May the Force be with you: STAR WARS

and religion 

To my mother, the person who was very proud of me and who believed in me since the

beginning

  

Index

Introduction
1. The Force
1.1 The Living Force
1.2 The Unifying Force
1.3 The Jedi
1.4 The Sith
2. Buddhism
2.1 The Force and Buddhism
2.2 The Light-side and Buddhism
2.3 The Dark-side and Buddhism
3. Christianity
3.1 The Force and Christianity
3.2 The Light-side and Christianity
3.3 The Dark-side and Christianity
Conclusion
Bibliography
Introduction

A long time ago, in a cinema far, far away… Star Wars hit theaters and the whole

world was astonished. Not only was one of the best, most original and successful franchises

of all time born that day, but the history of cinema changed since then: the Narrative was

improved, the characters were unmistakable, the story was epic and the effects had no

comparison whatsoever. With no doubt about it, Star Wars changed the world and George

Lucas (the director) became one of the highly viewed directors in cinema. Something to

keep in mind, as a main factor in the Star Wars saga, is the Force: the magical and

revolutionary aspect that developed credibility to the Star Wars universe, by giving it a

religion and mythos, thus making it a relatable world to be immerse in. I remember when I

saw my first Star Wars movie and, since then, I was in love with the franchise; later on, I

got intrigued in mythology and in religion, because I liked the stories they told. At the time

this work came to my hands, I was sure I needed to combine this two themes together; still,

the real reason I did this essay, was because my mother died when I began to write, at that

point, I looked for wisdom, and I found it in my love for mythos and fictional stories. I had

faith in the Force, a fictional creation, more than in any religion, and that surprised me. For

that reason, this text will be a comparison between the Force and the world’s two major

religions (Buddhism and Christianity), with the urge to find if a fictional work can relate to

our real world, in the same manner religions do. First of all, the Force will be explained, so

that the reader can learn more on the subject; then, the similarities and differences between

the Force and Buddhism will be explained, after a little summarize of this religion’s ideals;

later on, Christianity will come to comparison with the Force, in the same process as it was

presented with the previous religion; and finally, the reader will come to a conclusion to the
whole text, in which will be confirmed if the fictional work of George Lucas can be as real

as our believes.

1. The Force

What makes Star Wars different as a franchise? Is it the setting? No, because the space

fantasy genre and science fiction genre had already been done: Flash Gordon, James

Cameron’s Avatar, Star Trek, Star Gate, and so on. Is it maybe the characters? Some

characters are unique in its own way and are a lot of fun to watch. But the real reason is

The Force. For the first time Ben Kenobi (the old man, exiled Jedi and new master of the

protagonist in Star Wars episode IV) spoke about the Force, the whole universe changed

forever. The introduction of some iconic religion makes the world vast, unique and special

as it is; by giving its one myths, the universe begins to be more similar to our own, making

it more reliable and real. Nonetheless, what is the Force? The Force is an energy field

created by all living things; it penetrates us and binds the universe together. This magic

essence is divided in two aspects by their followers: The living Force, the energy of life,

that binds every living thing with each other; and the unifying Force, the cosmic power that

maintains time and space together in the universe and sustains reality itself. The users of the

Force (or “Force-users”) are mainly separated into two sects, guided either by the light side

of the Force (the “good-one”) or the dark side (the “bad-one”): The Jedi Order (light side)

and the Sith (dark side); the existence of a third sect, namely the gray Jedi (both dark and

light side followers) are well known in the Star Wars mythos, but they won’t be addressed

in this text, except if it’s for vital information.

1.1     The Living Force

The first face of the Force is the living Force. The living Force is well known for the

Force-users as: “The life energy tingling around you when you pass among plants and

animal in a walk through a jungle.” (Wallace, The Jedi Path , 2012, pág. 23). This life

energy becomes a tool for the user, giving him the ability to sense living beings around

him, she can feel their presence and know their feelings; it is the maximum link between

life and its host, but it can’t connect with every entity. The existence of non-biologic

individuals in the Star Wars universe is a fact, such individuals (or “things” for some) are

known as robots, androids and every other electric machine with the ability to talk and

“think”; such kind of humanoids cannot connect with the living Force, because they cannot

produce it, they are synthetic beings created by civilizations; “they lack in the Force” are

what the followers of the sects affirm, whereas creatures and people produce biologic life

and this is the Living Force. The living Force gifts the user with many more powers and

abilities to use which go from healing another, to mind-control another and even injure

him/her; the choice of using this abilities in an unethical way, depends on the user and his

believes. In a religious point of view, it is the great spiritual connection with this greater

entity: life in a spiritual specter. By being connected to it, we are all connected; through it,

we are all the same:

Life creates it (The Force), makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminous

beings are we, not this crude matter. You must feel the Force around you; here, between

you, me, the tree, the rock, everywhere, yes. (Lucas, 1980).

This is what Master Yoda, the wisest character in the films and in the Star Wars

universe, explains; here he presented the origins of the Living Force in a more fantastical
and mystical way, where being alive produces this powerful energy, which binds

everybody, as previous said to death. By producing our own state of being alive, we are

magnificent, we are brilliant, we have power, we are one, we are luminous beings;

everybody is the same and all living things are stars, glowing brightly, by only doing what

they do in a passive, unconscious way. By being alive, we create this mystical matter in the

universe called The living Force.

