History of Jediism
Jedi Religion or Jediism is a religious tradition inspired by the hit Star Wars films created by George Lucas. This religion is said to be a more modern adaptations of Taoism and Buddhism. This tradition is not a group of Star Wars role players, but more so a true religion that believes in Peace, Justice, Love, Learning and Benevolence. They live in a way to truly adhere to Peace, and make every effort to ensure that their beliefs do not conflict with other religions and their traditions. Jedi believe in the Force, a term used in the Star Wars films. Followers of this tradition believe that with practice, humans can tap into this energy to reach their full potential in life. This energy is believed to flow through all things and binds the universe together. With such energy, members of the religion tend to view themselves as guardians who are more prone to truth, knowledge, and justice and make a conscious effort to promote such a lifestyle. Some of those who adhere to Jediism prefer to not call it a “Religion” per say, but perhaps a philosophy, personal developme...
Paganism is a belief system that holds to the ideology of the existence of gods and goddesses, which the Pagans believe affect and interact with one?s daily life. Most pagans hold to a polytheistic view of theology. Some pagans choose to worship a pantheon of deities, while other seek to have a more intimate and personal relationship with only one of their gods. They hold to the view that their gods embody certain attributes such as strength, love and intellect. Some modern Pagans define their spiritual beliefs and practices as being ?Earth-based.? You will often hear the
The prevalence of balance throughout the Star Wars universe is evident from the beginning. All through the series “The Force” is referenced to as a delicate balance that needs to be kept in order. Although “The Force” is referenced as being strong with one character or another, it would appear that both sides of it, Light and Dark, seem to equal out. Yoda hints at this by denying that the dark side of the force is stronger than the light side (Episode V). The Force is also a balance within oneself that can easily switch from Light to Dark if a Jedi is unwary. While in the Dagobah system, Luke is warned by Yoda to “Beware of the dark side. Anger, fear, aggression; the dark side of the Force are they. Easily they flow, quick to join you in a fight. If once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny”. This balance is an essential part of the Star Wars universe just as it is in the real world.
The “Star Wars” franchise is familiar to most, and may be the easiest in which to discover the hero’s journey. In “Star Wars,” we find young Luke Skywalker, a rebellious youth, living on a farm on the isolated planet of Tatooine, taken in by his aunt and uncle following the death of his mother and father. Luke grows up with dreams of flying through the stars, only dreams until his chance meeting with Ben Kenobi. Kenobi informs Luke of his real past: that his father was a Jedi knight and that Luke was destined to become great. Though Kenobi’s guidance and Luke own adventurous spirit, he finds himself pushed into an intergalactic quest to become a valiant Jedi in a galaxy controlled by the evil Empire.
In today’s society, there are roughly around 4,200 religions that exist on this planet. Some define "religion" as a cultural system of behaviors and practices that help people make important decisions in life. Out of the many religions, Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism have many similarities that connect them to one another. Themes of morality, justice, love are found through both the Buddha's teaching and the Hebrew and Christian Bible.
...oundation of all living things that exist in this world. The mission of Taoism is not to force its beliefs on people, but to help them realize their inner-self and guide into a happy life in harmony with nature. To best summarize Taoism a quote from Lao-Tse can be used: "We believe in the formless and eternal Tao, and we recognize all personified deities as being mere human constructs. We reject hatred, intolerance, and unnecessary violence, and embrace harmony, love and learning, as we are taught by Nature. We place our trust and our lives in the Tao, that we may live in peace and balance with the Universe, both in this mortal life and beyond." There are thousands of religions that offer endless solutions to end suffering, to restore peace and unity in the world. For decades philosophers tried to come up with ways to find happiness, but in the end there was only one answer. The answer came from a some would call silly, others wise bear by the name of Winnie-the-Pooh, who discovered the secret for happiness in and old religion, founded by a great master Lao-Tse. This religion became the answer for the endless search for happiness and the answer was Taoism.
The spreading of belief allows the prophet to gain followers and eventually establish traditions which surround religion, whether it be holidays, ceremonies, or even the manner of death in some extreme cases. Based off the traditions established by these religions, societies soon formed and grew while strictly following the word of god, which, in modern days, has been collected into a single collective book. Three books exist between the religions. The Torah for Judaism, the Bible for Christianity, and the Qur’an for Islam. These books detail a certain creed or code through the use of anecdotes and parables, but are generally boiled down to a list which can vary in size from Christianity’s Ten Commandments to Judaism’s 613 laws, regardless of the rhetoric displayed in the enormous amount of pages written throughout the three texts. These laws are generally simplistic and followable without much thought, unless of course if one is a philosopher, in which case there is always room for questioning. However, Judaism in particular, having 613 separate laws, becomes very specific in their laws which range from what to eat when all the way up to what kind of punishment a man should receive if he has been caught committing a crime. Some of the harsher laws have been repealed or amended, but ascetic courts still exist in closed Jewish society, with some places still following Jewish law to a T (however this practice is rare outside of middle eastern communities where Judaism rules.) And since the topic of Judaism is fresh on the mind, it shall be the first detailed separately from the others.
The Wiccan religion is one of the fastest growing religions in the United States as well one of the most misunderstood due to the controversies surrounding its history and mystery shrouding its beliefs and doctrines. Due to a series of popular TV series that have shown Witchcraft in a positive light, such as Sabrina, the Teen-aged Witch and Charmed, the popularity of Wicca has grown, especially amongst teenagers; but sadly this popularity has not been partnered with a growth in understanding and respect (Kaminer). Although Wicca offers a nature-oriented, egalitarian belief system with a rich collection of customs and rituals, ignorance and historically-rooted misconceptions still dominate public opinion.
