Jediism

The Jedi Religion is based upon the teachings found in the Star Wars films written by George Lucas as well as books and games based on the Star Wars universe.

The Jedi religion is known as Jediism. Jediism is not organized, and followers of the path are from different countries with different backgrounds and cultures, leading to different opinions and views within jedi communities. Many Jedi choose to practice Jediism along with another religion, like Christianity, or Magick; this movement is known as Jedi Realism.

According to recent censuses over 500,000 people declared their religion as Jedi. However, all governments involved considered this to be a joke, and some Jedi believe it damaged their image and the community.

At least two Jedi churches exist, one in Texas, USA and one in Holyhead, UK.

The Church of Jediism has its headquarter at the Holyhead Church of Jediism, who introduced the very first organized training structure complete with training books and courses. They have branches all over the world. The Church of Jediism has over 2,000 Training members and is growing every day. Also, ministers of the Jedi Temple in Texas are allowed to legally conduct weddings.

Jedi Philosophy
The Jedi believe in the ways of 'The Force'. They listen to the Philosophic teachings found in Star Wars as well as the ones that inspired George Lucas, to interpret and use them in every day life. Overall, the philosophy of Jediism is a blend of Taoism, Buddhism, and Joseph Campbell's work. Most Jedi follow a code of conduct similar to the chivalry code, also known as "The" Jedi Code however, as there is no set path in Jediism there are many codes, all more or less based on the Star Wars philosophy, codes and lessons.

Criticism
Because of the pop culture origins of Jediism and the use of the world wide web to organize, share and attract others to the Jedi community, jedi organizations tend to attract very unusual individuals. The now defunct website "thejediismway.org" warns about the many "toxic" sites and individuals.

The Jedi community fails to keep, organize and share its own data. It seems plagued by drama, threats, important sites going down and major contributors leaving.

Jediism is often reported on the internet and in news articles in a negative, made-up and un-important way. The bad press given by the census phenomenon and a BBC report gave birth to the "Jediism" and "Jedi Realism" terms.

Two self-proclaimed Jedi wearing Star Wars robes and a third person disguised as a Wookie demanded that the UN change the "International Day of Tolerance" to "Interstellar Day of Tolerance". This gave an incredibly bad name to Jediism.