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Jedi-ism Becomes a Serious Religion
An anonymous reader writes: 390,127 Brits declared their religion as Jediism in their last census — many as a joke, but some are quite serious, the BBC reports. Cambridge University Divinity Faculty researcher Beth Singler estimates at least 2,000 of them are "genuine," around the same number as the Church of Scientology. The U.K. Church of Jediism has 200,000 members worldwide. Their belief system has expanded well beyond the Star Wars universe to include tenets from Taoism, Buddhism, Catholicism and Samurai. Former priest, psychotherapist and writer Mark Vernon finds real power in the Jedi story: "The reason it's so powerful and universal is that we have to find ourselves. It's by losing ourselves and identifying with something greater like the Jedi myth that we find a fuller life."
As if there were one :P
It seems to me that people without a strong sense of identity are finding something to give them one.
Religion gives people who need a purpose in their life one. Some people find one without religion, others are happy without one. But then there's those that need one, can't find one themselves and for them, religion may well fill that void. That's fine and ok, as long as they leave me out of it, and that includes leaving the tenets of their imaginary friend out of anything that may affect me, be it education, legislation or noise in the form of people screaming I should go to prayer or bells ringing in my ears.
In other words, faith is something lovely, just don't make a religion out of it.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Neither is Scientology a church nor are they are a religion or serious. They are a serious criminal company having bullied IRS to conduct their enslaving scam tax free.
Don't be offended. Lots of religions start out as jokes or satire, before inexplicably being taken seriously.
If you ever read the Book of Mormon, or Dianetics, you will see what I mean.
It could be time to re-label those E-Meters as midichlorian meters, and make a fortune.
It seems to me that part of the attraction of the Jedi story is the juvenile need to identify with a master breed, individuals with semi-magical capabilities beyond those of the general population. It's psychologically understandable in some 14 year old trying to find his personal identity, but sad in an adult.
... faith is something lovely ...
Faith, in the religious sense, is the belief in something without evidence, and the preservation of that belief in the face of contradictory evidence. Some very smart people have faith in a religion and are completely aware that their beliefs have no evidence to back them up, but still believe and act as though they're true. Whether they're right or wrong about the religion is irrelevant, the fact that they're willing to believe it without evidence is problematic – not lovely.
You'll find it quite difficult to find a religious person who doesn't allow their religion to influence the way they act when they have a choice in something to do with education or legislation. There might be a few smart ones around here, but the overwhelming majority will take the words of their religious leaders very seriously and attempt to promote those. It's not fine to allow those people to promote those views without backing them up like the rest of us must.
Faith without evidence is toxic, faith with evidence isn't faith.
According to some westerners who got their hands on Buddhist texts in the last century and decided to cut out what made them uncomfortable. Within the Buddhist tradition, some supernatural element has always been present, even among schools that downplayed anything but direct experience. The Mahayana Buddhism most successful among westerners inherited the entire Vedic pantheon, and in Avatamsakasutra, for example, Buddha ascended to Mt. Sumeru to chat with Indra and his buddies. Furthermore, in the Mahayana tradition the boddhisatva ideal remains, but belief in people who choose to stay in the cycle of rebirths until all sentient beings have been liberated requires that one believe in a cycle of rebirths, which is not supported by science in any way, shape or form.
Any 14-year old with that kind of attitude will have it beaten out of him at the first confrontation with more sane-minded (and healthier) people of his age. A good beating, hazing and ridiculing will stomp out any of his delusions of superiority. Bullying? No: rough and much-needed education.
I dare you to cite at least one solid example that should put me startled into place for assuming otherwise. Otherwise, you're just another one of those holier-than-thou folks with nothing to show for it.
Faith without evidence is toxic, faith with evidence isn't faith.
That makes sense only with this prepended:
Faith, in the religious sense,
But I feel you put those two far too apart.
Faith is something all people have naturally. People just have it.
Religion is simply a parasite which attaches to it. And that can make the faith toxic.
All hope abandon ye who enter here.
The true dark side is Islam
But they won't kill you over it.
You are welcome on my lawn.