[Closed] The National Census.

Depends on who you ask:

a) having a bit of fun
b) a political protest
c) being a sheep

10 years ago

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jedi_census_phenomenon

In England and Wales 390,127 people (almost 0.8%) stated their religion as Jedi on their 2001 Census forms, surpassing Sikhism, Judaism, and Buddhism, and making it the fourth largest reported religion in the countries.[10] In the 2001 Census 2.6% of the population of Brighton claimed to be Jedi. The percentages of religious affiliations were:

😀

Bus W**kers 🙄

Bike Skills Jedi?

What's the punishment for not completing this profiling in our democratic country?

20 years in the gulags.

Although your reward if you don't complete the census, is a deep sense of rebellion against a repressive and totalitarian state apparatus.

Good luck with your choice.

Ernie, I can never tell when your taking the Pee. Are you a communist or something?

To be totally honest, I can't tell myself sometimes.

[url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7231186.stm ]From 2008[/url] looks like it's Labour's fault...

Cool, sometimes you sound like my dad. I imagine his voice when I'm reading your posts (sorry if you're only young, LOL)

The american thing is a conspiracy theory and nowt more, the government doesnt have to give over the data just because it was read by a Lockeed Martin scanner, any more than singletrack would because their servers run on intel processors!

So, for religion I can put Jedi, for nationality I can put Space Traveller for that is a way I would describe it* - I don't feel like an Irish Traveller and for job I can put Jedi (I worked on Star Wars Episode 1 so it's not completely unrelated).
I might even invite a Jedi to visit for the night. If he doesn't show up after I've gone to all the trouble of filling in the form, is that my fault?

* I don't travel through anything else, except water I suppose when swimming

Because it would mess up the spreadsheets if they had different Q17s.

I didn't ask why not a different one.

is there a box for Nationality: NORTHERN

project - Member

Who is actually delivering them, lets hope its not the company previously known as Royal Mail, or they want arrive, unless you live in a skip , or behind a hedge.

You have proof I presume that this is what happens?

I've never jerked/thrown away/scammed any mail in the 14 years I've worked as a postie . Narrow minded views like this really P me off , it's like the red sock brigade suggesting all MTB riders are hooligans who damage footpaths without a care.

Okay so I bit.

I'm sick of forms that have options for the other home nations, but only British if your English

have you seen the form before laying into it?

there are options for english/welsh/scots etc as well as british. just for you!

Poly's answer on the question on Nationality :

legally you are absolutely correct - but the question (Q15) is actually about national identity and asks "For example this could be about the country or countries where you feel you belong, or think of as home." and specifically states it need not be the same as your legal nationality or citizenship.

I belong on my bike riding sweet singletrack, therefore my Nationality will be "singletracks of the planet Earth", on the basis that its where I feel I belong. Thanks for helping me with that.

I liked answering the religion and language questions for my 16 month old.

Back to the Nationality question, can I just point out that those of who are British are British [i]subjects[/i] [u]not[/u] citizens, this is a monarchy. (No doubt some will grumble about that, but given the choice of the Queen or President Mandleson...)

I am not a citizen of anywhere.

That hasn't been correct since at least 1983. Most British nationals are British citizens.

If you're a UK national then your nationality is British. You have British citizenship, not English / Welsh / Scottish.

You're right in a sense. British English (I believe for political reasons...) treats nationality as synonymous with citizenship but that's not really accurate. Nationality is supposed to be about what nation you're part of. There are three and a half (at least) nations in the UK.

I am not a citizen of anywhere.

yes you are

On 1 January 1983, upon the coming into force of the British Nationality Act 1981, every Citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies became either a British Citizen, British Dependent Territories Citizen or British Overseas Citizen.

No, I'm a British Subject.
Monarchies have subjects, republics have citizens.

sockpuppet - Member

have you seen the form before laying into it?

there are options for english/welsh/scots etc as well as british. just for you!

You read the rest of my post right?

I have nothing what's so ever against being 'British', to be honest I would rather the UK was one, & then at least we would have a chance in some international sporting events & maybe even at being a true world power. But forget that, what really gets me is that the Welsh can be Welsh, the Scottish-Scottish & the Irish-Irish, but the English can only be British or we are branded racist! Why?

Im a citizen of the global village

[i]You think you're turning Japanese? [/i]
You think you're turning Japanese?

You really think so?

samuri,

I really think so 😉

Someone had to do it...

billysugger - Member
What's the punishment for not completing this profiling in our democratic country?

Please don't put Jedi unless you actually are religious. The census is used to decide spending priorities. if you say you have a religion when you don't(even if it is a made up one like Jedi or pastaferian) then more public money will be spent on religious ends than is really warranted.

Put Atheist or no religion if that is what you really are.

Crankboy, while you are right, unfortunalty that wont grab the headlines in this age of spin. There is more likely to be a story on Jedi being the 4th largest religion in the UK than any statistic on how many Athiests there are.

