Celebrating the 30th anniversary of the “Star Wars” film saga, fans gather for Star Wars Celebration IV at the L.A. Convention Center downtown. Jasper Manning, 2, assumes the character of Yoda in the company of his father, Chad Manning.
(Mel Melcon / LAT)
The Force is weak in this one….
First we have Muslims crying foul when not allowed to “cover up”; and now this?! Unbelievable:
Tesco has been accused of religious discrimination after the company ordered the founder of a Jedi religion to remove his hood or leave a branch of the supermarket in north Wales.
Daniel Jones, founder of the religion inspired by the Star Wars films, says he was humiliated and victimised for his beliefs following the incident at a Tesco store in Bangor.
The 23-year-old, who founded the International Church of Jediism, which has 500,000 followers worldwide, was told the hood flouted store rules.But the grocery empire struck back, claiming that the three best known Jedi Knights in the Star Wars movies – Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker – all appeared in public without their hoods. Jones, from Holyhead, who is known by the Jedi name Morda Hehol, said his religion dictated that he should wear the hood in public places and is considering legal action against the chain.
“It states in our Jedi doctrination that I can wear headwear. It just covers the back of my head,” he said.
“You have a choice of wearing headwear in your home or at work but you have to wear a cover for your head when you are in public.”
He said he’d gone to the store to buy something to eat during his lunch break when staff approached him and ordered him to the checkout where they explained he would have to remove the offending hood or leave the store.
“They said: ‘Take it off’, and I said: ‘No, its part of my religion. It’s part of my religious right.’ I gave them a Jedi church business card.
“They weren’t listening to me and were rude. They had three people around me. It was intimidating.” Jones, who has made an official complaint to Tesco, is considering a boycott of the store and is seeking legal advice.
Tesco said: “He hasn’t been banned. Jedis are very welcome to shop in our stores although we would ask them to remove their hoods.
“Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda and Luke Skywalker all appeared hoodless without ever going over to the Dark Side and we are only aware of the Emperor as one who never removed his hood.
“If Jedi walk around our stores with their hoods on, they’ll miss lots of special offers.”
Just what kind of Jedi is this Daniel Jones Morda Hehol? You’d think he’d use his Jedi mind-tricks on his persecutors; otherwise, what good is his religion?
A former fetus, the “wordsmith from nantucket” was born in Phoenix, Arizona in 1968. Adopted at birth, wordsmith grew up a military brat. He achieved his B.A. in English from the University of California, Los Angeles (graduating in the top 97% of his class), where he also competed rings for the UCLA mens gymnastics team. The events of 9/11 woke him from his political slumber and malaise. Currently a personal trainer and gymnastics coach.
The wordsmith has never been to Nantucket.
I used to shop at Tesco when I lived in the UK. It’s funny, I seem to remember that the nuts were on one aisle, not roaming the aisles.
This has to be one of the strangest articles I have ever read. I do however think that this is a tough call. Alot of businesses have dress codes and polices that dictate what you are or are not allowed to wear. Further more it is a private business on private proerty not town hall or a local park. it is the right of the business to determine what the will or will not allow on, in and around the business proper.
Sorry but religious freedom only extens to goverment owned properties and community areas.
they targeted him for harassment…
otherwise you’d have to believe that every guy wearing a baseball-cap, every pair of sunglasses, every single kind of hat, every woman with a scarf on, all hijab’s and turbans are also being asked to remove those things upon entrance to the store, every little kid with hoodie’s on too… sounds ridiculous when the situation is put that way. tesco has nothing to back up their claims, or will soon find that out.
m hehol comes off as an idiot, but tesco is a public dept. store and they targeted him for harassment, it’s an easy call.
wow, it’s not like one doesn’t regularly see people wearing “hoodies” – at least in the USA, but Hehol? Couldn’t he pick a name that doesn’t sound like the noise a donkey makes?
Two Star Wars references in two posts. Are you missing Talk Like A Pirate Day already?
Tesco is blatantly biased against Jedis. It’s an outrage! I bet they’re closet Trekkies, because I highly doubt they would have violated the civil rights of any customer speaking Klingon. Bigoted Trekkkies!
The world is going to hell in a handbasket. From under what rock do these loons emerge?