Worship!

December 26th, 2015| Topic: RaMbLeS | 0

Star Wars: The Force Awakens has been doing incredibly well in the box office. They expect the second weekend of its opening to generate about $160 million. This Disney film is now the fastest to have crossed the $500 million mark—in just 10 days (Jurassic World took 17). Unless something unexpected happens, Star Wars: tFA is destined to top Avatar to become the biggest-grossing movie in the U.S. ever, crossing $1 billion this weekend.

But this hit has had an impact on another industry as well. Apparently the Church of Jediism is signing up more than a thousand new members a day, as Star Wars: tFA plays.

Yup, there actually is a church by that name. It all apparently began as a joke in the 2001 U.K. censuses, when about 400,000 people declared they were Jedis.

[For those not in the know, the Jedi is an ancient order that dates back to 25,000 BBY (before the Battle of Yavin—the destruction of the first Death Star). They serve others through good deeds and carry the traditional weapon, the lightsaber.]

The Church of Jediism is now a “nontheistic religious movement”—a religion minus god. Instead, they believe in the Force, “a unifying energy, which everything exists within, around and always returns to.”

Daniel Jones, aka Morda Hehol (his Jedi name), who founded the institution (with his brother, Barney), noted:

We’ve been rushed off our feet. People want to know more about it. It’s great for us. I think people are shying away from traditional religion because it doesn’t reflect their views. We’ve got no problem with homosexuality or anything like that. We are very accepting.”

Among other ideas, Jediism’s creed proclaims:

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.”

To their credit, they don’t believe the Star Wars films to be real.

Although Jediism was inspired by the beliefs of the fictional Jedi, we do not believe the Star Wars films—they are entirely fictional.”

In any case, this religion calls on you to meditate:

Our minds are like sponges, which soak up information daily. In order to keep our minds ‘clean,’ we must ‘rinse’ them of negative Force.”

But since Jediism is nontheistic, as far as G/god is concerned, you can take him or leave him.

There are no strict rules in Jediism, as we believe in freedom and so joining the Church of Jediism would not pose any restrictions on your life.”

So there you have it: Jediism. Sign up to the group’s online newsletter and complete a ten-part training course, and you can be a Jedi, too, a card-carrying member of the Church of Jediism.

But the Bible says:

“I am the LORD your God ….
You shall have no other gods before Me.
You shall not make for yourself an idol,
or any likeness of what is in heaven above
or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.
You shall not worship them or serve them;
for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God.”
Exodus 20:2–5

So …

All creation, join in praising
God the Father, Spirit, Son,
Evermore your voices raising,
To th’eternal Three in One:
Come and worship, come and worship
Worship Christ, the newborn King.

Angels from the realms of glory,
Wing your flight o’er all the earth;
Ye who sang creation’s story
Now proclaim Messiah’s birth.
Come and worship, come and worship,
Come and worship, Christ the newborn king.
James Montgomery, 1816