1.2     The Unifying Force

The second face of the Force is the Unifying Force:

The Unifying Force is a vast cosmic power. […]The Unifying Force is the stars and

galaxies the rippling surface of space and time. It is the voice that whispers of your destiny,

and makes no mistake- the Force does have a will. (Wallace, The Jedi Path , 2012, pág. 24).

This is the manifestation of existence itself; time and space are maintained by this

aspect of the Force. Literally this is the mantel that sews the cosmos together and gives the

users visions of the future or the past. Is still a mystery. The origin of this aspect or how it

works, however, it is the omnipotent part of the Force itself; the “will of God”, for some. In

comparison to the Living Force, The Unifying Force does not connect with everybody, just

to those who stop to listen or to the individuals who are important in the rivers of time. The

Force-users bend the space around them, they receive powers from the Unifying Force such

as: moving objects, throwing things, shaping the environment, changing flows of energy in

a place (from a calm one to a stormy one) and allot more, especially meditating for the

visions of future and past. For the spiritual view of this text, this face of the Force is the
mysterious almighty “power” which created this ever expanding place called the universe,

and let us play in it as we please; from time to time, this “power” speaks to us, with us and

through us; also, gives us the ability to share a minimum of the will of the cosmos. Even so,

it’s the most powerful aspect of the Force, not because of the power of the universe, but for

the magic that comes from the unknown; the unknown of the mask that this face still holds.

1.3     The Jedi

Not many are chosen by the Force, but the individuals who are, can lay their future into

one of two (sometimes three) sides. The popular side is the light side. The biggest and most

ancient sect. The followers of the light side are the Jedi, the guiders and priests of the Jedi

Order. The light side’s teachings are of preserving life, establishing harmony between

peoples and reaching every solution through logic, wisdom and knowledge; the Jedi

preserve these holy teachings as its main objectives in the galaxy. The brighter path is well

known as the hardest, because (as will be later addressed) giving in to the dark-side isn’t

difficult, but, wouldn’t be wiser walking through the rougher road and learn from every

bump, than running by the shortest road and not to trip at all? The Jedi are always learning

from life, the Force and themselves. The Order’s main philosophy is written and preserved

as the following:

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. (Wallace, The Jedi Path , 2012, pág. 7)

This ideals show how, for a Jedi, the emotions guide to a darker path; passion and

emotions, such as anger, hatred and fear, can blind the mind and lead it to suffering: “Fear

is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to

suffering.” (Lucas, STAR WARS: Episode III The Revenge of the Sith, 2005). And this

belief has some true in it; being controlled by anger, fear, sadness and even love, can

deceive the image of reality and result emptier as expected. The Initiates of the Order must

train their minds and learn to be self-disciplined, so that the Initiate would not drown

himself in the arrogance, the overconfidence, the fear, the anger and the hate that drives to

the dark side. All the paths to a darker place in the soul, can be avoided through knowledge,

whereas ignorance lies with fear, the first step of the going-down ladder; that is why the

Force-users must study the different elements in the galaxy, so that no exterior is evil for

them. Serenity is essential for the soul of a Jedi, it is the state of mind that lets the soul

connect with the surroundings, in other words, with the Force; it is the reason why there can

be no passion in the life of a Jedi, because of the lack of calm it produces and, as previous

said, a peaceful way of life has to be obtained. Of course, harmony is the maximum level to

be achieved to learn from the Force; furthermore, the reality, life and the universe having

an harmonious order is part of the ideals, because the Jedi philosophy does not only teach

about the spirit, but also of the universe we live in. There is no chaos in the cosmos,

however, many see no point at all and just pure rampage from star to star, the human

perspective is the only there is for us, still, could be wrong in the eyes of another being; if

this affirmation is correct, then the Jedi meanings are ones of truly wisdom. Finally, when
harmony is obtained and the last barrier has been passed, death itself becomes an illusion,

the Jedi transcends into a ghost made purely of energy: he becomes one with the Force, for

as luminous beings we are and with the energy that binds us, we connect. Without a doubt,

the light side followers must respect and guide themselves by the Jedi Code, for the code

establishes a brick between the Sith-path and the Jedi path, for the sake of the galaxy:

Jedi are the guardians of peace in the galaxy.

Jedi use their powers to defend and protect, never to attack others.

Jedi respect all life, in any form.

Jedi serve others rather than ruling over them, for the good of the galaxy.

