Whether this is a religion at all is answered differently in two countries.
The Temple of the Jedi Order holds United States tax-exempt status as a church. On 16 December 2016 the Charity Commission for England and Wales refused the same body charitable registration, finding that Jediism lacks the necessary spiritual or non-secular element and could be followed as a secular belief system. Jedi themselves split the same way.
Two regulators looked at the same organisation and answered differently. The Temple of the Jedi Order took a Texas charter as a religious corporation on 25 December 2005 and holds United States 501(c)(3) status as a church, granted in 2015. On 16 December 2016 the Charity Commission for England and Wales refused its application to register as a charitable incorporated organisation, finding that it was not established for the advancement of religion because Jediism lacks the necessary spiritual or non-secular element and could be advanced and followed as a secular belief system. The Commission noted the Temple's own acknowledgement that some followers view Jediism as a philosophy or way of life. The two rulings are not reconcilable and Jedi cite whichever one applies where they live.
Jediism lacks the necessary spiritual or non-secular element, and could be advanced and followed as a secular belief system.
Charity Commission for England and Wales, decision on the Temple of the Jedi Order, 16 December 2016 (rendered)Condensed from the Commission's reasoning. The same organisation holds United States 501(c)(3) status as a church.
The same ground, other faiths
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