These Aren’t the Religions You’re Looking For: Jedi Church, Postmodern Spirituality and the Christian Response

The UK census recently made a splash in the international media, but it was largely sensationalistic, focusing on the identification of many with the religion of Jedi Knight. In a guest post at Timothy Dairymple's blog at the Evangelical Channel of Patheos, I argue that Evangelicals should put this phenomenon in its broader cultural and religious context, and then offer several points for consideration.
An excerpt from the essay:

According to the Office for National Statistics in the UK, 59 percent of the population in England and Wales identified themselves as Christian, 25 percent as “No religion,’ followed by very small percentages representing Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, Judaism, and Buddhism. Those identified as “Jedi Knight” ranked fifth on the survey, and Spiritualist, Pagan, Atheist, and various Pagan spiritualities are represented as well. Significant shifts are present in this data, with Christianity dropping from 71 percent of the population in 2001 to 59 percent in 2011. In addition, there has been a rise in those reporting no religious affiliation, moving from almost 15 percent to 25 percent. The number of Muslims also saw an increase, as did the number of those identifying as Pagans.

Given this data, it is curious as to why the media chose to focus on those identifying with Jediism, particularly since this self-identification has decreased, and there are critical questions about whether this represents a spiritual self-identification for many, or an attempt at toying with the census results.  The emphasis on the exotic spirituality of Jediism to the neglect of other elements of the survey and its broader context obscures the significance of the changing religious landscape, not only in the UK, but in the West as well.

The BLOOM series explores Transformational Festivals

Previously I have mentioned the work of Jeet-Kei Leung on Transformational Festivals. He has recently completed a film series on this with Akira Chan called The Bloom: A Journey Through Transformational Festivals. The description on the website reads "THE BLOOM, a ground-breaking new documentary webseries, illuminates the blossoming phenomenon of Transformational Festivals, immersive participatory realities that are having profound life-changing effects on hundreds of thousands of lives."

In addition:

Amidst the global crisis of a dysfunctional old paradigm, a new renaissance of human culture is underway. Over the course of 4 episodes and 23 transformational festivals around the globe, THE BLOOM: A JOURNEY THROUGH TRANSFORMATIONAL FESTIVALS explores the alchemy of themes that weave a true story of genuine hope and inspiration for our times: A new blooming of human consciousness emerging through creativity, love and joy & an emerging culture pointing the way to a bright and promising future. THE BLOOM tells the vibrant, compelling and colorful story of a cultural renaissance in progress with the artistic sensibility and inspired creativity from which the culture has been birthed.

THE BLOOM promotes the sustainability and evolution of transformational festival culture by creating a shared vocabulary & understanding of essential issues, empowering participants to contribute towards the integrity of the culture and be a part of collectively navigating its course.

THE BLOOM builds a bridge of understanding and creates an invitation to communities and allies with similar values who may find resonance with the transformational aspects of festival culture.

THE BLOOM contributes to the creation of a better world by disseminating the model created in transformational festivals to communities and audiences in many contexts.

Transformational Festivals includes things like Burning Man Festival, so I am pleased to see this research expanded and its significance explored. I would add that Transformational Festivals should also incorporate science fiction and fantasy conventions given that their participants often adopt a sense of sacred mythos, involve themselves in pilgrimage, and many times find an ethic and personal transformation through such gathers. See my previous reflections on this here.