If you've ever harbored a secret desire to dress up in a brown robe and run around brandishing a light saber—and then claim a tax deduction for liturgical paraphernalia—you recently had a chance to do just that. Well, only if you live in Australia, New Zealand or the United Kingdom.

A recent e-mail campaign encouraged folks in these countries to enter "Jedi" as their faith on the national census forms. The e-mail claimed that officials would have to recognize Jedi as a religion if ten thousand people claimed Obi Wan's creed as their faith.

The U.K. Office of National Statistics decided to take a light saber to the notion. Census authorities claim that for years, rabid soccer hooligans have claimed their favorite football team as their religion on the forms. According to officials, established religions have census code designations, and the census process automatically ignores followers of faiths like Jedi or Manchester United.

In an official statement, the Office of National Statistics wrote, "Completion of the Census form is compulsory under the Census Act 1920. If you refuse to complete it, or give false information, you may be liable to a fine. This liability does not apply to question ten on religion."

In New Zealand, citizens who declared themselves members of the Jedi religion appear to have escaped scot-free—even though they faced a hefty fine for declaring themselves "Jedi" on the 6 March census. The government in Auckland apparently has decided to ignore the whole thing.

Australia initially took a harsh stance but later backed down. At first, the head of the Australian Bureau of Statistics census program, John Struik, said that anyone who falsely provides information on a census faces a $1,000 fine. Mr. Struik said that, to be recognized as a religion, a formal organizational structure with a belief system must be demonstrated. "If we get ten thousand Jedis they will go down as no official religion," he said.

He said the question on religion was used to provide valuable data so that community services such as education, hospitals, and aged care facilities can be planned. But Mr. Struik said the e-mail might not be all bad news for census officials. "It provides a bit of amusement, and people learn about the census," he said.

I am now wondering if some of my ancestors with undocumented origins may have belonged to the same religious cult. That would explain the missing records.

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