UK Atheists Hope to Eliminate Jedi Population

[Jian-Li]

For someone to consider their religion Jedi must be more delusional than most religious followers.

 

[Nocturnal Gentleman]

I don't understand why you'd skew a census like this. It's just immature and not funny at all. If you don't want to give your religious information then leave it blank. It's not rocket science.

 

[Daedalus007]

People want to write Jedi, they may as well do so for all I care. Just let people do what the fuck they want ^^

I completely disagree. There's a difference between playing a joke on an organization and fucking with the federal census. You can argue to give people whatever freedoms they want out in the world, but in my opinion, lying to the government should be punishable by law.

 

[Aethren]

I wonder how many wrote 'Sith' instead. I know I would.

 

[Baalthazaq]

I'm gonna go ahead and guess that the number of people putting down Jedi is roughly equivalent to the breakdown of the UK anyway.

Signed,
A Muslim who put down Jedi in college.

Though next time I'll probably not.

 

[cerealnmuffin]

Hmmm so many comments and doubt anyone would read mine, but whatever ^^. I'm atheist but think it's pointless for them to strive against Jedism (I'm not even a fan of StarWars which I guess is considered heresy to proclaimed Jedis). I think the fact people chose that option shows how religion is kind of a joke to them which only strengthens the position of atheists rather than taking away from it. It's people not only saying 'I'm not religious' but also, the whole concept is a joke.

 

[Midnight Crossroads]

Overcome the Dark Side, we shall.

 

[cairocat]

They are by far the most serious and annoying folks around whenever the topic comes up. I put them up there with the Jesus freaks who get in your face to save your soul. They are simply the other side of the isle, haha.

"NO, You MUST show me proof of GOD!"
"But you can't show me proof of not god?!?!"
"So, I don't need to!"

Haha, this should be turned into a web video series.

So, just curious, do you tend to believe everything that might exist unprovably actually does exist? Like, the giant waffle behind your head invisible to everything but you?

People are gloriously ignorant when it comes to quoting first page posts. I have revisited that issue already, and said that I misspoke. I meant merely to compare militant atheists with the most extremes of religion. Atheism is a religion after all, you fool yourself if you think otherwise. In the words of Bruce Lee, "having no way, is way". Their views are as much based off of blind faith as the Christian, Muslim, etc, religions of the world.

Well, you have to realize that we can not truly know anything except that we as ourselves exist, and even then it's debatable how we'd go about proving that. I think that- oh, screw this. I front-page-quoted and got snapped at by some exasperated opinionated dude on the forums who's tired of getting flamed for quickly writing a comment without thinking it through that got a ton of responses. I could launch into this debate for hours and hours, but you'd still be stuck in your mindset and I in mine, neither of us learning anything from the experience and only coming away frustrated and possibly on probation. I'll save you and I both the flame war and just cede all possible argumental victories to you. It's cool, you're fine. I'm sure you're a nice dude. Bai.

 

[Asuka Soryu]

Jedi was a religion? Always thought the Force was a way of life like, Yoga then it was a religion.

 

[Oliver Pink]

I can and will continue to write Jedi on my form...

SINCE I LIVE IN AUSTRALIA!

 

[Tipsy Giant]

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.

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.

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.

No, not really. The definition of Atheism is the 'Doctrine or belief that there is NO God'
Agnostics believe, not that there is no God, but that the knowledge of God and the nature of things is Unknowable, or that HUMAN knowledge is limited to experience.

An Atheist Agnostic is basically a walking contradiction, as Agnostics do not dispute some form of God, only that we cannot know It/Him/Her/Them/Whatever, whereas an Atheist would tell you there Is/Was/Never will be a God or any other form of higher power, meaning the only available position on the Universe' creation was "random chance" Eg: "Poof"

Besides, most of my comment had to do with my running thoughts about all 'Religion' being a joke.
Now, don't get me wrong, my closest friend in the world is a DEVOUT Anglican Christian, and we poke fun at each other for our beliefs all the time, but my general idea is that almost all 'Religious' people are just trying to secure a safe, sheltered afterlife in a belief system they know/care nothing about.

See I like most people don't fit into either, I find it completely believeable that there is no creator and also find it believable that life may have started our universe, neither is obviously true and neither is provably false, I don't pretend to know any of the answers, I just live my life leaving scientists and philosiphers to figure it out

 

[Kinokohatake]

Honestly I am not sure what the issue is. It's not as if the government actually listens to the people or pays attention to specifics other than to distribute the money they take from you.