Jedi seek to improve themselves through knowledge and training. (Cerasini, 1999)

Here we can see other principles of this guardians. They are just, honorable and

altruistic, all this beliefs have given the Order the reason to be the guardians of truth, justice

and good throughout the galaxy. To carry on this gigantic responsibility, the Order

designed a way of teaching their Initiates (it won’t be explained all about the Jedi Order in

this work, just a little summary, so that the readers who haven’t seen Star Wars, can

understand some themes that would be addressed later): every young creature with some

affinity to the Force, will be trained alongside their equals in the three pillars of the Jedi;

later the Initiate will be given the rank of Padawan and she will be given to a tutor, so that

the Padawan learns other varies ways, while exploring the different culture he has to

protect; later on, the Padawan will pass the Knighthood trails, in order to be granted the

rank of Jedi Knight; after some time as a Knight, the Jedi will teach an apprentice, a

Padawan, and if the apprentice achieves Knighthood, the former Knight becomes a Jedi

Master. So is the system of the proclaimed warriors of balance. Even though, here is a very

specific rule missing: The Jedi can’t have any loving relationship, because a Jedi serves
everybody, not a few; also, a compromise to another being suggests that emotions are

involved, resulting in a pathway to the dark side; however, a Jedi makes a huge bound to

other individuals throughout their lives and training, those being his master and his later

apprentice; recognizing this statement, it could be said that the “no-relationship” rule is, in

a way, hypocritical, but, as everything else, it has some true in it: having a love one, can

lead to the fear of losing this person, for this reason the dark side starts breeding in one’s

mind and that is the main reason this rule has been written. Whereas, New Jedi Order, built

from scratch by Grand Master Luke Skywalker (the main protagonist in the Star Wars

original trilogy), states that relationships are important for a Jedi, as relationships

strengthen good emotions, like courage, happiness, love and joy, and those are diamonds of

life, which fuel the power of a Jedi; although, the Jedi must learn to control this emotions,

in order to refuse the dark side and losing control on himself.

1.4 The Sith

For every yin there has to be some yang, consequently the Jedi have their

counterpart, literally their biggest threats and mortal enemies, the Sith. The dark side of the

Force is well known to be the stronger and easiest side to be in, that is half true, for both

sides are equally strong, but the dark side is fueled by emotions and the individual desires,

that creates an instinctive control in the Force, in other words, a short-cut to gain power,

therefore it is quicker. The dark side teaches of achieving all what your soul desires, any

means necessary; because Sith want to accomplish their wishes, is the reason why the dark
side teaches of individuality, for only him is important to himself and nothing else matters;

even though, if his wishes are to another person, someone near his hearth, the desires and

the emotions will be what impulses the need of reaching a higher power to accomplish his

passionate desires. This face of the Force represents the beast in every being, because every

individual hungers for more, even the pure of heart wants something in his life to be better,

which is the reason why the dark side is so tempting. Nothing expresses better the meaning

of being a Sith, than the Sith Code:

Peace is a lie. There is only passion.

Through passion I gain strength.

Through strength I gain power.

Through power I gain victory.

Through victory my chains are broken.

The Force shall free me. (Wallace, Book of Sith, 2012).

Inspired by the Jedi Ideals, the Sith created their own anthem, which shows their

lust for power and passion, even the jailed beast in their interior, the wild animal in the

mortal soul, who aspires freedom in any form. The Sith philosophy teaches about the only

order in the galaxy: disorder. The Jedi believe that the galaxy is harmonious, but the Sith

respond that there can be no order, for nature is chaotic and uncertain, for that reason the

sense of order was created when the civilization began; we created order by living in cities,

therefore this order isn’t compatible with nature, so harmony cannot be achieved as the Jedi

want. The practice of the Sith believes is a double sided blade, in which the student grows

stronger and hungrier, in most cases the hunger is greater than obtained, even so, the dark

side feeds on her user, but giving abilities in return, however, the dark side gives less and

eats more every time. From a more philosophical point of view, the dark side represents the
instinct and the crude reality of wisdom, knowing that only oneself matters and every other

thing doesn’t; moreover, the only way a Sith can achieve all their desires is through the

Force, the maximum power in the galaxy.

If the Jedi have their form of organizing, the Sith have their own. The Sith were a

great empire, but an empire full of back-stabbers and false, arrogant, egocentric and

dangerous killers can’t stay in one piece for long; surprisingly it lasted for over a thousand

years, if the fights over control weren’t consecutive, the empire would last for over more

years; but it came a time, were a Sith had exterminated all other Sith, and he created a new

regime: The Rule of Two. This new way of preserving the teachings of the dark side is

simple, there is only two persons: The master and the apprentice. The master teaches the

apprentice everything he knows, until the apprentice is stronger enough to kill the master;

then, the apprentice searches for a student and he becomes the new master, so that the

student magnifies their abilities and kills his master. The result of this cycle is the

perfection of the dark side tactics; there will be an even stronger Sith, that replaces the

previous one. The cycle of the Rule of Two will end, once the Sith rule the galaxy as in

their golden days. This ideal of producing the most powerful Sith, can be seeing as a strict

form of preservation and perfection; it is evolution. The Lord, who created this method, is

Darth Bane, also the one who exterminated the rest of the Sith from existence. Furthermore,

his philosophy goes straight to the point, it is violent and crude, but delicious as well and

even true, for some:

Equality is a lie… A myth to appease the masses. Simply look around and you will see the

lie for what it is! There are those with power, those with the strength and will to lead. And

there are those meant to follow—those incapable of anything but servitude and a meager,

worthless existence.” (Karpyshyn, 2007)

 Here, Darth Bane, demonstrates his vision of the world; it is the classic monarchy of

power: the stronger rules and the weak dies, or serves. This is the most popular vision

between dark side followers; and is logic that they have this point of view, after their code,

power is the only instrument they have to control and to subjugate those who do not have it.

