Artikel Jediism: a convergence of Star Wars fan culture and salad bar spirituality )*$+" ,*- !
n the '../ census in the United Kingdom, Canada, Jediism is not exclusively based on Star Wars though. Australia and New Zealand more than 1..,... in- 6e Jediists are also interested in other religions, ranging Idividuals answered the question about religious af- from Christianity over Buddhism to New Age. What 3liation by ticking the ‘other’ box and writing ‘Jedi’. 6at is more, they believe that all the world’s religions share is, they professed to belong to the religion of the Jedi a common core. For instance, they believe that all the Knights, the warrior-monks from George Lucas’ Star di=erent gods in the various religions are really just dif- Wars 3lm saga who 3ght for the freedom of the galaxy ferent names for the same one real divine power which aided by the Force. According to the census, Jediism was they identify as the Force. 6is type of religiosity, where the fourth largest religion in the UK. In New Zealand a elements from di=erent religions are combined and sy- massive /,78 of the population identi3ed as Jediists – in nonymised, has been called a la carte religion or salad certain campus areas more than /.8. 6ese amazing 3- bar spirituality. It is certainly but unique to Jediism, but gures did not come out of thin air. 6e most immediadi atte rather quite common today. 6e special Jediist twist to cause for the ‘Jedi census phenomenon’ was a chainin emaile ma il salad bar spirituality is that they use 3ction to bring or- urging people to report their religious a9liation aass ‘Jedi’.‘Je di ’. derde in their spiritual combination. More concretely, they 6e email was probably thought of as a combinationin atio n ofof useus e StStarar Wars and the religious identity of the Jedi Knight a practical joke, a test of the power of the emailma il medium,med iu m, as fframingrami ng ddevices. For Jediists, the Christian concept of and a political protest against the religious a9liaa9 liationtion tickti ck GodGo d and the HinduHi nd concept of prana can be combined box (even though reporting one’s religionn was not mmaan-n- becausebe ca use both really rereferfe to the Force. And when theo- datory). 6e massive success certainly dedemonstratedmonstrat ed thet he logieslo gi es can be conJedis potency of email communication. BuButt it also reprayer three other things, namely a timeless,es s, juvenile tendtendencyen cy withwi th Buddhist meditation and so onon.. We can say that to subversion (here both church andan d the state could hu-hu - JediistsJe di ists use thet he Star WarsWar s narrative and tthehe Jedi role to morously be challenged), the factf ac t that StarSt ar WarWarss wwasas a ininterprette rpret and domesticate ideas from other ttraditiora di ns. really well-known cultural resource,es ou rce, and the fact ththatat tthehe ExExtendingte nding the salad bar metaphor, we could evene say role of the Jedi was recognisablysa bly and positively religreligious.io us . ththatat the Jediists use Star WarsWar s as the plate on whichw they Especially the Jedi as a religious role model is crc ruu-- servese rv e their spiritual salad.sala d. cial – and not only to explaine xp lain the census phenomphenomenoen onn.. Religious groups normally use one religiousre li gi tradition For while most of th thee census Jedi and the many selfs el f-- (rather(r at her than 3ction) to interpret other rereligionsli through. identi3ed Jedi on FaFacebookcebook (where Jedi is the /. th mostm os t A ChristianCh ristian can for instance acknowledgeackno wl ed that the gods common religiousus self-identi3cation) are simply yoyouunngg of aallll religions ultimately refers to theth same entity, but Star Wars fans,s, a hard core of people are much moremo re willwi ll continue to refer to that entityent it y as God. Why do the serious aboutt theth e Jedi religion. A number of groupgroupss in JediistsJe di ists prefer StarSt ar WarsWar s as hehermeneuticrm en key? 6e answer the English-speakingh- speaking world and mostly in the UUnitedni te d is nnotot surprising. Most JediistsJedi is ts are not only into salad States haveav e organised themselves in religious grougrouppss ono n barba r spirituality, but also longl on g time Star Wars fans. Many the internetrn et which identify as Jedi. Signi3cantly, manym an y of wewerere young children whwhenen the 3rst Star Wars trilogy hit these arear e not young students, but people in their 77.s,.s, (.s( .s ththee cinemas. Religious JJediism can (for many Jediists andd 1.s.1. s. 66eseese people would say that they believe in theth e at lleast)east) be seen as a cconvergence of Star Wars fandom existenceex is tence of the Force. Just like in the movies, ththeyey viewvi ew anandd salad bar spiritspirituality.ua It has the double advantage of theth e Force at the same time as an almost scienti3c enenergyer gy bebeingin g a more seriousser io and legitimate form of Star Wars whichh cacann be measured, channelled and used, and as a fafandomnd om for aadultsdu lt and of bringing some sense of order semi-personalna l divine power with its own will, purpopu rp ossee anandd identity iintont the chaos and vagueness of salad bar and essential goodness.od ness. 6e Jediists also meditate ((llikeik e spspirituality.ir ituali ty . the Star Wars Jedis) to getg et into contact with the Force.F or ce . 6ey do not believe in the realre al existence of Master YodaY od a MaMarkusrk Davidsen promoveert aan de Universiteit Lei- or Luke Skywalker, but they neverthelessve rt he less quote thesthesee and deden.n. ZZijnij promotieonderzoek gaat over !ctieve godsdien- other Jedi Masters as authorities on theirt he ir homepagehomepages.s. ststen.en . For these reasons I have called Jediism a ‘3ction-b‘3 ct ion-basedased religion’.
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