A paper presented at the Law and Religion Scholars’ Network conference at Cardiff Law School on 27 April 2018.

An Lanntair (The Lantern, the arts centre in Stornoway) showed the latest in the Star Wars series, The Last Jedi, from 26 to 31 January – including on the Sunday. It was the first Sunday opening of the cinema and a sell-out. But it was very controversial: the Free Church of Scotland has a long tradition of Sabbatarianism and the Revd James MacIver, the Free Kirk minister at Stornoway, was particularly vocal in opposing the move.

After the dispute broke out, the National Secular Society posted an opinion piece on its website by Megan Manson. She asked, “supposing Jediism were officially recognised as a religion. What would the world make of the Stornoway Free Church’s behaviour then?”. Continue reading →