Their Minds are so obsessed with power, that they corrupted the main weapon of the Jedi,

the light saber; not only did they modify with spikes and gothic decorations, but they

produced synthetic crystals for their weapons. Normally, a Jedi uses natural crystals with

the colors green or blue, but the Sith managed to create this synthetic crystals, which are

red colored, so that they would be stronger than a normal light saber. Truly: “To be a Sith

is to taste freedom and to know victory.” (Karpyshyn D. , 2003). But “The power of the

dark side is an illness no true Sith would wish to be cured of.” (Luceno, 2012).

2. Buddhism

Buddhism is the world’s first universal religion, which is based in the life of

Siddhartha Gautama, famously known as the Buda (the Enlightened). Explaining Buddhism

in the proper way it deserves, would imply writing a whole one hundred paged book (even

more), but here the basics of Buddhism will be summarized, so that the reader can

understand the following aspects in this text. The essence of this way of living is the
following: to break the connection to suffering and reach the Nirvana, also known as the

spiritual realm without suffering; normally the path into Nirvana is the enlightenment itself,

therefore one becomes the Buda. The best source to explain this is the base of the Buddhist

philosophy, “The Four Truths”, which are something like this:

1) Everything existing is bind to pain. 2) The birthplace of pain resides in the human

desires. 3) The suppression of pain comes from the suppression of desire. 4) The moral

method to reach the Nirvana is the inexistence of all desires. (Riviere, 1971-1972).

From this statements, 12 affirmations, which are especially important to the main

philosophy, were established. Seeing this list of affirmations from number 1 to number 12

is a formula of how we acquire suffering as a whole, but if we read it backwards, it

becomes instructions on how to release us from suffering. The list regarded as the first

option goes as following (as postulated by Oltramare):

XII. Existence is painful and is poisoned with the sight of elderly and death.

XI. I’m carrying with me these miseries, because I have been born.

X. I was born, because I belong to the world of coming to be.

IX. I come to be, because I nourish the existence in me.

VIII. I nourish it, because I have desires.

VII. I desire, because I have sensations.

VI. I sense, because I enter in contact with the exterior world.

V. This contact is produced by the functionality of my senses.

IV. My senses function, because, as an individual, I oppose to the not-me.

III. I’m and individual, because I have mi conscious full of an ideal of my personality.

II. This conscious is made this way, because of my previous experiences.

I. This experiences have infected my conscious, because I’m no sage. (Riviere, 1971-1972).
 As Buddhist have learned, the spark of all desires is ignorance, for it proceeds in to

becoming a necessity for knowledge, so that it will erase ignorance. Logically, this method

is dysfunctional to Buddhism, since it creates more desires, as it was said in the affirmation

number 1 and 2; in order to fulfill such task, Buddha discovered the manner to suppress

ignorance and it is by the total annihilation of desires, this provokes a chain reaction in all

the affirmations. By suppressing ignorance, we suppress knowledge; by suppressing

knowledge, we suppress individuality and so on, and so forth. Other strong idea in

Buddhism is the Karma, which origin began in Hinduism, ¿What’s Karma? Karma is a

universal Force that delivers moral justice in previous incarnations, in present life and

decides future incarnations; ergo, depending on your actions and the moral behind them,

Karma is going to punish you or reward you, usually this sentence is given in the time of

reincarnation: if you behaved badly, your next life would be a sad one and affliction won’t

be strange to you, but if you behaved morally correct, then you’ll have joy and abundance

in the next life. What Buddha achieved was breaking himself out of this repeated circle, by

achieving the Nirvana; once the Nirvana is acquired, you are away from the Karma’s

influence and you stay forever in the realm of immortal peace. Also, the art to complete

those challenges is by meditating and by training the mind, but mostly by meditating, a lot.

2.1 The Force and Buddhism

It is a fact that when George Lucas wrote the Force, he toke many aspects of

Buddhism, logically there will be a lot these two religions share, although important

differences are visible; for example, both have this powerful energy that touches everyone
in life and after-life, the Karma and the Force, but in contrary with Force-followers,

Buddhist monks don’t try to reach it or become one with it (as many Force-followers do),

they manage to escape from it. Even so, both energies control the world and maintain the

universe together, although the central lessons for the Buddhist aren’t about the Karma, but

about the spiritual transcendence of the subject, in contrary with Force-users, who seek to

understand better the Force for their own purposes, such being good or bad. Also, the

Buddha affirms that there are multitude of dimensions, the mortal world, the Nirvana and

more (depending from the many variations of Buddhism), thus, reincarnation and the ability

to transcend from a mortal plain to the Nirvana has an explanation; yet, the Force endorses

that there is only one plain of existence, the one we are standing at this very moment, the

Universe as it is; with this said, The Force-users accept life and do what’s possible to make

most of it.