Star Wars and Harry Potter are two different dimensions. However, these two different dimensions have a similar way of teaching. In Star Wars, the place of learning is the Jedi Temple and in Harry Potter, it is Hogwarts. The Jedi Temple is where the students that have the potential of becoming a Jedi to learn about the Force. The Force is "An energy field
George Lucas' Sci-Fi multi-film Star Wars saga has had a significant impact on modern popular culture. Star Wars references are deeply embedded in popular culture; references to the main characters and themes of Star Wars are casually made in many English-speaking countries with the assumption that others will understand the reference. If you go to Comic Con you will at least two princess Leias a few Luke Skywalkers and a whole bunch of Han Solos it just gives you an overwhelming sense of pride and joy that you belong to this great
What is religion? Each person’s definition of religion is different. Each person’s faith is different. This is a question that has been asked for centuries, and regardless of the answer given there is no right or wrong answer. Religion can be defined as a group of people who have shared beliefs who feel their life has purpose or meaning. This feeling or belief that their life has meaning can come from outside of themselves, as well as within. Taking this one step further, these shared beliefs put into action in the form of worship, can be easily identified because they happen regularly. It can be said the Primal religions were in fact not religions. Some may argue Confucianism is not a religion. Others may say Taoism is not a religion. However, one argument can be made. All three of these “religions” share “features.” Huston Smith, author of World’s Religions, says “six features of religion appear so regularly as to suggest that their seeds are in the human makeup.” These six features discussed in World’s Religions are as follows: authority, ritual, explanation, tradition, grace, and mystery (World’s, Page 67). First is authority, Smith argues religion is so complex that people will need assistance or guidance from those held in a higher light, or of a higher authority. Next is ritual, which can be happy (a wedding) or sad (a funeral), rituals are shared between people of the same religion in many forms as a sign of common beliefs. Following rituals, some explanation is required. Many of a religion’s followers ask for explanations, some ask, “What is my purpose in life?” Others may ask, “Who is God?” Depending on one’s religion, the questions or
It is something people are usually born into based off of their parents religion. In Buddhism specifically, Buddha teaches with a great passion for everyone to succeed in life and attain Nirvana. There is such passion with being a Buddhist, they do not do specific things for anyone else but themselves. Their deeds are what will guide them to their life goal. They worship Buddha’s teachings because it is morally right. The ways they think, feel, and live are based on certain principles taught by Buddha in result of where they will end up in the afterlife. Of course they all want to be saved and enter Nirvana. Buddhists must break the karma and not be reborn into the world. Salvation for Buddhists is enlightenment. “The danger is ignorance, and salvation lies in insight” (Kelsay 134). They have to ignore the outside danger, ignore everyone around them and focus on themselves. Once Buddhists find who they are, they are one step closer to saving themselves and reaching the blissful land of
All over the world, there are many people who believe in something or someone of a higher power. There are about five billion people who believe in a higher power (Tiemann 526). There are six world religions that have followers all around the world. The six world religions are Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism. Many of these religions are monotheistic, which is the belief of only one god or one higher power. There are also polytheistic believers, which is the belief in many or more than one god. These six world religions have a lot in common and they also have their differences that make their certain religion or belief special to them.
Mahayana Buddhism originated in India and is believed to be associated with some of the oldest known existing branches of Buddhism. The temple our group visited was devoted to this philosophical way of thinking, and its practices. More than half of all Buddhist practitioners participate in the Mahayana tradition, making it the largest major tradition of Buddhism existing today (Statistics on Buddhism). In the course of its history, Mahayana Buddhism spread from India to various other Asian countries such as " China, Japan, Korea, Tibet and Mongolia" (Mahayana Buddhism). The Eastern States Buddhist Temple of America, Inc., founded in 1962, is the oldest Chinese (Mahayana) Buddhist temple on the eastern coast of the United States. It was founded by Mrs. Annie Ying, and funded by her husband Mr. James Ying. The Ying family, originally from China, faced many immigration hardships when coming to the United States. They understood the plight of Chinese immigrants, and sought to make those in the New York area feel at home by making the temple.
History of Judaism Circa 2000 BCE, the G-d of the ancient Israelites established a divine covenant with Abraham, making him the patriarch of many nations. From his name, the term Abramic Religions is derived; these are the three religions which trace their roots back to Abraham: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The book of Genesis describes the events surrounding the lives of the four patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph. Moses was the next leader. He led his people out of captivity in Egypt, and received the Law from G-d. After decades of wandering through wilderness, Joshua led the tribes into the promised land, driving out the Canaanites through a series of military battles.
Inevitably, there is no way to validate the claims of Jediism. This covers epistemology; yet another component of religion. It is defined by Basic Characteristics of Religion as, “[referring] generally to the problem of knowledge” (Characteristics of Religion, paragraph 3). Within a religion, there is a criteria of truth. Though a it appears improbable, a religion comes from some form of fact nonetheless. Jediism has records, a lot of them in fact, but one problem stands in its way: it is derived from a set of fictional movies by George Lucas. The Temple of the Jedi Order highlights in their Doctrine of the Order, “Jediism finds its roots in philosophies similar to those presented in an epic space opera called ‘Star Wars’” (Temple of the Jedi