Well, they’re not about to say anything about Islam, you understand. But they are sufficiently intrepid to take on the adherents of a fictional religion:
The government uses census data to determine government policy and funding in various areas, including that of faith-based schools and organizations. The group running the “You’re Not a Jedi” campaign claims that “Jedi” is not an acceptable religion and hopes that people will check “No Religion” in the census instead of saying that they follow the ways of the Force.
“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 campaign writes. “By ticking ‘No Religion’, you will ensure that the Government receives an unambiguous message about the number of non-religious people in the UK.”
Sweet Darwin, but they’re just intrinsically obnoxious, aren’t they! “God doesn’t exist!” “You’re not a Jedi!” “I am intelligent than you are based on the fact of my historical ignorance and illogical conclusions!” And then they get offended when a Christian believes – doesn’t say anything, just believes – that the God atheists hate, fear, and deny does not look upon them with approval. They really are bossy little assholes right down to the core, and it’s the authoritarian assholery, not the absence of God belief, that ultimately defines the atheist.
The amusing thing about atheists, of course, is the way in which they will claim someone whose religion is “Jedi” or has no religion is an atheist, while simultaneously denying that overt and militant self-identified atheists who also happen to be Communists are atheists. Unless, that is, the Communist atheist happens to be alive today, in which case he can’t be responsible for historically killing anyone and therefore can safely be considered an atheist… so long as he is sufficiently obnoxious. The punchline is that these are the people who consider themselves to be the most rational people on the planet. Forget the Jedi religion, it is more logically respectable to describe yourself as a worshipper of Jar-Jar Binks than as an atheist.
Which leads us to the correct response to the announcement, (and it usually is an announcement, isn’t it), that someone is an atheist: “Ah, so you’re an asshole. Good for you. How’s that working out for you, then?”