2.2 The Light-side and Buddhism

The Jedi are the Buddhist monks of the Star Wars universe. The light-side and the

Buddhism are almost the same; for instance, Jedi Knights and Buddhist monks know, that

passion, emotions and desire create suffering to the living, without those, the mere

existence of oneself would be more pleasant and, also, the understanding of being present

will be more completed for the ones, who want to achieved it.

Something to comment about, are the methods they use to accomplish their goal:

without knowledge, discipline and meditation, the Jedi could not comprehend the Universe

or The Force around him, even so, it was all already mentioned on the explanation of three
pillars of the Jedi: Knowledge, Discipline and the Force (both in Discipline and the Force

meditating is essential); however, the Buddhist monks only need discipline to meditate and

to strengthen their mind, as much as their bodies, to repel desire, and wisdom (not

knowledge), for wisdom is the grasp for spiritual understanding and “mindfulness”,

therefore they won’t need “scientific” lessons to understand a world they don’t want to be

in.

Naturally, the big difference between the Buddha followers and the Jedi Knights is,

that Force-users DO desire; members of the order want balance in the universe, as much as

justice, freedom and peace, therefore their “worldly” goals make them distant to the point

of view of Siddhartha. Therefore the Jedi are, in a more personal level, better and superior

than the Buddhists, mainly because they don’t disapprove the material world; to be more

clear, the Buddhists believe in the Nirvana, another dimension of existence (one could see it

as a more metaphorical state of understanding, or as a literal place; in both cases, the

argument applies), where suffering is a lie and one will go there eventually through

hardcore meditation, consequently our world loses value and there is no reason to do

something to better it; however, the Jedi do see and want change to happen, so that our

universe becomes a much better place, mostly since they’re descent guys and, as there is

only ONE universe we are sure it exists, there’s a good reason to not ruin it.

2.3 The Dark-side and Buddhism

Here we will find the biggest contrast to the religion of Buddha. The dark-side and

the Sith philosophies are the antonym of what Buddha believed. A religion that struggles
with the emotions and desires of the follower, will be the first in disagree with the path of

the Sith, because Sith nourish themselves in their emotions, their passions and their thirst

for power and desire. The Sith want power, the monks don’t; Sith want control over others,

the monks don’t; the Sith desire, the monks don’t.

Likewise, the Sith share many aspects of the western cultures, for instance, they believe

that nature is an everlasting chaos, instead of balance or order; to see an example of such,

just go to your nearest dance club, bar, pub, school or just go outside for more than an hour,

and you will see the point. Some may argue that it has an order, but that we just can’t

comprehend it as it is, however, one can argue that the ideal of order is a conclusion of the

human intellect, even so that no animal or star will talk to you about “natural order”

because that statement is believed by men only, in other words, it doesn’t have any

compatibility with the universe or life, as much the Buddhist or Jedi believe it does.

What else’s to say? Fire and water don’t match together.

3. Christianity

The biggest and most popular religion in the modern era, Christianity is a cult that

follows the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Being part of the “Triad of the only god” (as I

like to call it), which it’s formed by Judaism, Islam and Christianity, this religion affirms

the existence of a single omnipotent god, who created life, the universe, men and all the

beasts in the planet. As the bible says, God created man to his image in the gardens of

Eden; there Adan and Eve showed their control over the beasts and lived happily, until the

snake encouraged them to eat a fruit forbidden by god, thus making god banish man and
woman from paradise. Some have their many interpretations from the myth of the Garden

of Eden: close believers think that the first sin, wasn’t eating the apple, but disobeying God

and reclaiming death and suffering as a divine punishment; others believe that the apple is a

symbol for the knowledge and wisdom of god, thus eating the apple is a metaphor of the

mortal gaining daemonic power or divine ethics.

Many stories and lessons are told in the holy book of the Christians, but the center

of all is the New Testament, where the love of God is embodied in the divine messiah,

Jesus Christ. Nowadays there’s a struggle to differentiate reality from religious believe, as

the story of Jesus was rewritten in the Bible in a more fantastic and holy manner, than in a

historical way. Some may see this prophet as the reincarnation of God and the savior of the

human race; truly the greatest hero in existence, for he sacrificed himself for our sins and

taught us the only path to salvation. Others see him only as a man, who talked about love,

respect and kindness; a free thinker in times of desperation.

There’s no doubt, that Christians follow the teachings of Christ, which are, in many

aspects, great moral values for life. To understand Jesus ideals in a spiritual way, we have

to analyze it from a metaphorical point of view; with the aim of comparing the Force and

Christianity in mythological terms. The first and biggest of The Savior’s ideals is the power

of love, since God is the ultimate form of love; God is the loving father, who cares for all

his children on earth. Jesus was, indeed, a prophet of love, because he sustained a “no-hate”

policy, in which one should love everybody, even his own enemies. Following the

statement of the policy, Jesus created the action of “turning the other cheek”, when some

other offends your persona, clearly showing a pacifist manner of responding to violence.

Another important teaching of Jesus is the importance of poverty; for Christ poverty was

important, because such state taught modesty, humility and respect, while the rich men
were the complete opposite; however, many historians acknowledge that Jesus prioritized

“poverty” as a mental state, since he cheered some rich men for having a poor’s heart and

he criticized some poor people for having a rich man’s heart. Sadly, the Catholic Church

and almost every religious extremist don’t take into count the teachings, but the power and

symbolism of Jesus Christ’s sacrifice instead.

