In Yoda we trust? We all laughed when the census told us over 20,000 Canadians picked 'Jedi' as their religion
Last month, somewhere in Australia, the last holy text of a new global religion began to be born. The final Star Wars movie, title as yet unknown, is now filming. For the casual moviegoer, this heralds the end of a six-movie space opera, and the transformation of Anakin Skywalker (played by Canuck Hayden Christensen) into Darth Vader. But for a few, the film will be a lot more: It'll be fresh fuel for a new kind of faith. Millions of Canadians under 30 grew up with a spiritual void, raised on no religion or none taken very seriously. Look at the 2001 Census, published this spring. The share of Canadians who reported "no religion" � a category claiming less than 1 per cent of the public 30 years before � is now 16 per cent. Of them, 40 per cent are under age 25. Look at the surging popularity of atheism, vague spiritual creeds and also of newer Christian denominations � the latter not fully explicable by reproduction alone. People are dropping out of older churches, and adopting ones more of their liking, at a rate never before seen in Canadian history. Your faith is now less a matter of heritage, and more one of shopping. And if the consumers can't find a new church, they'll make one themselves, or borrow one from the Cineplex. In the same census, famously, 20,000 Canadians listed their religion as "Jedi." Matt Reeves is one of the faithful. For the 30-year-old southern Albertan's belief system isn't about wearing a robe and talking to Muppets. It's about embracing the strict moral sense and code of responsibility of a Jedi, even if it's just in his job at the Medicine Hat Golf and Country Club. "There are situations every day we have to handle, even if you're just mediating disputes between friends. I strive to be like the Jedi at the golf course. I take everything on." If you found this interesting........read the rest of this article @ the Toronto Star website: http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&call_pageid=971358637177&c=Article&cid=1058785329081 ########################################################################## # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), and avoid top-posts # # More details on Goanet at http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to reflect respect to others # ##########################################################################
