Star Wars & Religion

[Republican_Man]

Approved by Link.

Alright, I accidentally found a link to this thing on my site, and then from there it came to another thing, and from there I found a brief report on Star Wars and Religion, which lead me to this address: http://www.christianwisdomofthejedimasters.com/index.php?cat=1. It is the site for a book about Star Wars' Jedi Order and Christianity, which is quite interesting and informative. The report that I read right before that talked about the Tao and other religious faiths, including Buddhism, that Star Wars is based off of. It's also like the group of Chinese people (I forget the name) that believe in the Chi and keep peace and justice, as is it like the Dao. Plus, many people are beginning to believe in the "Jedi" religion.
So, what say you? What similarities do you see between Star Wars (specifically the Jedi) and Earth religions? For instance, I see Anakin being prophesized as a savior bringing balance to the Force and being born to a virgin remarkably similar to Jesus being prophesized as a savior that would relieve people of their sins while being born to a virgin. This site that I put also talks about Redemption, and Jesus' promise of redemption, which the Jedi support.
So, what think and say you? Please, do NOT make this into a relgious fight and try to keep the discussion BEYOND simply one religion compared to the Jedi (orders by Link).

[Sam Kenobi]

I read part of that book while looking at Star Wars stuff at Barnes & Noble, and it really wasn't that great. It was kind of ridiculously linking seeing God as the Force... I mean, I know that it's all been done before, but the book was supposed to be about bettering yourself through Christ in Christianity and it just threw in some Star Wars words. I don't know.. I might actually buy it just to see more.

As far as archetypal religious views and attachments of Star Wars to religion, I don't think there's much to dig for. That's because it's all on the surface. George Lucas made every one of those similarities on purpose and linked everything together on purpose. Of course Anakin being the saviour born from a virgin came from the Bible. Of course Obi-Wan as the martyr came from the exact same. George Lucas is very into archetypes, and I wouldn't put anything under his ability of a storyteller.

[madlilnerd]

Meditation is a central part of most religions (one man's meditation is another's prayer) and Jedi's meditate.

That's all I can think of right now. Anakin and Jesus don't strike me as being the same, unless you count Darth Vader as Anakin being dead and then his redemption as his resurrection. Jesus never went evil (although he did show anger in the temple when he turned over the corrupt market trader's stalls)

[Republican_Man]

^But what about the fact that they were both born to virgins and prophesized as saviors? That's a similarity, is it not?

[Leo Wyatt]

I think it is. But one thing though. Jesus was born of a virgin and he did all good. Anakin was born of a virgin but he turned evil.

[Republican_Man]

[Hitchhiker]

Star Wars is definitely supposed to parallel religion. Most great literature tells of the human condition and, as Ursula K. Le Guin points out in The Telling, storytelling is what separates us from animals and allows us to retain a sense of identity and history. Star Wars is no exception to this rule.

Lucas, regardless of whatever one might think of him, was very clever when he was creating the saga. As Sam Kenobi pointed out, he is very heavily into archetypes, and he created the Star Wars universe to reflect the ultimate human condition.

There are a lot of similarities to various religions. Anakin Skywalker bears remarkable parallels to Jesus Christ, as others have already pointed out. I see Darth Vader as almost the Antichrist of the saga. Anakin's progression from Darth Vader and then from Vader back to Anakin is not necessarily representational of Christianity, but is certainly consistent with the monomyth process--Anakin's descent into madness, then return as a changed person. This rebirth could be comparable to several aspects of the Christian mythos, including Christ's resurrection and of course the ultimate triumph of Good over Evil after Judgement Day.

If you'll forgive me for a moment, I'll digress (feel free to pummel me with coconuts). Star Wars bears enormous resemblance to the Matrix and Dune. The Matrix was probably partially inspired by aspects of Star Wars, but that's another discussion. I'll point out that all three of these stories are massive sagas that reflect the human condition and do deal with such universals as religion, good, evil, truth, etc. All are set in distant worlds, whether they be the future or the past.

Star Wars definitely has elements of religion in it, but this is by no means accidental, it is all very deliberate. That is what makes the saga so interesting and potent. Even if one dislikes science fiction, Star Wars is still a powerful story of how one hero must struggle against the tides of evil to bring balance to the unbalanced universe, as well as confront their own potential for evil before it overwhelms them. That is why I like Star Wars, and science fiction in general--not because of it has great special effects, attractive actors, or lots of explosions and fight scenes, but because once I finish watching it, I have been exposed to another perspective of the universe.

[madlilnerd]

Star Wars does have some aspects of religions that are still alive today in it. But if you want something with religious parallels in it, read The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.

[Sam Kenobi]

[madlilnerd]

It's also such a great hit because, even though there are casualties, good triumphs. Oh, and they are pretty believable as works of fiction. What other religions exist in the Star Wars world apart from Jedi?

[Sam Kenobi]

http://www.jitterbug.com/origins/myth.html

Here is proof of George Lucas' attachment to Joseph Campbell's Hero With a Thousand Faces. Campbell's book is proof that all hero journeys have the same origin, the archetypal hero's journey. Now, a large part of Campbell's book was written based on four of the most basic and very important pieces of literature, that would be Beowulf, The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Odyssey and The Bible.

There's a graph near the middle of the screen at this website, one that explains each step of the Archetypal Hero's Journey (Call to Adventure, Departure, Initiation, and Return). And now try to fit in the story of Jesus, or any other Bible hero into all of those categories. They fit just as perfectly as the new movies.

So, basically what I'm saying is the George Lucas has actually been quoted that he used Campbell' book as a blueprint for Star Wars. And Campbell used The Bible as the blueprint for his book. Religion is an immensly large part of all literature (that includes movies) through Jung's theory of Collective Unconsciousness, whether you'd like to see it or not. It's there.

[Republican_Man]

http://download.theforce.net/theater/shortfilms/jedipreachers/jedi_preachers_480.mov is a fan film of a "Jedi religious group" in New Zealand. You gotta watch it!
Quite a parrallel and saying similar to what the "Jedi religion" is, I suppose. Although this seems somewhat like a joke thing, but still...