3.1 The Force and Christianity

Some aspects of Christianity can be spotted on the Force, for example: God can be

thought as omnipotent and omnipresent as the Force; he can give life, connect living things

and destroy others, just like the Living-Force; even, God created the universe, maintains it

together and knows past, present and future as the palm of his hand, no difference at all

with the Unifying-Force. For all that matters, God has presented himself to men, contacting

the mortals that live under his might through artifacts or beings, for example the burning

bush or the Holy Spirit; now, if we look at all the Star Wars movies, there is no physical

form of the Force; even when it tries to communicate to his users, the Force just allows the

Jedi to play with visions and deduce events through visions, but there is no characterization

or personification of the omnipresent being ( though, it would be a paradox: the finite

image of an infinite subject).

Something important to have in mind is the image of Jesus Christ and how he’s

portrayed in the Star Wars mythos: Christ is believed to be the messiah, the one who would

guide mortals to the heavenly kingdom and whose life was sacrificed to erase our sins from

our souls. Now, there’s a prophecy that the Force-Users tell from time to time: the
prophecy of the Chosen One. The Jedi believe, that one day a child will come and with his

potential he will destroy the dark-side and bring balance to the Force. On the other side, the

Sith have a prophesy too: the legend of the “Sith’ari”, the maximum overlord of the Sith.

Both of this legends represent a point of view (light sided and dark sided) in concern of a

being, who will be stronger than anyone else in the Force. But what has this to do with

Jesus Christ? Well, from a point of view, Jesus, like Buddha, may be seen as the “Chosen

One”.

To really understand the point to make, first we have to introduce the Chosen One

of the STAR WARS universe (Movie cannon): Anakin Skywalker, aka Darth Vader. The

story of Darth Vader resembles Jesus Christ’s story, but not as a whole (will be explained

later). Anakin Skywalker was the creation of two dark lords experimenting with the Living

Force and a women (as much disturbed that sounds), the women give birth to a son: our

protagonist. In other words, Anakin Skywalker is the son of The Force, as much Christ is

the son of God in his mortal life; both were given birth by a virgin and were raised in sand:

Anakin in the planet Tatooine and Christ in Jerusalem. Unfortunately, the story of those

two differs drastically, when Anakin betrayed the Jedi and began a totalitarian Empire in

the galaxy.

Just imagine if the messiah had turned his back on his people and allied himself with the

Romans to conquer all the world; of such scale was the Chosen One capable, no, not

Anakin Skywalker, but Darth Vader, the reformed messiah; for Anakin was dead and, in his

ashes, Vader was born. The change from one “pacifist” philosophy to the other extreme, is

the big difference between the son of God and the Chosen One. However, at the end of his

life, Darth Vader redeemed himself and gave his life to destroy the emperor, save his son

and conclude the reign of terror throughout the galaxy; one could estimate that “he died, so
that good could win once again”, right? In that case, he, kind of, did the same Jesus Christ

did; even so, it can be debatable if these two “divine” individuals taught the same values:

redemption, love and forgiveness. So, can be Darth Vader the same idol as Jesus Christ?

Maybe; that depends greatly on the reader. On my humble opinion, Jesus Christ is almost

incomparable for all his teachings; even so, it would be cooler if some guys knocked on

your door and asked: “Would you like to hear the words of our lord Darth Vader?”

3.2 The Light-side and Christianity

As much as it was compared in the previous paragraph, there’s still material to talk

about, especially centered around the Jedi Order and Christianity. Both basis are centered

on doing good and helping your neighbor, thus becoming a better person and being

awarded with a nice place after death as a result. As well, both have pacifist politics and

moral codes stated in some rules, such being the Jedi Code and the 10 commandments; still,

the Jedi Code is more of a spiritual guide to control one’s behavior: “There is no emotion,

there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. Etc.”, while the 10

Commandments are just bland basic rules of how to act in a society:

Thou shalt have no other gods before me [God].1[1]

Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in

heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.2[2]

1[1] The Bible; Exodus 20:3

2[2] The Bible; Exodus 20:4

Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him

guiltless that taketh his name in vain.3[3]

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.4[4]

Honour thy father and thy mother: that thys days may be long upon the land which the

LORD thy God giveth thee.5[5]

Thou shalt not kill.6[6]

Thou shalt not commit adultery.7[7]

Thou shalt not steal.8[8]

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.9[9]

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor

his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy

neighbour’s..[10]

Nonetheless, there are similarities; for example, the last 5 commandments bare the

moral of a Jedi, since a true Knight of the Order won’t kill, commit passionate or erotic

actions, steal, crave for someone else’s possessions or defame another person for worse.

