on the form, people. While it may be humorous, it really helps no one in the end.
Everyone knows the Church of the Great Patrick Stewart and the Enterprise is the better of the two.
Get your tricorders and phasers today, people!
...
..Also, just damned put "no religion" on the form, people. While it may be humorous, it really helps no one in the end.