Most Jedi beliefs are multi-cultural appropriations of older religious traditions. Leading a workshop on “Force Theory” at the Gathering, one Jedi called it equivalent of the Buddhist “Qi.” Another Jedi has translated the Tao Te Ching from Chinese into the language of Sci-Fi. The “Jedi Creed” is an adaptation of the Prayer of St. Francis Assisi where “Jedi” is substituted for every reference to the “divine master.” Other sect-specific beliefs, like those of the Temple of the Jedi Order, are tailored to their contemporary sociological climate: opposition to the death penalty and torture, and support for gay marriage and separation of church and state.
Read the rest of Ben Rowen’s report at Pacific Standard here.
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I am a historian. I am particularly interested in "place," the American West, American Indians, religion, the environment, books and libraries, and Christian theology and spirituality. For more on me, see About. For stuff by me, see Miscellaneous and also my webpage http://douganderson.academia.edu.
Among other problems with this, the person who compared this to the Buddhist “Qi” clearly doesn’t know Buddhism. “Qi” is a belief about an all pervading energy force (which Lucas did incorporate into his fictional universe) which is linked to Daoism, not Buddhism.
Chinese Buddhists embraced it, but only as a syncretistic absorption of traditional Chinese beliefs.
But that, of course, is the problem with people who dabble in religion like this. They kind of make it up as they go along.
Yes, John–making it up is not new in American religious history …