Also, the first two commandments resemble an important oath that the Jedi must follow:

they must believe, that the light-side is the best path to take, just as Christians are instructed

to believe that Jehovah is the only and true god; they must not bow to the Dark-side or

3[3] The Bible; Exodus 20:7

4[4] The Bible; Exodus 20:11

5[5] The Bible; Exodus 20:12

6[6] The Bible; Exodus 20:13

7[7] The Bible; Exodus 20:14

8[8] The Bible; Exodus 20:15

9[9] The Bible; Exodus 20:16

other different icons, because they would fall off their final enlightenment. Even so, there

are Jedi who have changed their minds and learned from other sources, like the Dark-side,

the grey Jedi and other “religions”, whose idea of the Force was very different, to become

more perceptive about their own ideals; but, not to forget that the only “real” God in the

STAR WARS Universe is the Force, and every cult follows an interpretation of it; that’s

why the Jedi will only believe in the same being, making the preachers of Jehovah

(Christians, Jews and Muslims) and the Jedi very alike.

Just like the Jedi Order, the Christians maintain their realm of worldly power into

orthodox structures, for example: is universally known, that the pope is the highest

representation of God on earth (following the Christian believe), proceeded by the priest,

clerics, cardinals etc. They follow a hierarchy of power, as much as Padawans, Jedi Knights

and Jedi Masters do in their proper way. Even so, that both institutions have the same

expectations of their respective messiah. In simpler words, The Jedi Order expects (or

wants) something from the Chosen One, in the same way the Church expects from Jesus

Christ. The Order awaits, that Skywalker completes the prophecy and destroys the Sith, so

that the Force will be cured of the dark-side; they don’t care if the Chosen One is there to

do anything else, like teach about the Force, vanquish the galactic mafias or to prevent the

end of the universe; they only preach that he will destroy the Sith. As well, the Church

waits that their followers and believers will go to heaven and will be saved from the eternal

fire, because Jesus is their savior and he died for their sins; one should not to misunderstand

the logic doing of the Church, they just gift hope and answer to life after death, since

nothingness in the grave is a terrifying idea, even more than eternal suffering, that’s why

they search for Jesus. It’s unlikely that their followers ask for anything else, there are not

many that live by their ideals, seeing as Christ is God and man is mortal, and mortals
shouldn’t desire to become god (in the Christian believe). For this reason, the Catholic

Church and the Jedi Order are similar in a way, they want the savior they desire, not the

messiah they need.

Then again, the Light-side and Christianity are not the same, as the Jedi are

guardians and protectors of peace, while the Church doesn’t get involved in violent

conflicts nowadays. Additionally, the Order doesn’t brainwashes new planets or other

cultures to spread their religion, not like Christianity did. They’re just cool with other

culture’s religions and ideals, as long as they’re not a fiend for the galaxy. That’s the

biggest difference with the Christianity, for all their good teachings and lovable icons,

there’s always this sensation of being subjugated by some overpower: the Christians want

the religion to spread, their ideals to be in consideration and the world to be shaped by their

desire. Even in their commandments, we must bow ourselves to the Gods, with the head on

the ground; everyone is equal, yes, to God, since he is our monarch. Even so, the Jedi see

everyone as an equal, because we all create the Force and are bound to it; the Force is an

overpowered being, who’s not a ruler, but a part of life and space, therefore the Jedi don’t

need to look up to a god and aren’t lost sheep as the Christians; however, the Jedi’s still

have a monarchic structure, yet the structure is one of knowing and experience, just like a

school, hence becomes a structure with no chains or subjugations as others.

3.3 The Dark-side and Christianity

It’s not difficult to comprehend, that the Sith bear the image of a sinner in the

Christian religion. But before we develop that thought, we’re likely to make an analogy
between the Sith and Lucifer, the devil. First of all, both encountered the same past: They

were members of the most pure and well behaved people and they possessed a high-power

position near the ruler; with time, they developed different ideas to their colleagues, one

thing led to another, and they started a revolution against the ruler; they lost it and were

banished to a more primitive and darker realm. Despite their banishment, they grew

stronger and eviler in their realm, thus becoming a threat to their former brothers. Just as

Lucifer became a fallen angel and later the Devil, some Knights became Dark-Jedi and later

the first Sith Lords.

Proceeding with the previously said, the sinners, or those who will suffer in the

eternal flames in hell, for they did not follow the path to redemption and pureness, are well

likely to become dark-side followers in the Star Wars universe (if they manage to bend the

Force, of course). A sinner will be the individual, who doesn’t follow the Ten

Commandments by the book, or the one who nourishes one of the seven deadly sins (Lust,

Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy, and Pride). Since the 10 commandments are very

close to Jedi ideals, the Siths won’t follow such negligent norms to behave in a society they

want to rule, or to destroy, depending on the user, therefore we won’t take focus on the

mater. Even so, the most interesting part comes with the seven deadly sins, whereas, for the

Christians, those vices are bound to eternal damnation and an offense to God himself, but,

for the Sith, they are forms of passion and emotion, which make one’s power over the

Force stronger. Of course some sins aren’t used at all by the Sith, such as Gluttony or Sloth,

but others like Envy, Greed and Lust are the emotions that fuel the Sith’s desires, not to

forget the most important one, Wrath, for is the heart of all the dark-side’s power. Not to

forget, that for a Jedi emotions are forbidden, thus banning the seven deadly sins for

impure, will be the same choice a Christian would do, making Jedi and Christian more
alike, because those two have a very strict code of behavior (you must act like this, if not,

you fall off the path); that’s the reason why the Sith’s philosophy is very opposite to the

lessons of Jesus. Either way, the dark-side is always a more satisfying highway to hell.

