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.
Danial 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 Jedism, which has 500,000 followers worldwide, was told the hood flouted store rules.
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."
But the grocery empire struck back, claiming that the three best known Jedi Knights in the Star War movies - Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker - all appeared in public without their hoods.
Jones said he'd gone there during his lunchbreak when staff approached him and ordered him to the checkout where they explained he would have to remove the hood or leave the store.
"They said: 'Take it off', and I said: 'No, 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 seking 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 to the Dark Side and we are only aware of the Emperor as the one who never removed his hood.
"If Jedi walk around our stores with their hoods on, they'll miss lots of special offers."
SOURCE: Helen Carter, The Guardian.
PETTY WITTER SAYS: *I wonder what the store would have to say if a Jedi Knight was to turn up with a light saber? ** Some may well argue that by shopping in Tesco, Morda Hehol had already gone over to the Dark Side.
8 comments:
I'm speechless, I don't know how to comment on this one. My daughter says that she wants to be a Jedi follower.
We first heard about this man some time ago when he put his religion as Jedi on the census.
I wouldn't worry too much about your daughter becoming a follower, I'm not certain they allow women to be Jedi's - there weren't any female Jedi Knights in any of the films as far as I can remember or were there?
In Denmark, a man was banned from a radio shop two years ago - not because he wore a female attire, of course, but because his dresses were so old and hideous they might scare other customers off :D
Oh, I'm sure a light saber would be confiscated. Unless he had a concealed carry permit.
I can't get Dorte's comment out of my mind. That must have been one ugly dress!!
This is just too funny!
And Dorte, you would expect better taste in cross dressing, eh?
The poor man wore his late mother´s dresses so he probably had some issues there.
I am not sure his dress was worse than that of many an old housewife in the small town he lived in - I am afraid it was just an attempt at discriminating without admitting it.
The only cross-dresser I have come across in real life is also dressed in what looks like cast-offs from the 80s so perhaps they are as different as the rest of us.
Well, I must admit that I can no longer wear anything I owned in the 80s. Middle age spread came and stayed...
Do not know much about this topic. But trying to understand what it is all about.
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