 

[Conor147]

then why does the bible condone slavery?

Because the bible was written in a time where lots of people chose to be slaves, rather than live on the streets and starve. It doesn't condone mistreatment of slaves and such, it constantly tells masters to be kind to their slaves. You have to view the bible in a historical and cultural context, you can't just throw out random comments like that or else you're bond to not understand a lot of what it has to say. hope this helps

hardly. this logic can excuse anything, as long as its the norm of its time. this kind of logic is used to justify the paedophilia of muhammad in the qur'an and sirat. this is pure, lazy thinking. if slavery was accepted today, still (which it would be if the bible was still an authority), would that mean slavery isnt a heinous, immoral practise? no. of course not. dont be absurd.
if the bible is supposed to be at all divine, it should vindicate the morality of the future, not be supplanted by it.

and dont bullshit about treating slaves with kindness. this is absurd.... nothing more than demonstrably false and easily rebutted kindergarten apologetics.


* Exodus 21:20-21 and Exodus 21:26-27 regulates the beating of slaves, and states that the owner may not be punished if the slave survives for at least two days after the beating.
* Leviticus 19:20-22 gives instructions about the sacrifices that should be made if a slave owner has sex with or rapes an engaged female slave. The slave herself is punished with whipping, but no sacrifices or punishment are required if the slave is not engaged.
* In Leviticus 25:44-46 the Israelites were allowed to buy slaves from other nations, and then hand them down as an inheritance.
* In Leviticus 25:39 buying your brother as a slave is allowed.

You seem to have completely ignored the context on these verses

Exodus 21:20-21 - I have to admit this is harsh, but the beating it talks about it isn't meant to be a "I beat you cause I felt like it" beating, it's a "you stole something from me/sexually assaulted a woman in my house (quite common in old days)"
Leviticus 19:20-22 - These verses aren't talking about if the slave is raped, it talks about if the slave "carnally" sleeps with someone with full consent, so punishment is just
Leviticus 25:44-46 - Again, you totally ignore the context. It never says, "you can buy slaves from other nations," but rather "out of the sons of the sojourners who live as aliens among you." After Israel took control of the lands of the Canaanites, Amorites, Jebusites etc. some nations who currently owned the land allied themselves with or went into optional slave labor for the Israelites so that they would not kick them out of their cities and lands by force (AKA killing them off). These people knew that this was a possibility and totally consented, thus it is not unfair for them to be taken as slaves, because they chose that
Leviticus 25:39 - What is your problem here? "If a countryman of yours becomes so poor with regard to you that he sells himself to you, you shall not subject him to a slave's service." In other words, don't make your countrymen slaves!

its 10pm. youre walking down a dark alley. theres a woman screaming and a man trying to rip her clothes. he has a knife to her throat. what do you do?

"WELL I HAVE NO IDEA WHATS GOING ON HERE, NO CONTEXT, NOPE. ILL JUST KEEP ON WALKING AND WONT MAKE ANY JUDGEMENTS BECAUSE I DONT HAVE ANY CONTEXT".


but then you contradict yourself by saying

"I have to admit this is harsh"

well then its finished. you admit that you see a conflict between your superior morality and that of bronze aged men. how do you resolve this? logical, rational people resolve it by saying that the bible isnt divine, but the work of men who have been supplanted by better, more moral, more reasonable successors.

 

[Shifty Tortoise]

I'm working on the data processing for this census, and Jedi Knight actually comes under a section called No Religion, along with pastafarianism. So they're just making a pointless argument that they didn't fully research.

 

[Conor147]

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.

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.

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.

No, not really. The definition of Atheism is the 'Doctrine or belief that there is NO God'
Agnostics believe, not that there is no God, but that the knowledge of God and the nature of things is Unknowable, or that HUMAN knowledge is limited to experience.

