400,000 British Jedi Can’t Be Wrong

The last installment of the Star Wars saga is out in theatres and the religious press and blogosphere are weighing in on the spiritual influence of the film.

Terry Mattingly at Get Religion asks what he sees as the ‘big question’ when talking faith and Star Wars:

“What if the religion in the Star Wars canon was totally and utterly screwed up, a mixmaster blend of everything that is out there filtered through the Baby Boomer perspective of a man who has no idea what he believes? And what if this aspect of the film is, along with special effects, at the heart of its popularity in postmodern America? What if it makes no sense whatsoever and that is a good thing? Would anyone in mainstream American religion have the courage to say that?”

Chas Clifton talks about what he sees as Pagan in the film:

“What strikes me as “Pagan” about the Force (which could equally well be claimed by other traditions) is its impersonality. Gary Snyder once quoted a Northwest tribal saying, “The world is as sharp as the edge of a knife.” (Yoda: “As sharp as the edge of a knife the world is.”)”

Christianity Today wonders where the higher powers are in the film:

“It’s increasingly hard to believe that the Force “binds the galaxy together” in the end. It remains merely a commodity, something that Jedi and Sith can get and learn to manipulate for their own purposes, good or evil. In The Lord of the Rings and Raiders of the Lost Ark, there was “another will at work,” an Authority worth serving, a Higher Being that could redeem a mess made by well-intentioned but insufficient heroes. Phanton Menace told us that the Force has “a will.” Why, then, do the Jedi not appeal to it? Sith and Jedi?both of them corrupt?seek merely to control it. There’s apparently no Higher Power they believe can save them?not even in the afterlife. They’re on their own.”

Christianity Today is also running a series on the spirituality of Star Wars and an interview with Dick Staub author of the new book Christian Wisdom of the Jedi Masters.

Beliefnet has a quiz to find out how much your beliefs line up with the Jedi, and looks at the influence of Taoism on the Star Wars universe:

“The prerequisite for this is to feel the Tao. You cannot harmonize with the Tao if you don?t feel it or are not aware of its presence. Throughout the Star Wars series, those strong in the Force are constantly talking about feeling the Force.”

Beliefnet also asks Pagans, Heathens, Shamans and Wiccans what reflections of their own faith they see in Star Wars:

“I would say the Force could be analogous to Wyrd, Fate, D?n, etc., in that it’s a force (no pun intended) that pervades all levels of creation, affecting everything without exception. It’s neither good nor evil, but simply is.” – ?ric (Asatru section)

“Wicca is fundamentally very different from the Jedi idea on several fronts. Wicca is not a Warrior path by any stretch of the imagination. Wicca while being meditative is actually more Dionysian than Apollonian by far. Jedi appear to be Apollonian.” – ‘prometheuspan’ (Wiccan section)

CNN strikes a good philosophical note to end this post on:

“There are elements from the Arthurian legends, from Greek mythology and the House of Thebes, from Shakespeare, from the Bible. The films borrow bits from war movies, Westerns, old adventure serials and 1950s Kurosawa works. Whatever its provenance — whether it’s Lucas’ love of “Flash Gordon” or his determined probing of Joseph Campbell’s “The Hero with a Thousand Faces” — the work struck a deep chord with the moviegoing public.”

I’ll let you know how it struck me once I have seen it this week

Tags: Neopaganism