SUCKS, IT DOES: Renee Lee has a tattoo of Princess Leia.

The force is not with us and nor is the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

Census figures released last week have shone fresh light on Kiwis' religious faith but tens of thousands of responses were rejected because they were not deemed legitimate.

Among those considered "out of scope" are Jedi and Pastafarians, who profess to be worshippers of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

After a public campaign in 2001, 53,715 people declared themselves as Jedi in the census, and 20,262 did so in 2006.

Wellington Jedi Renee Lee said it "sucked" that Jedi were not recorded as followers of a legitimate religion, particularly given it had more devotees than some more accepted faiths.

"Jedi is definitely a valid thing," she said.

"The idea started from a story, but you could say a lot of religions started that way."

Lee has always been a Star Wars movie fan and converted to Jedi a few years ago.

She has tattoos that include Jedi master Yoda and Princess Leia.

As a faith, it was mostly about being peaceful, kind and fighting the dark side, she said.

She and several friends all put Jedi as their religion on the census, although most did not take it as seriously as she.

"I just think they are cool principles to live by."

Craig Thomas, formerly of Auckland, ran unsuccessfully for council on a Jedi platform in 2010, promising to bring "wisdom and balance".

He now lives in Australia, and continues to follow the Jedi way.

He was disappointed Jedi did not make the census list of religions. He said the Church of Scientology managed to get on the list with 315 devotees, and was similarly based on science fiction.

"Jedi is just aslegitimate, if not more so."

Statistics New Zealand last did a full review what religions it deems within scope in 1999. Several appeals to include Jedi were received in 2005 but were unsuccessful.

Broadly, Statistics NZ counts a religion as any set of beliefs and practices, usually involving a higher divine power, that people use to guide their lives, practically and morally.

Political beliefs, such as Marxism, or lifestyle choices, such as vegetarianism, do not make the cut.

Census manager Gareth Meech said many of the 28,300 "out of scope" religions - including beer and rugby - were clearly people being silly.

There were no plans to review the classification in the short term but there was no reason why Jedi, or even Pastafarianism, could not eventually qualify.

But Victoria University Professor Paul Morris, who specialises in religious studies, said Jedi and Pastafarianism still had a long way to go.

While some devotees might be genuine, many treated the notions almost as religious satire rather than a set of beliefs about the real world.

"Star Wars, for all its glory - and I am a fan - is still in a galaxy far, far away."

On the other hand, Scientologists were generally genuine believers in a complex mythology and their church was an established institution.