religion and star wars

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Page 1: Religion and Star Wars
Page 2: Religion and Star Wars

Outline

• Religion in Star Trek and Star Wars

• Understanding Western Buddhism

• Mythology of Star Wars• Buddhist Concepts in Star Wars• Star Wars Fandom

Page 3: Religion and Star Wars

Religion in Star Trek and Star Wars

• Roddenberry and Lucas raised Protestant– Lucas shaped by near-fatal car crash– Roddenberry shaped by Father

• Star Trek– Enlightened Secular Humanist Worldview– Utopian Future– Science over miracles

• Star Wars– Not future, but distant past– Technology part of every day life– “The Force” a universal principle– Jedi Order as institutional religion

Page 4: Religion and Star Wars

Buddhism• Basics of Buddhism– Siddhartha Gautama– Four Noble Truths– Eight Fold Path

• Zen Buddhism– Bodhidharma– Ch’an / Zen – Buddha-Nature– Zazen “sitting meditation”– Koans “paradoxical riddles”– Enlightenment as satori

Page 5: Religion and Star Wars

Western Buddhism• 10th and 11th Century Catholic Saints Barlaam

and Josaphat – Christian story of Gautama

• Thirteenth Century– Crusades contacted with Asian countries– Jesuits began missionizing– Protestant Merchants

• Enlightenment (17th and 18th Century)– Intellectuals breaking free from Catholic Church– Seek rational analysis for empirical data– Religion understood as culturally relative– Rationale to study of other religions like Buddhism– Collection, translation and study of Buddhist texts

• 18th and 19th Century– Buddhist studies continued to secure colonial rule

and add to body of knowledge

Page 6: Religion and Star Wars

Western Buddhism Cont’d

• 20th Century– Study of Buddhology in 1965

University of Wisconsin• Buddhism co-opted by composers,

psychologists, writers• Buddhism was a means to heal the

rift between science and religion• Buddhism could be stripped of its

cultural layers • Understood as a “scientific

religion”• Buddhist missionizing uses

rationalism as central message

Page 7: Religion and Star Wars

Mythology of Star Wars

• Lucas incorporates Campbell’s “The Hero’s Journey”

• Hero, Luke, passes threshold• Protective Figure, Old Ben, helps Luke• Luke leaves for adventure• Luke’s destiny is to become a Jedi Knight • Encounters threshold guardians, sand

people, stormtroopers, aliens• Belly of the Whale, Heroes enter into

Death Star• Meeting with the Goddess, rescuing

Princess Leia and Vader striking down Obi Wan

• Hero reaches apotheosis, Luke escapes with the plans to the Death Star

• Crossed the Threshold, Luke destroys the Death Star

Page 8: Religion and Star Wars

Buddhist Concepts in Star Wars• The Force as Ch’i (Chinese) or Ki

(Japanese) which is life energy – Incorporated into Japanese Sword fighting

(Kendo) which was strongly influenced by Zen Buddhism

• Ch’i possess both positive (Yang) and negative (Yin) aspects found in Jedi and Sith

• Yoda disguised as hermit– Japanese tradition foxes disguise

themselves as Buddhist nuns to lure people away

• Meditation Practices– Core practice in Zen Buddhism as Zazen

Meditation Qui Gon Jinn and Yoda shown as meditating

• Koans – Yoda’s speech and teaching is reminiscent

to paradoxical riddles

Page 9: Religion and Star Wars

Star Wars Fandom• 70,000 Australians and 390,000

Britons recorded themselves as Jedi on census

• Steady decline in Australian religion• Changing religious landscape due

to diversity of beliefs• Despite the numbers governments

did not make Jediism an official religion– Did not have a belief in the

supernatural, thing or principle– No acceptance of canons of conduct

to give effect to belief

Page 10: Religion and Star Wars

Star Wars Fandom Cont’d

• However, “The Force” could be understood as Principle of Belief

• “The Jedi Oath” could be an acceptance of a canon

• Based upon these two criteria, Jediism could be a religion

Page 11: Religion and Star Wars

Star Wars Fandom Cont’d

• NRM are symptom of shift from collective-expressive (Church) to individually-expressive

• Modern society is not irreligious or anti-religious but belief is under less control by religious organizations

• People are making religious choice based on mediated information that fits their requirements

Page 12: Religion and Star Wars

Jediism

• The Jedi Code transcends racial, class, gender boundaries and promotes universal values

• Jedi are guardians of peace and justice throughout the world

• Jedi defend and protect and do not attack others

• Jedi respect life in all forms• Jedi seek to improve themselves through

knowledge and wisdom• Jediism and the Bible correlate with each

other