What do you believe?
malenacruz
I've recently, probably triggered by the new Star Wars film, come accross some messages and comments on people's thoughts about Jedi ideas. These seem to be quite close to Taoism, but with a twist encouraging to watch and take control over your negative feelings such as fear, anger, hate, egocentrism, together with a lack of worship and congregational rites... I must say many of the comments i have read related to the Jedi thoughts sound quite sensible and detached from the fact that these ideas have become popular by means of a sci-fi movie intended for entertainment.
I would like to find information on this "philosophy", how to contact other people who also find it interesting, where to get more information on the Jedi ideas (apart from the websites below). Thank you.
5/28/2005 7:11:55 PM
Hi to all,I've recently, probably triggered by the new Star Wars film, come accross some messages and comments on people's thoughts about Jedi ideas. These seem to be quite close to Taoism, but with a twist encouraging to watch and take control over your negative feelings such as fear, anger, hate, egocentrism, together with a lack of worship and congregational rites... I must say many of the comments i have read related to the Jedi thoughts sound quite sensible and detached from the fact that these ideas have become popular by means of a sci-fi movie intended for entertainment.
I would like to find information on this "philosophy", how to contact other people who also find it interesting, where to get more information on the Jedi ideas (apart from the websites below). Thank you.
Allronix1
5/23/2005 8:40:12 PM
Oh, as as for the "religion?" I know a few of those guys. Most are antiest or agnostic SW fans who got tired of people asking for religious affiliation. It appears to be a bunch of old-school fanboys having a good laugh at rhe government's expense.
Allronix1
5/23/2005 8:38:06 PM
I write a lot of fan fiction, and have recently branched into this universe though I write SW stories based on one of the games, not on the movies themselves. Oddly enough, my Wiccan/Neo-Pagan outlook and sense of ethics often make it difficult to write the Jedi. For all the "right" reasons, they still end up up being ethically reprehensible in many aspects. The love of family, the strength of bonds between lovers...it is a Goddess-given gift, a source of strength. Wicca also tends to stress equality. The priest and priestesses are walking the same circle, the Goddess dances with us. The Jedi are all heirarchy, duty. They rob their recruits from cradles and sever even the most elementary of bonds (See ep 1 where they're squaking over a 10 year old boy being "too old"), and THEN they get shocked when someone wants freedom to love and goes ape----?
dplatt
5/23/2005 10:51:38 AM
tongueflap: well, I would agree that the SW toy craze has contributed to idolatry. What I find especially galling is the notion of collecting them, leaving them in the box while not actually *playing* with them. By playing with them, they become mere bits of plastic rather than worshipful idols that need to be revered and kept in pristine condition. (I always lost the weapons that went with the figures and had to replace them with twigs). But SW is just the tip of the iceberg. There are now "toys" for such R-rated movies as Sin City and Kill BIll. Part of me thinks, hey, cool, but part of me is revolted.
NathanGJedi
5/22/2005 9:08:09 PM
I am a Jedi Realist, fully and completely, as well as being a Christian. You can learn more at www.forceacademy.com or www.thejedi.org.
tongueflap
I've only seen the first flick--and I'm perfectly happy to keep it that way.
5/19/2005 9:45:30 AM
I don't know about any deep spiritual or religious meaning behind the Star Wars franchise, but it certainly has inspired idolatry to a ridiculous degree. I used to work in a toy department and hated to restock the Star Wars stuff because I always met with the "dark side," i.e. greedy, short-tempered, impatient grownups who just had to have the first thing out of the box. I've only seen the first flick--and I'm perfectly happy to keep it that way.
danielt
"it binds us" they keep refering to "the will of the force"
qui-gone-gin kept saying u have to listen to the force (phrofecy)
5/18/2005 11:06:36 PM
In star wars the force is very much part of their every day lives"it binds us" they keep refering to "the will of the force"
qui-gone-gin kept saying u have to listen to the force (phrofecy)
strefanash
The Force is impersonal thus is no analogue to the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob.
It is pantheist and utterlynon christian.
And neither is God's agenda a balancing of Good and EVil. Rather it is a complete destruction of evil.
But i do not intent to be such a fanatic as to refuse to enjoy the movie series, i just am not so bereft as to have to use it or any other fantasy (eg LOTR or Harry Potter) as a source of spiritual consolation
5/17/2005 3:56:55 PM
Star Wars is entertainment, nothing more.The Force is impersonal thus is no analogue to the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob.
It is pantheist and utterlynon christian.
And neither is God's agenda a balancing of Good and EVil. Rather it is a complete destruction of evil.
But i do not intent to be such a fanatic as to refuse to enjoy the movie series, i just am not so bereft as to have to use it or any other fantasy (eg LOTR or Harry Potter) as a source of spiritual consolation
Bravo88
It seems there is little in common with Christianity. The Jedi are like a spiritual fighting army or militia not really like priests or Christians.
There is no personality to the Force it is more like magic or being able to exert mind control or being one with the universe.
As a Christian I still enjoy seeing the movies but I don't take them seriously.
5/16/2005 2:28:31 PM
I wasn't Christian when I saw the original Star Wars nor was I acquainted much if at all with Buddhism.It seems there is little in common with Christianity. The Jedi are like a spiritual fighting army or militia not really like priests or Christians.
There is no personality to the Force it is more like magic or being able to exert mind control or being one with the universe.
As a Christian I still enjoy seeing the movies but I don't take them seriously.
Premika
5/16/2005 8:51:22 AM
When I first saw the very first Star Wars movie when it first came out, I knew exactly what was meant by The Force. Though back then, I would have used Taoist/Buddhist terms for it. I haven't kept much track of the other movies, but I probably will see Revenge of the Sith. After all, this is the one where Darth Vader "kills" Annakin Skywalker. And in a way he does. That's the underlying tragedy of this trilogy; that someone with such talent and promise should go over to the dark side. And not from coercion, deception, brainwashing, or blackmail. Annakin knew what he was doing, and the consequences. It could just make you cry.
agapebuilder
5/15/2005 2:47:16 AM
People know Him by different names at different level, and yet the true He is one and the same: the Source, the Force, Dao, Dhamma, Allah Ar-Rahman, Purusa, and Jesus. World scriptures proclaim that only through Him can we have eternal life. "In the beginning was Tao/Dhamma/Jesus, and Tao was with Allah, and Tao was Allah" (John 1:1).
SylverLeaf
The point of "paralells" anthropologically is that the same themes appear in widely separated cultures. This occurs with no possibility of one of them having influenced the other.
5/14/2005 8:05:12 PM
Niels Bohr: The opposite of a fact is falsehood, but the opposite of one profound truth may very well be another profound truth.The point of "paralells" anthropologically is that the same themes appear in widely separated cultures. This occurs with no possibility of one of them having influenced the other.