Jobcentre Apologizes For Anti-Jedi Discrimination

An anonymous reader writes "Chris Jarvis, 31, is described as a Star Wars fan and member of the International Church of Jediism. Said church's intergalactic hoodie uniform is at odds with the strict doctrine of the Department for Work and Pensions, which may require Jobcentre 'customers' to remove crash helmets or hoods for 'security reasons.' Following his ejection, Jarvis filled out a complaint form and within three days got a written apology from branch boss Wendy Flewers. She said: 'We are committed to provide a customer service which embraces diversity and respects customers' religion.'"

Comments

He could have fixed it with a wave of the hand

[spun]

"These are not the dorks you are looking for."

Re:He could have fixed it with a wave of the hand

[JustOK]

I saw a clown car crash once. There were bodies all over the place, laying in funny positions.

Re:He could have fixed it with a wave of the hand

[Colonel Korn]

"These are not the dorks you are looking for."

Not only that, only nerds would get excited about a STOCK response from HR about discrimination, and then post it on slashdot. Not trying to troll here, but HR folks aren't lawyers, and are trained to be extremely careful when it comes to possible litigation. In short, even the bad publicity makes it worthwhile for HR to apologize to this "Jedi" instead of saying something like "we only recognize jedis on active duty, with working light sabers".

That's precisely why it's funny. Of course no one there takes his religion seriously, but our culture forces them to act as though they do.

Re:He could have fixed it with a wave of the hand

[Brett Buck]

I'm by no means even close to being so dedicated a fan, but I'm pretty sure a Jedi would remove his hood when asked to after entering a building, specifically one run by the local government. All the Jedi characters I remember were pretty polite. Also, I don't recall many complaint forms being filled out.

          Why, it's almost as if they were acting like immature twerps and that Jedi is not actually a real religion.

            Brett

Re:He could have fixed it with a wave of the hand

[elrous0]

I'm just surprised that a cool guy like that that would be unemployed.

Re:He could have fixed it with a wave of the hand

[sglewis100]

"These are not the dorks you are looking for."

I'm not surprised he was out of work. His sad devotion to that ancient religion hasn't helped him find a job.

Wave your hand and say:

[Anonymous Coward]

I am not the unbelievably stupid asshole you are looking for.

Re:This belongs in IDLE.

[Anonymous Coward]

To allow the Idle section to remain idle?

Re:We Todd Dead

[mister_playboy]

It could be worse... they could have been Scientologists rather than Jedi.

Chuch of Highlander

[Mekkah]

Does this mean I can carry a sword too!?

Re:Chuch of Highlander

[Whalou]

The Church of Highlander can only have one member.

He would also have a legitmate complaint in the US

[Locke2005]

Under the ADA, discrimination against retards is unlawful here too!

Oh, the Irony

[Stoned Necromancer]

Star Wars and Jediism is accepted as a religion, but using marijuana for spiritual purposes is not accepted as a religion, even though the law permits the latter.
Don't get me wrong - I love Star Wars, but this whole situation makes me a bit bitter. :)

A little extreme?

[filesiteguy]

I generally hire staff that have an affinity for Star Wars - and at least one replica lightsaber. I also have systems named JEDI (Joint Enterprise Document Ifrastructre) and YODA (Your Online Document Archive) but do not insist on Jedi robes.

As it is, the guy was wearing a hoodie, not a Jedi robe.

Seems a bit extreme.

Might not be PC, but...

[Trip6]

...Jediism carries the same credibility as other religions directly based on science fiction stories. Just ask Tom Cruise.

Re:Might not be PC, but...

[pandrijeczko]

And of course the original "Battlefield Earth" trilogy & it's prequel "What The Big Alien Did Before Landing On Earth" trilogy some 20 years later were equal blockbuster successes to "Star Wars" at the cinema also...

Re:We Todd Dead

[delinear]

Not to mention the Emperor already has a job, so he'd be unlikely to be in the job centre in the first place.

Re:He would also have a legitmate complaint in the

[Anonymous Coward]

It is no longer politically correct to use the word retards. I think they are to be called Palin-Americans now.

Which Jedi religion?

[Anonymous Coward]

Maybe he's Western Reformed Jedi instead of Eastern Orthodox Jedi.

Re:Which Jedi religion?

[natehoy]

Funny, he doesn't look Jediish.

(with apologies to Mel Brooks)

Re:What BS!

[Fractal Dice]

And thus began the great jedi schism of 2010, when hoodie fundemenatalists were cast out of the light of the one true force and were forced to found a new order referred to derisively as "the dark side".

In my books, if you can have people this upset over doctrine, you are indeed qualified to call yourself a religion.

Re:He needs to go back to Jedi school.

[Anonymous Coward]

This is not the redundant comment you are looking for...

Re:Fuck exceptions for religion

[Anonymous Coward]

yeah, but churches are for-prophet organizations...

Re:This belongs in IDLE.

[JustOK]

I heard that it was supposed to be a section honouring Eric Idle.

Re:ha

[ryantmer]

Neeeeerrrrrrrrdddd

"Insightful"? Really?

Hard to Imagine

[BlueBoxSW.com]

Hard to imagine why this guy is out of a job.

Obligatory

[unity100]

"These are not the jobs you looking for"

Re:We Todd Dead

[elrous0]

Yeah, I bet he really embarrasses his girlfriend at the theater.

Oh, wait.

I think this is less of a Jedi religion issue..

[RevWaldo]

... than a "somebody really doesn't want to get a job and have to stop playing XBOX and WOW all day in his mum's basement" issue.

Re:This belongs in IDLE.

[idontgno]

That's just an idle rumor.

Re:Fuck exceptions for religion

[JustOK]

> So true.

WTF do you think this is, Twitter?

If you can't add to the conversation, just STFU, OK? Don't be polluting the page with "I agree"s and "So tragic"s and shit like that.

You! Over there, with the seven digit ID. Yes you! This means you too.

True, 'dat.

Re:This belongs in IDLE.

[Anonymous Coward]

You know what that means: samzenpus has access to Taco's login credentials (Or Taco IS samzenpus)