The Return Of The Jedi
So far this semester, we have studied several different sociological
theories of religion. These theories are built on both the known history of
religions in the world and the cultures in which they originated, as well as,
appropriately enough, theoretical suggestions of how those religions, and indeed
any religion at all, will survive in the future. The theory I find the most true
is Stark and Bainbridge's in The Future of Religion, although I like some
elements from others, like Berger's concepts of reification and secularization.
George Lucas's Star Wars trilogy, apart from being incredibly
entertaining and extremely well-made, gives us a complete portrait of a society
(The Empire) and ...
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tenets and beliefs on which the religion is based.
Jediism is based solely on belief in the "force", a "Universal energy field that
surrounds us and permeates us". (O. Kenobi, SW) Stark and Bainbridge make the
point that any religion based on magic or magic-like rituals is fated to die out
unless the magic can work constantly and consistently. This, they argue, is why
many religions change from promising magic, which is quite verifiable (Did he,
in fact, levitate?) to promising compensators, a sort of unverifiable magic. A
good example of this is the Christian Heaven. Stark and Bainbridge take it as a
given, however, that magic, or abilities that parallel magic, do not, in fact,
exist. This makes an attempt to theorize about the future of Jediism more
difficult, since the religion is based, in part, on the belief that oneness with
the "force" has the ability to confer extraordinary powers to individuals-- a
belief than is vindicated numerous times throughout the series.
The ...
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Dark Jedi, other people are nothing but pawns with
which to attain more personal power or resources. Peace is the defense of
weaklings who don't know how to fulfill their desires. The ultimate goal of the
Dark Jedi is to have complete and total control over the universe. This state,
with the two sides of the "force" existant and constantly at war, might be
compared to a somewhat reified form of Zoroastrianism, in which the two
universal natures (Good and Evil) not only existed, but were constantly being
supported and battled over by their adherents.
II. The Society
According to the many of the theories which we have read this semester,
a religion's success is directly related to ...
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