Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Religion in Star Wars

No, I'm not talking about Anakin's immaculate conception, or any of the 'real world' religious implications of the Star Wars movies. Rather, I'm talking about Religion within the universe of Star Wars. Are there any organized religions? Are they all based on the Force?

In the movies, religion is 'glossed over' almost entirely. There is Grand Moff Tarkin's comment on Vader being the "...all that's left of their religion". There is Han Solo's comment on "Hokey religions". And then there is the Ewok's implied 'shaman' and their worship of Threepio as a god. And that's about it. The implications of the first two quotes suggest that the teachings of the Jedi were viewed as religious. This makes me wonder if non-Jedi followed these beliefs? Was there an organized religious section to the Jedi that we never saw? I begin to believe there may have been, especially when you see that the Jedi headquarters on Coruscant was called the "Jedi Temple". So did people come to worship there? Were there smaller temples on other planets? To me, it seems to make sense that there were. Heck, it might have even been the 'state religion' of the Old Republic-one that was outlawed by the Emperor after the 'betrayal' of the Jedi knights.

But then that begs the question- if the Jedi religion was outlawed, did the Empire put forth something new to take its place? To me, it seems like just the sort of insidious thing that Darth... Sidious (hah, get it?) would do. You take the Jedi temples around the galaxy, dress them up in your new state-sponsored religion and slowly introduce messages of subservience and unquestioning loyalty to the Empire. What I do NOT see happening is actually teaching Sith philosophy, because this actually encourages people to challenge their masters and take power for themselves- NOT something the Emperor would want spreading through the general populace. As an “added benefit” you could use this religion to help further persecute anyone who might be associated with the Jedi. In this way, the 'Inquisition' could have a place as a corrupt, quasi-religious movement.

This kind of corrupt Theocracy was presented in one of my favorite Star Wars RPG sourcebooks- on the appropriately named planet “Pergitor”. I already detailed that in another post, so I wont to into it here. But it does put forth a good model for a corrupt, Imperial sponsored ‘church’.

In the prequels, we see some sort of funeral ceremony for Qui-Gon. It is unclear as to whether or not this is a Jedi Ceremony or a Naboo ceremony, but it would seem that this building did have some religious significance to the locals. Likewise, when Anakin and Padme are married, we get a look at what could be the Naboo religion- though again, no overt mention is made of this. Padme’s funeral had all kinds of religious overtones (though perhaps this was more of a ‘state’ funeral than it was a ‘religious’ one).

In the old Marvel Star Wars comics (which I am finally getting to read in their complete form, thanks to the awesome ‘Omnibus’ books), I just learned of another organized galactic religion: The Order of the Sacred Circle. This religion is portrayed to have far-reaching influence throughout the Galaxy- so much so that both the Empire and the Rebellion both respect its neutrality and wish to court its favor to support their causes. There isn’t a whole lot made of just what the beliefs of the Order of the Sacred Circle are, other than they believe in ‘the circle of life’ and revere all forms of life. Even so, I found this story arc to be compelling. It adds a whole other range of possibilities for adventure, and another ‘power-bloc’ in the dynamic struggle of the Empire vs. the Rebellion. It is all the more interesting because it deals with belief and religious fervor, something the Empire can’t just ‘crush’ with its militaries- not without repercussions that might cause MORE unrest than it already has to deal with.

Though never explicitly mentioned in the movies, the B’omarr Order was another religion that sprung from the Expanded universe. These reclusive beings lived in a Monastery on Tatooine where they felt that isolation would help them achieve enlightenment. When one of their order became ‘enlightened’, his brain would be removed and placed inside a droid body (specifically a creepy looking spider droid). Their monastery was taken over by Jabba to use as his palace, but the Monks continued to dwell there, and eventually reclaimed their home after the Crime Lord’s death. The B’omarr represent an odd and insular religion, nothing ‘galaxy spanning’, but are yet another example of how religion can be used in the Star Wars galaxy to create unique adventure ideas, or even just colorful background filler. It takes all kinds. Even ‘brian spider monks’.

