JEDI DECLARE HOLY WAR ON THE UN

While many may pour scorn, mock and in some cases laugh directly in the faces of Umada and Yunyun (also known as John Wilkinson and Charlotte Law) for their battle with the UN to get “Jedi” registered as an officially recognised religion, I say titter ye not.

The two Brits are campaigning on behalf of the 400,000 “believers” who submitted Jedi as their religious denomination during the recent census of the UK population. They claim that this figure makes Jedi the fourth most popular religion in the country, ahead of Sikhism, Judaism and Buddhism. There are also 70,000 Jedi Knights in Australia, 53,000 in New Zealand and 20,000 in Canada.

Having studied biblical texts as well as the history of storytelling, myths and legends, I can tell you that there’s not much to separate the validity of the parables of the bible and the intergalactic tales of the Republic - a battle of good and evil, lots of sand, much beard action.

The old and new testament can no longer be classed as documentation of historical truths. Initially passed down by word of mouth for decades (or in the old testaments case, centuries) before finally being committed to papyrus, the texts have been chopped, changed, chunks removed, chunks added, words altered, heroes vilified and villains haloed - all depending on who controlled the publication and distribution of the good book ... pretty similar to the process of drafting and editing a movie script. And just as church and state have tinkered with biblical texts to ensure they fit their own agenda, so Lucas continues to fiddle with his once great films depending on which side of bed he gets out of in the morning.

This doesn't make the central message of the bible "love one another as you'd want to be loved yourself” any less relevant or insightful, but equally it doesn't make those who believe there's a mysterious central force “that surrounds us, guides us and binds the universe together" (or whatever) completely barking.

Anyway, in a world where religion causes more conflict, anger and aggression than a Hoth Wampa in a sauna, following the innocent worlds of a chilled-out techno-hippy can surely be no bad thing.