Posted by Ilya Somin:
Founder of Jedi Religion Claims he Was Victim of Religious Discrimination:
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2009_09_20-2009_09_26.shtml#1253486228
The new "Jedi" religion, based on the Star Wars movies, has grown
rapidly to the point where [1]it may be the fourth largest religion in
Britain. However, no religion has really arrived until its adherents
can claim to be victims of religious discrimination. And it seems that
the Dark Side of the Force has finally gotten around to discriminating
against the Jedi:
Tesco [a British supermarket chain] has been accused of religious
discrimination after the company ordered the founder of a Jedi
religion to remove his hood or leave a branch of the supermarket in
north Wales.
Daniel Jones, founder of the religion inspired by the Star Wars
films, says he was humiliated and victimised for his beliefs
following the incident at a Tesco store in Bangor.
The 23-year-old, who founded the International Church of Jediism,
which has 500,000 followers worldwide, was told the hood flouted
store rules...
Jones, from Holyhead, who is known by the Jedi name Morda Hehol,
said his religion dictated that he should wear the hood in public
places and is considering legal action against the chain.
"It states in our Jedi doctrination that I can wear headwear. It
just covers the back of my head," he said.
"You have a choice of wearing headwear in your home or at work but
you have to wear a cover for your head when you are in public."
He said he'd gone to the store to buy something to eat during his
lunch break when staff approached him and ordered him to the
checkout where they explained he would have to remove the offending
hood or leave the store.
"They said: 'Take it off', and I said: 'No, its part of my
religion. It's part of my religious right.' I gave them a Jedi
church business card....
Tesco said: "He hasn't been banned. Jedis are very welcome to shop
in our stores although we would ask them to remove their hoods."
"Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda and Luke Skywalker all appeared hoodless
without ever going over to the Dark Side and we are only aware of
the Emperor as one who never removed his hood."
I don't know if Jones has a serious case under British
antidiscrimination law. It's unlikely that a suit like this could
succeed in the US. [2]Title II of the Civil Rights of 1964 forbids
discrimination on the grounds of religion in "places of public
accommodation" (including stores). However, a general store rule like
the ban on hoods that happens to constrain a particular religion
without deliberately targeting them is usually considered legal under
Title II. Otherwise, stores would be unable to to adopt any customer
dress restrictions at all. Any such code would violate the rules of at
least some religions. Things might be different if the Jedi could
prove that the ban on hoods was a deliberate effort to target their
religious group. But that seems unlikely, though it may be that I just
don't understand the true power of the dark side of the Force.
References
1. http://www.volokh.com/posts/1240179713.shtml
2. http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/housing/housing_title2.php
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