The Dim-U were a sect of Bantha-worshipping monks, first presented in the Star Wars RPG module “Tatooine Manhunt”. Here, they were mostly played for laughs through the rantings of one of their streetcorner preachers, speaking of the wonders of the Bantha and the “Age of Bounty” they would bring. But if the characters in the adventure visit their remote settlement of Oasis, you find that the Dim-U are actually quite nice people, perhaps a little...odd in their love of the Bantha, but well meaning and caring folks. A later Sourcebook on Mos Eisley paints them in a bit more skeptical light, implying that the order is just a front for a forgery business. I never much cared for this story hook, however- preferring the Dim-U to be pretty much as they present themselves. Sure, maybe one self-proclaimed ‘abbot’ is crooked, but the religion as a whole means what it says (even if it is a bit odd to most folks).

Apart from these ‘civilized’ religions, it is implied that many ‘primitive’ species have their own religions. The Ewoks have their Shamans and there are many other examples of this in the Expanded Universe. One of the more amusing of these ‘religions’ was presented in the novel “Han Solo’s Revenge”. Here, Solo was hiding out on a remote desert world and decided to raise a little money by showing holo-movies to the local populace. One of the movies (“Varn, World of Water”) became a source of awe for the natives (desert dwellers who already revered water). Thus, Solo accidently began a religion centered around this holo.

So, religion and Star Wars aren’t necessarily strangers to one another, but looking at it from a movie viewpoint, that relationship is downplayed and largely ignored. Why? Well, simple. Religion is a hot-button for a lot of people. In what is essentially an adventure movie for kids, it just doesn’t make a lot of sense to include a lot of possibly controversial religious overtones. Or at least, this seemed to be the fact in the Original trilogy. Anakin’s conception throws all THAT out of the window- and sparked quite a bit of real world controversy. The fact folks in the real world list “Jedi” as their religion also disturbs some folks. So yeah, I think I understand why religion was downplayed in the Star Wars movies. But that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy it as part of a roleplaying campaign- that is, as long as your group is all on the same page and realize that it is just a ‘game’. Again, I’ve talked about being a Christian and a Star Wars fan, and how those things aren’t mutually exclusive. If you and your group are cool with including some kind of galactic religion in your campaign, then I say go for it. I haven’t ever really done so in my own game, but that is mostly just because I haven’t given it much thought. I think my players would be fine with it.

In one of the gaming blogs I read, a fellow gamer had to deal with an odd situation involving Star Wars and religion. Here, he tried to introduce a belief system other than ‘The Force’ and was pretty much attacked by one of his players for doing so. So, yeah… you need to be careful who you’re gaming with before you do something like this. For some it might be a matter of the game not ‘feeling like Star Wars’ with the introduction of other ‘religions’. For others, it might be an inability to separate real world beliefs from fiction and a game. The former I can understand a little. The latter annoys the heck out of me. So, GMs beware.

6 comments:

  1. When I watched the first movie, I saw what Lucas was doing with archetypes. He had mixed in astronauts, cowboys, Nazis, samurai, and so on. When I heard the religious references, I just added Shaolin monk to the list. Interestingly, the southern Shaolin temple was destroyed by some emperor or other for being anti-imperial.

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  3. Great blog, Roland. Being a Christologist and general scholar of religion and mythology (and Star Wars nerd), I am very interested in the subject.

    The Jedi and the Force are religion in the movies, just extremely generalized. Lucas intentionally wrote Jedi philosophy to refer to spiritual values common to many religions in our world. Can you interpret the Force and Jedi from a Christian point of view, or a Buddhist point of view? Sure.

    The Virgin Shmi

    However, to assume that your interpretation is the intended one or the one true interpretation is ignorance. People that are offended by George Lucas "going there" by the suggestion Anakin being of virgin birth, don't understand where Lucas went. It is ignorant to believe that there has only been one virgin birth in the history of world religions. Christianity doesn't own the concept of virgin birth. It actually exists in many modern and ancient religions. The prophecy of a chosen one, messiah or savior is a common motif in religion, and virgin birth is common element of the savior. Guess what? Virgin birth existed WAY before Christianity and WAY before the historical Jesus was born. Christianity's Jesus is just one in a long line of saviors that were born of virgins.

