According to a recent Telegraph article, “Jedi” is the largest alternative faith in England and Wales (trailing behind Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, Judaism, and Buddhism). Many have been surprised by this sudden spike of a faith derived from the popular Star Wars franchise. I doubt that there’s been a massive rise in midi-chlorian counts or a revival of sci-fi fideism in the Force. Instead, more people simply don’t care about religion.
There is a popular narrative in evangelical circles (perhaps the result of the Cold War and the Scopes Trial) that militant atheism has arisen within the hearts and minds of common people—all led by secularist media elites. Although the latter group definitely exists, the average Joe—in America and in England—is not necessarily a bleeding heart atheist (the UK census revealed that only 30,000 described themselves as agnostics and atheists, though I certainly don’t doubt many Jedi are of…
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untaught 