Star Wars: Religion?

[0-hr]

analagram (is that the word?) .

It's pretty close:

amalgam: a combination of diverse elements; a mixture.

 

[Aaron2]

It's no accident that the films don't feature religion outside the Jedi and Sith, and the same considerations make it usually a bad idea to showcase (other) religions in RPG play.

Wasn't there some sort of priest dude who married Vader and Padme?

There is some cool concept art for ESB of a burial service of Stormtroopers that shows a chaplain reading prayers out of a book.


Aaron

 

[Faraer]

Yes, a Naboo holy man appears for about one shot.

 

[Kanegrundar]

The Charon have two fanatically religious sects, one worshipping death and one worshipping life. Check out the Ultimate Alien Anthology for more information.

Kane

 

[hong]

Yea, one could say that The Force is just lucas' analagram (is that the word?) for one all powerful god.

http://www.wam.umd.edu/~stwright/rel/tao/TaoTeChing.html


Chapter 1:

The tao that can be described
is not the eternal Tao.
The name that can be spoken
is not the eternal Name.


Chapter 34:

The great Tao flows unobstructed in every direction.
All things rely on it to conceive and be born,
and it does not deny even the smallest of creation.
When it has accomplishes great wonders,
it does not claim them for itself.
It nourishes infinite worlds,
yet it doesn't seek to master the smallest creature.
Since it is without wants and desires,
it can be considered humble.
All of creation seeks it for refuge
yet it does not seek to master or control.
Because it does not seek greatness;
it is able to accomplish truly great things.


Chapter 51:

The Tao gives birth to all of creation.
The virtue of Tao in nature nurtures them,
and their family give them their form.
Their environment then shapes them into completion.
That is why every creature honors the Tao and its virtue.

 

[Desdichado]

There is definatly religion in Starwars.

Definately? I'd say that's a bit strong. Star Wars is very strongly secular, and with the exception of one reference: Grand Moff Tarkin telling Vader that he's the only follower of "that religion" still remaining. Whatever exactly "that religion" is; the Jedi? Belief in the Force? Either way, it's a very odd claim, and seems to indicate that Lucas hadn't really fleshed out the Star Wars setting as firmly as folks sometimes like to think.

Other than that, there's no mention anywhere else in any of the movies about any kind of religion. Now, if you buy into that whole EU hodge-podge, you might very well find some Star Wars religion references, but the EU is notorious for two things: 1) ending up wrong whenever Lucas makes a new movie, and 2) completely missing the point of what Star Wars is like.

Personally, I have no use whatsoever for the EU.

 

[Aaron2]

Other than that, there's no mention anywhere else in any of the movies about any kind of religion.

You have the "temple" that the rebels were hiding in ANH, Han talking about "hokey religions" (note the plural), Vader telling Lando to "pray", and the previously mentioned priest dude. That's a little more than "no mention".

I too ignore the EU. I'm a Brownian Canonist.

Aaron

 

[Desdichado]

double post

 

[Desdichado]

You have the "temple" that the rebels were hiding in ANH, Han talking about "hokey religions" (note the plural), Vader telling Lando to "pray", and the previously mentioned priest dude. That's a little more than "no mention".

1. We don't know that it's a temple. It's never called one.
2. Good call; I forgot that one. Although that's, again, referring to either the Jedi or belief in the Force, so it's not really a unique item from Tarkin's.
3. Not necessarily a religious reference, although that one's close. I suspect it's just the writer of the screenplay putting the dialogue into terms that are conversational to us. After all, there is a secondary defition of prayer that isn't religious, and I think it fits that context here. http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=pray
4. We don't know that he's a priest, do we? He could very well be a secular wedding authority of some kind.

 

[Faraer]

Despite the weirdness of most people not being able to sense the Force, Star Wars itself is religious in that it values religious attitudes (thou) rather than secular, historical attitudes (you). I think the citizens of the Republic were broadly religious, believing in the Force, but that (as above so below) this faded as the Empire took hold and sunk the galaxy into slavery and despair. The details of this Republicwide religion aren't fixed, because the Force works by being as general as possible. This is part of why making up detailed hard-SF planetary religions is missing the point.

1. The screenplay calls it a Massassi temple, though this doesn't imply religion in the present.

4. He is, as I said, a Naboo holy man: that's from the screenplay.