    I'll try to be clear here. Lucas was NOT comparing Anakin to Jesus specifically. Lucas was merely using the very common real-world religion motif of virgin births for his story's savior. The author-intended meaning of his story is that Anakin is the galaxy's savior who brings balance to the Force by destroying the Sith forever.

    You are still free to interpret it in any way you want. You of course are free to follow any religion or otherwise spiritual path you want (or none). But you are uneducated if you think that Jesus was the first and only savior born of a virgin birth and thus Lucas was "going there" by somehow equating Anakin to the Christian Jesus. It is ignorance to beleive that Christianity owns a copyright on virgin birth.

    ...

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  4. Religion IN the Star Wars Galaxy

    The funeral pyre for Qui-Gon may have taken place in a Naboo building that had religion significance, but I read that it was supposed to be a Jedi funeral. Luke intentionally gave his father a Jedi funeral pyre on Endor (which means he must have somehow found out about that tradition). Although I read that the Naboo also practice cremation.

    In light of the the other 5 films, when Admiral Motti refers to Vader's sad devotion to an ancient religion in ANH, he is obviously referring to the Sith Order. The Jedi Order was known to exist with thousands of Jedi Knights less than 20 years beofre that statement, hardly qualifying it for adjective "ancient". The Sith Order could still be seen as ancient if the Emperor himself was not publically known to be a Sith Lord, but Lord Vader was (the sole known Sith Lord any time recently except for maybe Count Dooku).

    Tarkin: "The Jedi are extinct. Their fire has gone out of the universe. You, my friend, are all that is left of their religion."

    Since Tarkin is obviously referring to the Jedi "religion", this demonstrates that he knows Vader's true identity. Tarkin may be one of the few who know.

    The only film Jedi Temple is the one shown in the movies on Coruscant. Are there other Jedi Temples around the galaxy? Possibly. I view the one on Coruscant to be the main home base for the Jedi. It is reasonable that they might have some minor bases throughout the galaxy.

    But I do not see these temples as open to the public. I don't see the Temples as places of worhsip for the masses. The Jedi philosophy can be viewed as a religion, but I see it is a religion that is only open to Jedi. As the guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy, they can't just let a mass of strangers walk around their command center. I don't see the Jedi as preachers or gurus that serve public congregations. The Jedi keep the peace, but not proselytizing their fathh to non-Force-Sensatives.

    Does that mean there aren't any religions based on Jedi philosophy? No, their definitely could be. But I don't see them as being ran by the Jedi. So they may have temples but they wouldn't be Jedi Temples. I think that would invite accusations of favoritism, that the Jedi primarily serve their followers instead of equally serving and protecting all law-abiding citizens of the Republic. The Jedi are equally guardians of people that both believe and disbelieve Jedi philosphy. It is this police aspect of the Jedi that is the primary reason I do not see them as running a Religion.

    So I definitely feel that Jedi philosphy would NOT be a state religion. That would be offensive to such a vast democratic galactic soliety. I see the Republic as having true freedom of religion, celebrating the vast multiplicity of cultures and religions. The Naboo actually have a polytheistic religion, which many modern people (and thus SW galactic citizens) would view as barbaric.

    In the Empire I imagine that it is offical Imperial doctrine that the Force doesn't even exist. No that doesn't explain Jedi powers but extremely oppressive governments don't care about exceptions and contradictions. The just tell you what they want you to believe and you better not get caught disagreeing. Jedi are traitors but also charlatans. Supressing belief in the mere existence of the Force would make it easier to suppress dissention from many different sources. And it would actually serve to make that one Dark Lord of the Sith out there, the Emperor's enforcer Vader, have more mystique which would only enhance his fearful reputation.

    The Empire's state religion? You're right - not Jedi and not Sith. Emperor-worship! The Emperor is the galactic savior. The only one who could save the galaxy from the Separatist Crisis, the corruption of the Republic and the menace of the Jedi. The only one that can save the galaxy from the Rebel Alliance. Not that everyone is buying that.

