The 10-year UK census came out today, and Britons are required to fill it in after March 27th. The census includes a voluntary question on religion, with a blank for writing in your faith if it's not listed. When I joked on Twitter that my family were going to list ourselves as Jedi, I was deluged with outraged responses from atheists asking me to tick the "no religion" box; this is part of a larger campaign to get people who tick "Christian" out of habit (though they have no faith) to switch to "no religion" as well, as some atheists believe that the number of religious people in the UK is misreported through a combination of habitual box-ticking and smart-alecky "Jedi" like me.

I'm convinced; we're atheists and we will list ourselves as such.

If your religion is of low enough importance to you to that you are willing to put in a religion from 3 good sci-fi films from years ago, and 3 more recent rubbish ones,please consider ticking "No Religion" instead. The data gathered is used to inform government policy, and was used by the last government to justify funding of religious community bodies over secular ones. For example, 2001 census data has been used repeatedly to justify an increase in the number of state maintained faith schools and the increasing level of government money spent on faith organisations. By ticking 'No Religion', you will ensure that the Government receives an unambiguous message about the number of non-religious people in the UK. Any other response may be manipulated into a response in favour of religion and publically funded religious organisations. For more information and further reasons to tick 'No Religion', visit The Census Campaign website. If you don't have an active faith, please make sure the government knows, You are our only hope.

You're Not a Jedi

Census 2011 Campaign

(Thanks, horde of angry, chiding tweeps!)