Over at The Independent they have been looking at the results of the recent UK census, in particular the religion data. It appears that the largest concentration of Satanists in the UK can be found in Bristol. There’s a claim to fame.
Of course it isn’t much of a concentration: 34 people out of a national total of 1,893. That’s less than 2%. But at least there are enough of them to have a decent Black Mass, and now our local writers have an excuse to go all Dennis Wheatley for a while.
Personally I would have expected most of the Satanists to be in London. After all, Satanism is very much a “what’s in it for me” religion. It is the sort of thing that ought to appeal to investment bankers, commodity traders and politicians. But maybe they all registered their address as their country homes when completing the census, or perhaps they refused to waste time filling it in if they didn’t get paid for doing so.
In other news, the UK’s population of Jedi Knights has dropped from around 330,000 in 2001 to only 176,500 in 2011. Clearly Yoda needs to come out against same-sex marriage or something to get his religion some more column inches.
Try asking the following question… what is the equivalent to a bible that a Jedi would swear an oath to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth on? Is it their light sabre?
Try asking the same question of a Buddhist.
Hm… as I understand it, if they do something wrong they know it will eventually rebound on them. What they say at a trial will affect them in the future, either to their benefit or detriment depending on what they say. So in a sense they are swearing on their future.
I guess a Jedi would say that if she didn’t tell the truth then she would eventually succumb to the Dark Side.
My point was that not all religions have an obvious holy book. And indeed not all of them have a very simplistic view of “truth”.
Totally agree… truth, like freedom, has many subtle implications, but is unlike justice in this country, which is based solely on the principle of deterrence.
Hm… these thoughts are too deep for the start of the week…