Jedi headlines will make people talk and think, and that is perhaps a positive outcome.

We all remember Jedi from the last census, no one remembers the number of non religious people.

Its just a thought, Im still undecided as to the best way to answer that questions.

This may be the last time its done, so get involved!

The main bit of fail I see is that they want you to complete it in paper or online on or as near to the 27th of March as possible.

I have every confidence in their website being available from the 25th to the 30th.

crankboy+1

[url= http://census-campaign.org.uk/ ]http://census-campaign.org.uk/[/url]

Fairly sound reasoning on why you shouldn't put 'Jedi' down. For example.. the number of religious people (including Jedi) in the last census was used as justification for increased funding and delegation of responsibilities to faith schools.

No religion for me!

Dave

[i]Hur hur look at me I'm so funny and witty and clever I'm going to put down 'Jedi' for Religion on the National Census form cos I'm just crazy and zany and mad and that![/i]

No, you're a knob.

so that is another saying Jedi then elfin 😉

No; it's just a waste of resources to put down bogus and misleading information. Costs the whole country, and serves no-one. Just so some knobs can think themselves clever for 'getting one over the system'. Grow up.

I think everyone who puts down 'Jedi' should get a thousand pound fine. That would raise a few quid.

Alfa and Crank are right since the last census the Government has spent millions teaching Jedi classes in Schools.

Alfa and Crank are right since the last census the Government has spent millions teaching Jedi classes in Schools.

Although I feel the lessons aren't demanding enough since they prohibited the use of real lightsabres and laser firing remote balls in the classroom, all in the name of health and safety. Psssht!

Kids are leaving the system thinking they're full Jedis, but they're barely padawans. Disgraceful!

Jedi exams are getting easier every year that's the problem.

I thought I cleared this up last time we had this thread but here we go again...

Jedi was assigned its own code in the United Kingdom for census processing, the number 896.[15] Officials from the Office for National Statistics pointed out that this merely means that it has been registered as a common answer to the "religion" question and that this does not confer on it the status of official recognition. John Pullinger, Director of Reporting and Analysis for the Census, noted that many people who would otherwise not have completed a Census form did so solely to record themselves as Jedi, so this joke helped to improve the quality of the Census. The Office of National Statistics revealed the total figure in a press release entitled "390,000 Jedis there are"

from [url= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jedi_census_phenomenon ]here[/url].

This implies to me that only those people who fit into an official religion will be counted as religious and Jedi's are not amongst them.

It goes on to say...

In June 2005, Jamie Reed, newly-elected Labour Member of Parliament for Copeland in Cumbria, declared himself to be the first Jedi Member of Parliament during his maiden speech.

and

in April 2006, Edward Leigh, the Conservative Member of Parliament for Gainsborough, asked whether he would be allowed to set up a Jedi knights faith school during a Committee debate on the Education and Inspections Bill

To my mind this would imply that Jedi is used to make a point by many people from the man in the street to our parliamentary representatives.

Those that are piously appealing to our citizenly sense of duty are suffering not only from a bit of a sense of humour failure but also from a woeful misinterpretation of the spirit of the joke.

MTFBWY.

Just put 'no religion'.

Or do you have a desire and longing to 'belong' to some group or other?

Balls to it; just put what you want; you're entitled to be a knob I spose. It's your Human Right in fact. 🙂

All the religions have there own code it's not that this meant that Jedi was excluded from religious last time.

And yes the educational provision for Jedi children is woeful.However the number of Jedi went in to the total number of religious believers and therefore impacted on overall funding and influence for those with invisible friends.

I'm sorry if I'm treating this too seriously but i do think it is kind of important.

Or do you have a desire and longing to 'belong' to some group or other?

Don't we all? No shame in that, though Jedi would not be my answer it did make me laugh that more people are prepared to put Jedi than Jew.

However the number of Jedi went in to the total number of religious believers and therefore impacted on overall funding and influence for those with invisible friends.

That is absolute rubbish. In the Official Census Report last time around, Sikhism was listed as the fourth largest religion, no mention at all of Jedi's. You are wrong, accept it and stop spoiling the fun.

From the ONS website:

A campaign on the internet claimed - wrongly - that Jedi, the belief system at the heart of the Star Wars films, would receive official government recognition as a religion if enough people quoted it on their Census forms. An email in support of the campaign, quoted by BBC News, invited people to 'do it because you love Star Wars... or just to annoy people.'

It makes no difference to the amount of money spent on faith schools or the number of bishops in the Lords you po faced, boring, humourless oaf.

crankboy - Member

Put Atheist or no religion if that is what you really are.

probably a sensible idea.

at best, declaring yourself to be a jedi will achieve nothing at all.

at worst, religionists will use you to claim even more influence, funding, tax breaks, air time, etc.

unfortunately.

However the number of Jedi went in to the total number of religious believers and therefore impacted on overall funding and influence for those with invisible friends.

Only in your head.