The silliness is strong in this one...

I’m sure, my dear readers, that you all know about the Church of Jedi. A lot of very silly people decided to muck up their national census office’s statistics by putting their religion as Jedi. What started as a few nerds in New Zealand soon grew into an international phenomenon. There are officially more Jedi’s than Sikhs in the UK!

The big question than people ask (especially middle-aged women like my mum who don’t even know that Vader is Luke’s father) is why?

There are many answers. Some people were protesting against the inclusion of what they saw as an unnecessary and overly-personal question in a government document. Some I’m sure felt they were striking a blow against religion (this is an unpardonable generalisation I know but at the moment it seems that as soon as they reach about 14 teenage boys suddenly hate religion and all it stands for. It seems to wear of after a few years though fortunately...). But there are a few, just a brave few, who really believe it.

You’re scoffing I know. But when you get right down to it, Jediism is actually a pretty sensible belief system. They believe in the force, which connects all living beings together. If you know how you can shape the force to your own designs, use the energies to your advantage (chi, by any other name...). There is a dark side and a light side, and we must strive to be on the light side, by doing good deeds etc. If we do we will be able to perform miracles and live to extraordinary ages. It’s basically a mishmash of all George Lucas’ favourite bits of Eastern mysticism and belief. There’s bits of Taoism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Shinto, (and the obvious parallels between Luke Skywalker and Jesus) all mixed together with a side-order of robots (sorry, sorry... I did mean 'droids, honestly).

Ultimately though, most people who identify as Jedi don’t believe in it. They just thought it was funny, which, as Sir Terry Pratchett put it, just goes to show.

Quantum physics would agree that deep down, we’re all the Pope

Discordianism is based on a book, the Principia Discordia by the incredibly named Malaclypse the Younger, “Wherein Is Explained Absolutely Everything Worth Knowing About Absolutely Anything”. The opening to an online edition of the Principia Discordia describes the author as “a time-travelling anthropologist from the 23rd Century, currently passing among us as a computer specialist, bon vivant and philosopher named Gregory Hill. He has also translated several volumes of Etruscan erotic poetry, under another pen-name, and in the 18th Century was the mysterious Man in Black who gave Jefferson the design for the Great Seal of the United States. Whenever I question him about this, he grows very evasive and attempts to persuade me that he is actually just another 20th Century Earthman.” I know it’s not really good form to post big quotes like that in a blog, but that just amused me.

They worship (sort of, though they don’t believe in prayer) the Greco-Roman goddess of discord and disharmony, Eris (as in the one who threw the golden apple that started the Trojan war). The Principia and their subsequent writings reference many historical figures, but undoubtedly the most interesting is the Emperor Norton I of San Francisco, a self-declared ruler who proclaimed himself sole dictator of the United States in the 19^th century. So widely accepted was Norton as the town eccentric that, when he began to print his own money, a great many shops accepted it as legal tender! In this way, Norton embodies many of the principles of Discordianism – he did own thing, went his own way and was unafraid of looking ridiculous in public.

Essentially, Discordians dedicate themselves to seeing the funny side of life, the innate ridiculousness of all things and above all, to making people think for themselves. The fifth of the five laws of Discordianism is that you shouldn’t believe anything you read (presumably including the laws of Discordianism). They are also free from the militant anti-something or other feelings that pervade so many parody religions. They’re not anti-anything, just pro-silliness.

You may have noticed by now, dear readers of my blog, that I have a soft spot for parody religions, the sillier the better. Discordianism has a special place in my heart because quite frankly, they don’t come any sillier than this! It encourages a world where a crazy man can declare himself a king and print his own money, and instead of arresting him for treason or forgery people accept him, are proud of him and give him free food. That’s the world I want to live in.