May the Fourth Be With You

[Limbo]

Happy Star Wars day! May the 4th. Be with you. ;)

Coincidentally, I have been considering converting to Jediism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jediism)! And in the spirit of religion, here is an evangelical plug for Jediism written by some guy that I never heard of before today:

http://weilerpsiblog.wordpress.com/2009/09/24/the-one-true-religion-is-drumroll-the-jedi-church-wtf/

[The True Scotsman]

My view of Jediism, as described by the author of this article (which I assume is consistent with Jediism on the whole) is that it is a sort of feel good, new age religion that attempts to justify metaphysical claims by being extremely vague and "after the fact" attaching itself to theories of theoretical physics. I did notice that this religion has something that is seen in many other religion which is a blame-the-victim mentality (per the "bad things happened to fearful people" portion of the article). Ultimately though, the biggest strike against it is that it gets its metaphysical claims from George Lucas and seems to be the ravings of a star wars fan losing touch with reality.

[Darth Rotor]

My view of Jediism, as described by the author of this article (which I assume is consistent with Jediism on the whole) is that it is a sort of feel good, new age religion that attempts to justify metaphysical claims by being extremely vague and "after the fact" attaching itself to theories of theoretical physics. I did notice that this religion has something that is seen in many other religion which is a blame-the-victim mentality (per the "bad things happened to fearful people" portion of the article). Ultimately though, the biggest strike against it is that it gets its metaphysical claims from George Lucas and seems to be the ravings of a star wars fan losing touch with reality.

Jediism ain't what it's cracked up to --

Hey, Yoda, get away from me with that light saber, you crazed gopher on Crack!

[The Man]

Great, now I’m probably going to have Jedi-Witnesses coming to my door wanting to turn me from the dark side. Well I guess I should be glad that they aren’t those dang Sithists that choke me through the door if I don’t answer.

[Madalch]

My view of Jediism, as described by the author of this article (which I assume is consistent with Jediism on the whole) is that it is a sort of feel good, new age religion that attempts to justify metaphysical claims by being extremely vague and "after the fact" attaching itself to theories of theoretical physics. I did notice that this religion has something that is seen in many other religion which is a blame-the-victim mentality (per the "bad things happened to fearful people" portion of the article). Ultimately though, the biggest strike against it is that it gets its metaphysical claims from George Lucas and seems to be the ravings of a star wars fan losing touch with reality.
It's still better than any other religion.

[Robo Sapien]

I gotta say, if the government went fascist and made me pick a religion, I'd go Jedi in a heartbeat.

[Complexity]

I gotta say, if the government went fascist and made me pick a religion, I'd go Jedi in a heartbeat.


I'd just dedicate myself to the destruction of the government.

[Limbo]

Great, now I’m probably going to have Jedi-Witnesses coming to my door wanting to turn me from the dark side. Well I guess I should be glad that they aren’t those dang Sithists that choke me through the door if I don’t answer.


If you want you can come to me at work and I could lecture you there about how you should turn from the dark side. We could have lunch and watch Star Wars. That way I could use scenes as visual aids as I preach at you. That way I don't have to come to your door. :p

[The Man]

Ah, but how do I know you're not some Sithist lord baiting me with watching the movies then trying to release my anger when the DVD or blue ray wont play? Perhaps you're just trying to make me jealous with some fancy high def display?

The power of the Force compels you!
The power of the Force compels you!
The power of the Force compels you!

[The Man]

Sorry Limbo, that I suggested that you could be a Sithist, but there is much fear in me. My former neighbor remarked much to the same. He was one of the original Sithist lords, ‘Darth Credulous’. Had I followed him, I would have had to destroy him (as required) with the very knowledge and power he imparted to me, but that all seemed just too, well, incredible. As it turned out he was eventually destroyed by one of his pupils, the more well known (these days) ‘Darth Sub-Prymous’.

[The True Scotsman]

It's still better than any other religion.

Though that's not saying much. :p

[schrodingasdawg]

Happy Star Wars day! May the 4th. Be with you. ;)

Coincidentally, I have been considering converting to Jediism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jediism)! And in the spirit of religion, here is an evangelical plug for Jediism written by some guy that I never heard of before today:

http://weilerpsiblog.wordpress.com/2009/09/24/the-one-true-religion-is-drumroll-the-jedi-church-wtf/

Hum, let's see what this site says ...

. . . and there is substantial evidence that consciousness occurs in plants . . .

Interesting. Actually, it's worth checking out the about page (http://weilerpsiblog.wordpress.com/about/) for the site, too.

Anyway, sorry for the derail. On the topic of Jediism, I honestly always thought it was a joke religion, like FSM. I'm surprised to hear people have genuine beliefs based off it.

[Shalamar]

My view of Jediism, as described by the author of this article (which I assume is consistent with Jediism on the whole) is that it is a sort of feel good, new age religion that attempts to justify metaphysical claims by being extremely vague and "after the fact" attaching itself to theories of theoretical physics. I did notice that this religion has something that is seen in many other religion which is a blame-the-victim mentality (per the "bad things happened to fearful people" portion of the article). Ultimately though, the biggest strike against it is that it gets its metaphysical claims from George Lucas and seems to be the ravings of a star wars fan losing touch with reality.

'I find your lack of faith.. Disturbing'

[Limbo]

Anyway, sorry for the derail. On the topic of Jediism, I honestly always thought it was a joke religion, like FSM. I'm surprised to hear people have genuine beliefs based off it.


I have genuine beliefs. But I wouldn't say they are 'based' off it. The Force is a convenient metaphor for psi, and since it's sci-fi it can't be taken too seriously. :p

[Limbo]

A Gospel According to Yoda (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18409014)

January 25, 2008

"Daniel Jones noticed, as did many other people, that more than 390,000 people across England and Wales had claimed "Jedi" as their religion on the U.K.'s 2001 census. An Internet campaign may have driven up those numbers, but the results held a deeper meaning for Daniel and his brother Barney. That census report became their impetus to start the U.K. Church of the Jedi.

Daniel took on the name Master Morda Hehol and opened the main chapter in Anglesey, Wales, where he lives. Another is open in Surrey, England, and they've had calls from would-be Jedis in Washington and Colorado, people hoping to open chapters stateside. It's no joke to Daniel, who was atheist before adopting Jediism.

"We don't have a deity, we have the Force," says Daniel. "It's more like self-belief. If you believe in yourself, and you manipulate the Force, you can achieve great things."

Services have been held in his backyard garden, with plans to move to a building soon.

"The first part of the sermons we do 'Theory of the Force.'" The group then moves on to classes. "It may be lightsaber training, one month. The next month it may be technology and mind control."

Yes, that includes Jedi Mind Tricks.

On our blog, a listener challenge: Write a gospel or 10 Commandments for Yoda."

I wonder if the numbers have gone up much since 2001.