h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Star Wars Episode Now - The Religion of the Jedi - A3897903
Author: Isle - U866506

I had heard about this, but just recently learned the scale of the numbers: almost 500,000 Jedi in 2001! I didn't see a good entry in the guide for this, and I thought it might be fun.

I like it!

It might be worth adding that (in the UK at least) the hoax wasn't so much totally wrong as just wrong in what result it would have. If enough people put down 'Jedi' on the form, then the census bureau would give it its own code - which happened. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1589133.stm

This made me laugh... http://www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/profiles/rank/jedi.asp

So Brighton has the highest percentage of Jedis per head than anywhere else in the UK? Pity the force couldn't keep the pier up...

And doesn't Brighton have a large 'alternative' population?

And a large 'role-play' population?

Is there something they're not putting in the water down there?

HF

Added the BBC news page on Jedi getting its own code, and put in a sentence about it. Also, I noted that Jedi was the fourth-largest religion in the UK in 2001, and added a link to the stats.

Thanks for pointing me to that page!

Nice Entry -- but it leaves me with rather a lot of questions...

'This nonsentient power solves many difficulties of traditional religion.'

'Traditional religion' can cover an awful lot, especially if you don't specify a part of the world where it's traditional. I recommend using some phrase that includes only religions with belief in personal deities.

'One ingredient of the hero archetype is that the hero must receieve divine assistance.'

Are you drawing on classical notions of heroism here? If so you really need to say so; I don't automatically link heroism with divine assistance. 'Archetype' sounds Jungian, but like many people I'm not au fait with Jung.

'Another requirement is special powers'

Ditto.

'The Jedi order and the light side of the Force offer traditional morals'

Arguably it can be taken as read that this means 'traditional Western/Anglo-Saxon morals', but given that you've said above that Lucas drew on sources like Taosim, it may be worth stating whose traditions.

'the Jedi feel that the Force has a will, which guides the events of history.'

Could you clarify how this squares with free will and the Force's impersonality?

'To be in harmony with the will of the Force brings peace and enlightenment.'

Enlightenment to what?

'This option is morally similar to Christianity'

...except that one has an impersonal Force, whereas the other emphasises obedience to a very personal deity's laws. Again, could you clarify how these fit together?

What lays beyond --> What lies beyond

Thank you for the critical analysis. It's difficult to break out of my bias.

How's 'personified deity' sound in place of 'traditional religion'?

I wasn't clear enough that the hero archetype I was talking about was that of Joseph Campbell, the primary influence on Lucas is writing the films. Changed some wording and added a footnote link to a page drawing comparasins between Campbell's work and Star Wars. Also noticed I got the name of his book wrong

'traditional morals' = 'a variation on traditional western morality'

Changed to 'the force has a will, which ATTEMPTS to guide the events of history'. To be honest, I don't fully understand this. It's left rather ambiguous in the films, and throughout the extended fiction the Jedi themselves disagree on this point. While prophecy and fate play a huge role in the Star Wars fiction, the Jedi very obviously has free will, and great emphasis is always placed on the impact of his/her decisions. The most likely scenario is that this is intentionally a debatable point for the purpose of narrative. It's like trying to reconcile free will and omniscience. For the purpose of being true to the subject matter, it's not going to change any more than that. I'm reporting, not defending .

Enlightenment? Who knows?

I specifically said 'morally' similar to Christianity (and many popular eastern religions). It may not be similar theologically (no trinity, no heaven, no hell) but its moral tenets are almost mirrors: Obedience to universal will. Peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfullness, gentleness, self-control. There is an interesting discrepancy in that Jedi break almost all of the ten commandments of Moses, but at those times they are usually in line with eastern ideas of honor, balance and karma. How could I word that better in the article so it's more clear?

From what you've just said it sounds as though the similarity is in the virtues (& vices) generally upheld, rather than the deep structure.

'This option upholds virtues found in western Christian morality and many popular eastern religions.'

Better?

I'm impressed!

This is a good article- I didn't know there was such a phenomenon out there! Do you have any information about Jedi in the United States?

'Better?'

Yes thanks.

