Over 70,000 people (0.37 percent of the population) listed "Jedi" as their religious preference in the 2001 Australian census. Apparently most did so in response to an e-mail hoax that said the Star Wars faith could be recognized as an official religion in Australia if enough people expressed a preference for it.
This, of course, is very old news, but I just learned of it today while reading an article in USA Today about another modern religion: Pastafarianism, or worship of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Yeah, I know. This ranks right up there with my recent post about the computer virus spreading to humans. (Incidentally, a technically astute person explained to me today how that might actually be possible. Bottom line: Make sure you've got up-to-date virus protection if you ever have a programmable pacemaker implanted.)
But at least there's a Pepperdine connection here. Mark Coppenger, father of 2005 grad Chesed Coppenger, is quoted in the USA Today story.