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  5. The funeral pyre for Qui-Gon may have taken place in a Naboo building that had religion significance, but I read that it was supposed to be a Jedi funeral. Luke intentionally gave his father a Jedi funeral pyre on Endor (which means he must have somehow found out about that tradition). Although I read that the Naboo also practice cremation.

    In light of the the other 5 films, when Admiral Motti refers to Vader's sad devotion to an ancient religion in ANH, he is obviously referring to the Sith Order. The Jedi Order was known to exist with thousands of Jedi Knights less than 20 years before that statement, hardly qualifying it for adjective "ancient". The Sith Order could still be seen as ancient if the Emperor himself was not publically known to be a Sith Lord, but Lord Vader was (the sole known Sith Lord any time recently except for maybe Count Dooku).

    Tarkin: "The Jedi are extinct. Their fire has gone out of the universe. You, my friend, are all that is left of their religion."

    Since Tarkin is obviously referring to the Jedi "religion", this demonstrates that he knows Vader's true identity. Tarkin may be one of the few who know.

    The only film Jedi Temple is the one shown in the movies on Coruscant. Are there other Jedi Temples around the galaxy? Possibly. I view the one on Coruscant to be the main home base for the Jedi. It is reasonable that they might have some minor bases throughout the galaxy.

    But I do not see these temples as open to the public. I don't see the Temples as places of worhsip for the masses. The Jedi philosophy can be viewed as a religion, but I see it is a religion that is only open to Jedi. As the guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy, they can't just let a mass of strangers walk around their command center. I don't see the Jedi as preachers or gurus that serve public congregations. The Jedi keep the peace, but not proselytizing their faith to non-Force-Sensatives.

    Does that mean there aren't any religions based on Jedi philosophy? No, their definitely could be. But I don't see them as being ran by the Jedi. So they may have temples but they wouldn't be Jedi Temples. I think that would invite accusations of favoritism, that the Jedi primarily serve their followers instead of equally serving and protecting all law-abiding citizens of the Republic. The Jedi are equally guardians of people that both believe and disbelieve Jedi philosphy. It is this police aspect of the Jedi that is the primary reason I do not see them as running a Religion.

    So I definitely feel that Jedi philosphy would NOT be a state religion. That would be offensive to such a vast democratic galactic soliety. I see the Republic as having true freedom of religion, celebrating the vast multiplicity of cultures and religions. The Naboo actually have a polytheistic religion, which many modern people (and thus SW galactic citizens) would view as barbaric.

    In the Empire I imagine that it is offical Imperial doctrine that the Force doesn't even exist. No that doesn't explain Jedi powers but extremely oppressive governments don't care about exceptions and contradictions. The just tell you what they want you to believe and you better not get caught disagreeing. Jedi are traitors but also charlatans. Supressing belief in the mere existence of the Force would make it easier to suppress dissention from many different sources. And it would actually serve to make that one Dark Lord of the Sith out there, the Emperor's enforcer Vader, have more mystique which would only enhance his fearful reputation.

    The Empire's state religion? You're right - not Jedi and not Sith. Emperor-worship! The Emperor is the galactic savior. The only one who could save the galaxy from the Separatist Crisis, the corruption of the Republic and the menace of the Jedi. The only one that can save the galaxy from the Rebel Alliance. Not that everyone is buying that.

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  6. You make great points, Will. And in almost all cases I tend to agree with you. Regarding the virgin birth thing, yeah. I never had a problem with it, religiously (story-wise is another matter). But some folks (particularly in some vocal christian religions) DID have a problem with it. And that annoyed me as well. If you look at it from a purely mythological viewpoint (as Lucas did) there are plenty of virgin births- take Athena, for instance, who sprang from the head of her father. Okay, not your TYPICAL 'virgin birth' myth, but still. What some folks don't seem to grasp is that it is a FANTASY movie. Can't you enjoy it in that regard? I mean, nobody is asking you to worship Anakin Skywalker or anything. But then, I went into that already in one of my other posts on religion. I mean, seriously, if your faith can be shaken by a 'space fantasy' movie or a book about children who are witches and wizards, well.. then you must not have a whole lot of faith. Or sense.

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