No, I don't. I'm from the US, and I spent a while looking around for related census data. Either

a) Jedi never really caught on over here,

b) The government never released information about how many people wrote in 'Jedi', thereby preventing the media circus so crucial to articles like this, or

c) Religion is so much more fragmented in the US than in the UK that even with significant numbers, it didn't make the top 20 list. I mean, when your thrid place religion is only 1% of the population, it doesn't take much to make fourth.

Well frankly I'm surprised that Christian made it as high as 71% in the UK. Going by the attendance numbers at UK churchs, the majority of these so called Christians can only have ever seen the inside of a church at weddings, funerals and christenings. Most think no more about their supposed faith than they do about the fact that they are right (or left) handed.

In terms of the detail of the entry.

Drop the phrase about concentrtions of pubs. It makes no sense. All places where there are a concentration of people have a concentration of pubs. Focus on the fact that it was the pesky students mucking about that pushed the Jedi numbers up. Three of the top four in the National Statistics list are towns with a very high student population.

The second sentence in the 'The Force is what gives a Jedi his power' section reads oddly. At first reading I'm being told that George Lucas read a lot of stuff in his preparation for the Star Wars, and then it feels as if I'm being told nothing about this traditional mythology until I read later on.

If it were me, I would drop the words "of traditional mythology and epic" from that sentence, and then expand upon this mythology and epic that he studied in the next paragraph. It will make the entry flow better.


Overall I found this entry engaging: and that is praise indeed coming from someone like me who thought Star Wars was a dull movie, and is as religious as your average house brick. So well done

Aww, you caught my forced attempt at humour. Heh, I knew somebody would.

I didn't move the mythology information to the second paragraph... instead I rearranged ideas and focused on Campbell's study of ancient epic. That way I don't have a strange sentence about George Lucas randomly studying, and hopefully the uninitiated will get a better feel for Campbell's philosophy.

Other changes:
Traced my Lucas quote to Time Magazine, 26 April 1999. Cited in footnote.
Added footnote links to Dark Empire Comics, SW:KotOR and SW:JA.

Nice, interesting bit of writing.

The only correction I have, in the interest of pedantic accuracy, is that Vader didn't regenerate. Rather, he was "reconstructed." Just a minor detail, and certainly nothing to go on about.

Otherwise, extremely interesting stuff.

He was 'reconstructed' in Episode III (currently there is a shot in the trailer of this/right afterwards') but in the original movies we see a meditation/regeneration chamber where he regularly goes to force-heal. The only shot we get is Vader from behind without his helmet as the chamber opens... and then the helmet is lowered onto his head.

The extended-universe detail on this is that the dark side eats away at anyone who uses it extensively. Hence the extreme-aged look of Palpatine, late Vader and most of the dead Sith Lords. In the ancient times, before the Old Republic, the Sith were practically destroyed both by warring from within and by this drain on themselves. Then one of the last surviving Sith discovered that he could also use certain 'light' powers without comprimising his 'dark' potential... These are now considered 'neutral' powers. So extremely 'dark' Sith at the time of the films supposedly use 'light' abilities like heal to fight against the physically destructive properties of the dark side.

Haha. TOO MUCH INFORMATION. Yes, I'm a nerd.

Actually, those of us who've read enough spoilers to ruin a movie know that Palpatine's wrinkled skin is due to the overuse of Force Lightning against a certain Jedi Master and that Anakin/Vader's bald cranium is due to a tumble into a lava pit. More than that, I don't wish to reveal, for fear of being lynched.

Heh. I suppose the films must be the final call... regardless, both Vader and Palpatine seem to keep themselves alive by sheer force of will at times...

While I'm thinking of it, it is somewhat apparent that the body-warping effect of the dark side isn't movie canon, considering the way Palpatine looks in Episode 1 and 2, as well as the appearance of Dooku in the movies.

Simulpost!

And, yeah, they do seem to keep themselves alive by stubbornness, especially Palpatine, who wasn't exactly a child at the time of The Phantom Menace.

This is a very good entry. Well done!

The only thing wrong with it I could find was one typo:

Unlike they Jedi --> Unlike the Jedi