In the year of 2001, a new religion called Jediism was reported to have over 177,632 believers since the government in the UK first added the religion question to the census question, despite never appeared before [2]. This almost immediately attracted public attention since Jediism, a hyper-real religion, is created from popular culture, and it has a large following like this out of nowhere [5]. In the following blog article, I will analyze how Jediism is an example of popular culture as religion.
Jediism in Star Wars Movies
Jediism is based on the name Jedi originated from the Star Wars movies . Jedis, in the series of Star Wars movies, are portrayed to be the protagonists, the guardians of peace and order. Jedi’s organization in the movies, known as Jedi Order, was established 25,000 years ago according to the settings. If we look through the Jedi Code from the movie, we can see that the Jedi Practice is to detach from emotions, become clear-minded, and become pure in thoughts. Their goal is to protect the peace, acquire greater skill and expertise, and achieve harmony. It is also known that Jedis also use these techniques as the essential elements to enlightenment to learn and use the powerful force of nature, simply called ‘The Force’ in the series.
“There is no emotion, there is peace.
There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.
There is no passion, there is serenity.
There is no chaos, there is harmony.
There is no death, there is the Force.
— The Jedi Code, Dark Disciple”[3]
Jediism as Religion
Although, originally the reason many people put Jediism as their religion in the census is more of a philosophical or spiritual movement, where people refuse to be defined by government-imposed or traditionally accepted categories since it is the first time the UK include religion information to their census for the population [2]. However, it doesn’t change the fact that over 500,000 people around the world write the name Jedi on the census and the overwhelming public’s attention to the “newly invented religion” makes the religion a reality[7]. And by Bennett and Stoney’s first definition of popular culture, that is “popular culture is simply culture which is widely favoured or well liked by many people.” [6], This is an example of popular culture as religion. In 2007, Daniel Jone, the founder of Jediism, believes that the result of the 2001 UK census reflected the voice of people like him who could not find a traditional religion that they felt philosophically or spiritually engaged to. He then saw this as an opportunity to establish The Church of Jediism to help people improving their philosophical and spiritual parts of life [4]. As a result, The Church of Jediism, was founded by him and his brother Barney in UK and the world’s first digital religion is registered. He wrote the holy book of this religion called Become the Force: 9 Lessons on How to Live as a Jediism Master, and it outlines the beliefs practices and the goals of the religion. He define Jediism as below:
“Jediism is a new philosophy supporting the idea of one all-powerful life energy Force that connects all living things in the universe together. Only by balancing our self-awareness with unity awareness in the Force we can find ourselves and discover our meaning and purpose. Jediists believe we are all interconnected and one with the universal life Force.” [1]
Daniel insists that a real-world Jedi would follows the philosophical and spiritual part of the religion shown in the Star Wars films accompanied with their real-life practical practices. The definition Daniel uses to define religion is that religion is a spiritual way of living that promotes moral and ethical improvement[4]. And the word “Church” in The Church of Jediism is not related to the original Christian associations, but is a community of people who share similar beliefs. He claims that it is irrelevant to say Jediism is a religion or not because all that matters to him is whether the Church of Jediism can help people to find their purpose and live to their full potential[4].
In Become the Force: 9 Lessons on How to Live as a Jediism Master, Daniel applies the central idea of Jedi’s belief in Star Wars movies, that is, Jedi does not believe in God, instead they believe that everything is interconnected with one universal force, and the force exists as the life energy that is within and all around the world. The force has a light and dark side, and Jedi always seek the light which is the loving, compassionate, and wise side[4]. Though Daniel claimed that the concept of the force in real life is the spirit and consciousness, one’s belief in the force determines whether one’s spirit ghost remains after physical death or not. This is shown in the Star Wars movies where it is believed that the Jedi’s spirit force remains after physical death. In the first Star Wars movies, A New Hope(1977), Obi-Wan Kenobi was killed by Darth Vader; although Obi-Wan Kenobi was physically dead, his spirit, known as a Force spirit, can still contact Luke and guide him to destroy the Death Star as well as help Luke to find Yoda, the legendary Jedi Master in The Empire Strikes Back (1980). This phenomenon also appeared in the movie The Last Jedi(2017), when the force spirit of Yoda appeared before Luke and burned down the first Jedi temple with lightning. Finally, in the Return of the Jedi(1983), the spirit ghost of Obi-Wan, Yoda,and Anakin appeared in the celebration of victory which clearly reinforced the idea that Jedi’s spirit and consciousness remains in a force form.
On the other hand, “Jediism is a digital philosophy,’’ said Daniel[4]. He understands that Jediists are all around the world. In order to reach out to all followers, he believes that using the online internet website as their digital churche is the best way to spread and connect each of the individuals, and coincidentally that’s a popular way to communicate in popular culture. Thus, the Jedi practices do not require physical church or place of meeting, but self-help is fundamental for all Jediists[4]. The practices of Jediism including peacekeeping, alertness, and the core practice is to help the vulnerable and defenseless people at all times which is a core practice of Jedi in Star Wars Movies. It’s also important to note that Jediism also promotes activities that was not in the movie series, like suggesting healthy diets, sufficient hydration, meditation would help believers improve physically and spiritually[4].
Conclusion:
In conclusion, Jediism, based on the settings Jedi in Star Wars Movies, is in response to this surge in popularity within popular culture. Daniel, the founder of The Church of Jediism, believes that religion is a spiritual way of living that promotes moral and ethical improvement, and church is a community of people who share similar beliefs[4]. In this way, he claims that Jediism is a religion because it gathers people with the same interest, promote moral and ethical improvement; however, it initially is a popular culture because it involves cultural practices that is performed by a large amount of people[6].
References:
AngelikiS [Digital Image]. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.wikye.com/jediism-is-star-wars-the-basis-for-a-new-religion/
Become the Force. (n.d.). Retrieved December 2, 2019, from The Church of Jediism website: https://www.becometheforce.com/
Cheung, T. (2019). Jediism: Religion at law? Oxford Journal of Law and Religion, 8(2), 350–377. https://doi.org/10.1093/ojlr/rwz010
Golden, Chrisite (2016). Dark disciple. London: Arrow Books.
Jones, D., & Francis-Cheung, T. (2017). Become the Force: 9 lessons on how to live as a Jediist master. London: Watkins.
Possamai, A., & Lee, M. (2011). Hyper-real religions. Journal of Sociology, 47(3), 227–242. doi:http://dx.doi.org.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/10.1177/1440783311408967
Parker, H. (2011). Toward A Definition of Popular Culture. History and History and Theory, 50(2), 147–170. Retrieved from www.jstor.org/stable/41300075
Singler, B. (2014). “SEE MOM IT IS REAL”, Journal of Religion in Europe, 7(2), 150–168. doi: https://doi-org.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/10.1163/18748929-00702005
Star Wars: The Last Jedi [Digital Image]. (2017). Retrieved from http://www.bergoiata.org/fe/divers28/10.htm
Stack Exchange [Digital Image]. (2016). Retrieved from http://www.bergoiata.org/fe/divers28/10.htm
[1] Become the Force 2019
[2] Cheung 2019
[3] Golden 2016
[4] Jones & Francis-Cheung 2017
[5] Possamai & Lee 2011
[6] Parker 2011
[7] Singler 2014