An Atheist Agnostic is basically a walking contradiction, as Agnostics do not dispute some form of God, only that we cannot know It/Him/Her/Them/Whatever, whereas an Atheist would tell you there Is/Was/Never will be a God or any other form of higher power, meaning the only available position on the Universe' creation was "random chance" Eg: "Poof"

Besides, most of my comment had to do with my running thoughts about all 'Religion' being a joke.
Now, don't get me wrong, my closest friend in the world is a DEVOUT Anglican Christian, and we poke fun at each other for our beliefs all the time, but my general idea is that almost all 'Religious' people are just trying to secure a safe, sheltered afterlife in a belief system they know/care nothing about.

you dont seem to be aware of the difference between knowledge and belief. i recommend you read your comment again.

none of the atheists i know claim to have absolute certainty. to accuse them of believing they know there is no god is what you are doing. this is asinine.

TIP: google agnostic. google atheist. google definition.

"The definition of Atheism is the 'Doctrine or belief that there is NO God'"

see: http://wiki.ironchariots.org/index.php?title=Atheism_is_a_religion

"An Atheist Agnostic is basically a walking contradiction, as Agnostics do not dispute some form of God, only that we cannot know It/Him/Her/Them/Whatever, whereas an Atheist would tell you there Is/Was/Never will be a God or any other form of higher power"

see: http://wiki.ironchariots.org/index.php?title=You_can%27t_prove_God_doesn%27t_exist

"meaning the only available position on the Universe' creation was "random chance" Eg: "Poof""

see: http://wiki.ironchariots.org/index.php?title=So_you_think_we_came_from_monkeys
and
http://wiki.ironchariots.org/index.php?title=If_God_didn%27t_create_everything%2C_who_did%3F

"but my general idea is that almost all 'Religious' people are just trying to secure a safe, sheltered afterlife in a belief system they know/care nothing about."

http://wiki.ironchariots.org/index.php?title=Why_are_you_trying_to_tear_down_other_people%27s_faith%3F

 

[Conor147]

See I like most people don't fit into either, I find it completely believeable that there is no creator and also find it believable that life may have started our universe, neither is obviously true and neither is provably false, I don't pretend to know any of the answers, I just live my life leaving scientists and philosiphers to figure it out

but heres the thing, none of the atheists i know claim to have the answers. they just claim to believe that the more likely option is that there isnt a god. all the atheists i know ADMIT its possible a god could have did everything, and that he could be the FSM, but they reject such an assertion as they see it as unprobable.

theres nothing wrong with deciding if something doesnt make much sense or not, as long as you dont claim to know for sure when you dont.

 

[Conor147]

People are gloriously ignorant when it comes to quoting first page posts. I have revisited that issue already, and said that I misspoke. I meant merely to compare militant atheists with the most extremes of religion. Atheism is a religion after all, you fool yourself if you think otherwise. In the words of Bruce Lee, "having no way, is way". Their views are as much based off of blind faith as the Christian, Muslim, etc, religions of the world.

"I meant merely to compare militant atheists with the most extremes of religion."

http://wiki.ironchariots.org/index.php?title=Why_do_atheists_inspire_such_hatred%3F

"Atheism is a religion after all, you fool yourself if you think otherwise."

http://wiki.ironchariots.org/index.php?title=Atheism_is_a_religion

"In the words of Bruce Lee, "having no way, is way"."

John Little: what is your religious affiliation?

Bruce Lee: none whatsoever.

"Their views are as much based off of blind faith as the Christian, Muslim, etc, religions of the world."

http://wiki.ironchariots.org/index.php?title=It_takes_more_faith_to_disbelieve

this is juvenile. pathetically banal, overused, worn out kindergarten apologetics.

 

[raankh]

I'm working on the data processing for this census, and Jedi Knight actually comes under a section called No Religion, along with pastafarianism. So they're just making a pointless argument that they didn't fully research.

Ouch, that means Intelligent Design should be "No Religion" as well. The Church of the FSM is built on the exact same principles, after all.

Alternatively, if only "state acknowledged" religions are in categories, then there's a whole slew of really religious people that aren't included.

Seriously, is that the kind of "statistics" behind this census? What a complete f'king waste of money. It's not even remotely scientific.

 

[Conor147]

Ouch, that means Intelligent Design should be "No Religion" as well. The Church of the FSM is built on the exact same principles, after all.

Alternatively, if only "state acknowledged" religions are in categories, then there's a whole slew of really religious people that aren't included.

Seriously, is that the kind of "statistics" behind this census? What a complete f'king waste of money. It's not even remotely scientific.

intelligent design isnt a religion. its creationism masquerading around with a fake lab coat. intelligent design is a construct used by religious people, not the religion itself.