Nevertheless, many Christians have acted like dark-side followers throughout

earth’s history, killing those in opposition, hunting others who dislike their believe, getting

powerful and controlling the masses through fear and torture; if the reader does not believe

this argument, please remember the crusades, the witch hunt and the mistreatment of

Indians in America for having a different religion, just to name a few. As well, The Sith

Lords have their own prophecy of a Chosen One, that being the Sith’ari, the overlord; but

in contrary with the Christian prophecy of a mortal savior, the Sith’ari is a perfect being

(divine, if you will), that won’t save their race as Jesus did; still, it follows a prophecy:

“The Sith’ari will be free of limits. The Sith’ari will lead the Sith and destroy them. The

Sith’ari will raise the Sith from death and make them stronger than before.” (Wallace,

Book of Sith, 2012).

Which has more similarities with God, than with Christ. A being free of limits is

meant to describe a god, more than a mortal, for a true god is limitless and chain-proof, just

like Buddha, God and the Sith’ari; because of this reason Jesus Christ can’t be the Sith god,

since he’s bound to God’s will and a mortal body. Following God’s method to solve a

screw-up, the Sith overlord will kill everybody and start over, so that his race achieves

perfection. For a cynical reader, the argument should make sense, since God’s answer for

an evil world was drowning it and saving the ones who were nice, like Noah; the same

happened in the Star Wars universe with the Sith Empire, an army full of back-stabbing

bastards, who were exterminated by a lonely Dark Lord, named Darth Baine, who later on

wrote the “Rule of two”, thus breeding a better Lord Sith in time.
 This brings the question: Is God a Sith overlord? Well, the bearded guy does have

some anger issues (the tenth plagues weren’t meant with love) and he’s always driven by

emotions, for he’s made of love (emotions lead to passion, passion leads to the dark-side);

also, the whole universe is moved by God’s will. So, the highest norm is God’s desire?

Then, he does what he wants, just like a Sith; and there’s nobody to prevent him from doing

it, because he’s the almighty ruler. Is God a Sith Lord? That conclusion should be digested

by the reader.
Conclusion

To finally put an end to this text, we can affirm, that the Force is a vast and deep

spiritual understanding of the universe. Not only that, but it is amazing, how a work of

fiction can resemble so well the religious aspect of our world. The bright-side will always

have the same roots, just as the dark-side; some incarnations of those ideals may be bad,

others good; even so, the reason behind them still exists. Great epics, such as the Star Wars

saga, teach great life values, which are also lessons that we find in every religion in the

world. They’re the heart in every story we tell; it doesn’t matter if it is “real” or “fictional”,

or if it is Darth Vader, Jesus, Buddha, Hercules, Spiderman or Pinocchio, because they’re

all disguises for the true meaning behind man’s imaginative creations: humanity’s undying

wisdom. Every story you see, read or hear, reveals ancestral knowledge that will teach you

about life, behavior and wellbeing; it will convert into an armor against existence’s crudest

days. It doesn’t matter if you pray down on your knees, or with your legs stretched, or not

at all, you’ll still see the Jedi path from the Sith path. It is not important if you’re calm or

passionate, you’ll still feel the connection with life and the universe. It does not matter if

you call it Jehovah, Karma or Nothing, because the Force will be with you, always.
Bibliography

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Wallace, Daniel. (2010). The Path of the Jedi. USA. Chronicle Books.

Wallace, Daniel. (2012). The Book of Sith. USA. Chronicle Books.

Christopher, P., Stephens, O., Thompson, F. (2007). Star Wars Roleplaying Game Saga

Edition Core Rulebook. Wizards of the Coast.

Thompson, Rodney., Cagle, Eric., Stutzman, Patrick., Wieland, Robert. (2009). Star Wars

Roleplaying Game Jedi Academy Training Manual. Wizards of the Coast.

Dorado, Miguel Rivera., Tolsá, Jesús García., Rivière, Juan Roger. (1971-1972). La

Historia de las religiones Volumen 1. EDITORIAL MARIN S.A.

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Kurtz, G., McCallum, R. and Lucas, G. (1977). Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. USA.:

Lucasfilm.

Kurtz, G., Lucas, G., and Kershner, I. (1980). Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes

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Lucas, G., Kazanjian, H., McCallum, R., and Marquand, R. (1983). Star Wars Episode VI:

The Return of the Jedi. USA.: Lucasfilm.

McCallum, R., and Lucas, G. (1999). Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. USA.:

Lucasfilm.

McCallum, R., and Lucas, G. (2002). Star Wars Episode II: The Attack of the Clones.

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McCallum, R., and Lucas, G. (2005). Star Wars Episode III: The Revenge Of The Sith.

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Web Sites:

http://starwars.wikia.com

http://sithacademy.com/inspiration/quotes/

http://bibleing.com/versions/kjv.html?gclid=CLKTjKvHk8cCFVgXjgodSEQPQg