May the Farce Be With You

Thousands of Australians have been urged to declare on census forms that their religion is “Jedi”, from the mythical sect in the Star Wars films. The advice is contained in a chain e-mail spreading through the country. It’s similar to an e-mail circulating in the U.K., which will hold its census soon. The message says that “If there are enough people in the country, about 10,000, who put down the same religion, it becomes fully recognized and legal.” Not so, says the Australian Bureau of Statistics. “For a group to be included it would have to show that there was an underlying belief system or philosophy, and that there is also some form of organizational structure,” a spokesman said. (Sydney Morning Herald) ...Based on that standard, the parliament doesn’t exist either.