The force not with Jedis’ bid

The force is strong in New Zealand – but not strong enough for a tax break.

The Department of Internal Affairs has rejected a request by the Jedi Society Incorporated to be recognised as a legitimate charitable endeavour, with all the taxfree benefits that entails.

The society was established in April 2014, with an aim of acting as ‘‘guardians of the galaxy’’ and keeping a particular eye on agents of the dark side of the force.

As well as protecting the galaxy, the society said it would promote the Jedi religion, build a temple and try to grow the number of Jedi adherents in New Zealand.

But those lofty goals did not meet the threshold needed to be officially considered a charity.

In a decision earlier this month, the department’s charity services board found that the society did not ‘‘advance religion’’ or ‘‘promote a moral or spiritual improvement’’.

Specifically, Jediism was not considered ‘‘structured, cogent or serious’’ enough to count as a religious organisation, and therefore was not eligible for taxemptied charitable status, the board said.

Jediism is based on the Star Wars films, a science-fiction series that centres around a galactic struggles between the light and dark sides of the force.

In the films, lightsabre-wielding Jedi knights use the light side of the ‘‘the force’’, a binding universal power that gives them special powers.

Jediism as a real world phenomenon gained traction in 2001 after a campaign in the United Kingdom and Australia urging people to declare themselves ‘‘Jedi’’ in the census.

In the 2011 New Zealand census, nearly 19,089 Kiwis declared themselves adherents of the Jedi religion. However, the census does not recognise Jediism.