Shopping for a new religion?

It doesn’t come much newer than this: the Church of the Jedi. Yes, that Jedi — the monastic warrior caste of the Star Wars series.

Don’t laugh. According to England’s 2001 census, there are some 390,000 people in the UK who identify the Jedi faith as their primary religious affiliation. If you were to take those numbers seriously (and we’re not suggesting you do), Jedi-ism would be Britain’s fourth largest religion, right behind Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism, and well ahead of both Judaism and Buddhism.

This fact caught the notice of brothers Barney and Daniel Jones – or as, you can call them these days — Masters Jonba and Morda Hehol. They’re the founder’s of England’s official Jedi religion, ready to mete out weddings, funerals, and light saber instruction. They’ll even sell you an official Jedi costume or help you start your very own Jedi parish.

And what sort of preaching and teaching might the aspiring Jedi expect? According to the international Jedi Church website, adherents can expect instruction in …

• Jedi Mind Control
• Jedi Religion Theory
• Jedi Marshal [sic] arts
• Saber Defense Techniques
• Meditation
• Theory of the Force

If you’ve ever seen a cantina band, you know the Church of the Jedi have to put on a killer covered dish dinner.

Link: United Kingdom Jedi Church