::shakes head sadly::
Force strong for new Jedi church
Two Star Wars-loving brothers planning a Jedi church hope it will be much nearer than a galaxy far, far away.
Barney, 26 - or Master Jonba Hehol - and Daniel, 21 - Master Morda Hehol - head the UK Church of the Jedi, in honour of the film's good knights.
They say their services will include sermons on "the Force," light sabre training, and meditation techniques.
...
"We printed off a couple of sermons and did a sermon in our house for a couple of friends one night."
Barney and his musician brother Daniel, from Holyhead, help run four websites devoted to the development of the "faith".
They plan to go to the official opening of a Surrey-based branch or "chapter" of the UK Church of the Jedi in April, and hope to hire an Anglesey venue for their own services.
Already six followers regularly meet in north Wales to discuss setting up the "church".
It is hoped Jedi church members will resist Darth Vader's dark side
"My brother and I would hold sermons, do talks and get guest speakers," explained Barney.
"We would read out essays members of the congregation have submitted on their feelings about the Jedi and the Force: do meditation, relaxation and visualisation techniques and a bit of light-sabre training."
Watching the films as children gave the brothers a good understanding of the "faith," said Barney.
"We had a knowledge of the Force from that and the teachings of Yoda. We've read the teachings on the internet.
"Our father is a karate black belt, we used to train with him, which is where we got the martial arts."
Barney, who has watched the Star Wars films "multiple dozens of times," does not wear film-themed clothing in public, but he and his brother would do so at Jedi church meetings.
'Sense of unity'
He said: "My brother and I will wear the Jedi robes, the dark brown robes... the congregation would be in black. Really to bring a sense of unity to the meetings."
Although the current members are all men, women are not excluded, as Barney Jones points out: "Princess Leia helped them out a lot."
However, any congregation member drawn to the dark side of the Force, embodied in the film by Darth Vader, would be advised they are following the wrong path and could face expulsion.
Barney explained: "Obviously, if someone starts to try and use the good force for greed and power, they are going to bring negative interference into the meetings.
"We cannot have the Force disrupted by negative interference."
Gawd, making fun of this would be like shooting fish in a barrel....
"Princess Leia helped them out a lot." - yeah, just like how Smurfette helped out the Smurfs a lot....
Mr. Jane is getting me nan, hummus and samosas! Yay!
The evil kid I talked about yesterday got called up for Jedi training last time he was at Disneyland. They give the kids lightsabres and teach them some moves and then pit them against Vader and Maul. He was sad he didn't get to go against Maul, and wished he had a chance to defect.
Oh! There needs to be Caterpillar cupcake, and now!
Now that you mention it, it seems obvious. There does indeed.
Hey, Star Wars was my first spiritual experience!
Is it any different, or worse, to base a 'faith' on the writings of GLucas than LRHubbard?
Speaking of such, I watched the Tom Cruise video and, try as I might, I couldn't see anything worse in the machinations of Scientology than any other fundamentalist...we know the only way...church.
He was sad he didn't get to go against Maul, and wished he had a chance to defect.
Heh. Awesome!
ION, A cute t-shirt of a cute cartoon rabbit holding a bloody ax: Mr. Choppy
I dunno - I think there should be more blood....
The evil kid I talked about yesterday got called up for Jedi training last time he was at Disneyland.
GF totally wants to do that. She won't admit it, but she always watches wistfully when we're in that area at Disneyland.
Is it any different, or worse, to base a 'faith' on the writings of GLucas than LRHubbard?
Well, the distinction in my head is that LR Hubbard came up with a complete set of religious teachings (or at least tried to). It seems to me the biggest problem with creating a religion out of Jedi stuff would be the paucity of source material.
creating a religion out of Jedi stuff would be the paucity of source material.
Good point by you. But, in some ways, I'm wondering if simplicity isn't adherents' friend.
I think I'll start my own religion. Bartlism! The tenants are these:
Be nice, cover your mouth when you sneeze/cough, think a grateful thought several times a day and the only true evil is okra.
Apologies to okra lovers but you just aren't following 'the way.'
eta: Another tenant...'someways' is not actually a word, no matter what the misleading spell-checkers might say.
It seems to me the biggest problem with creating a religion out of Jedi stuff would be the paucity of source material.
The Church of All Worlds has done pretty well with much less (Heinlein's Stranger In A Strange Land).
The major difference between Scientology and other hard-core fundie religions (and what makes Scientology a cult and not a religion) is it doesn't cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to become a born-again Christian. And if you decide later in life that you don't believe after all and stop going to church, Mike Huckabee won't break into your house and steal all your computers.
