On Thursday 09 Jun 2005 14:32, Daniel Carrera wrote: > Tim Fairchild wrote: > > That is possibly a point of view. What one person calls a religion is > > called a cult by another. > > Well... these words have definitions. They may be a bit fuzzy and there > is a large gray area. But there are some things you can definitely say > is a cult and not a religion (and viceversa). Number of followers is one > or the traits that make a religion (not that it's relevant to StarWars).
Christianity was once a very small minority. I'm sure it was seen as a cult by some (many?). I don't see how numbers apply. How many jedi were there? How many scientlogists? Some people call scientology a cult. Some call it a religion. Same goes for many other minority belief systems. > > Some people consider the TV evangelists to be part of a > > religion, others consider them to be manipulating theives and con > > (wo)men. > > And chances are the are some who are thieves and others who are not. My point was the same TV evangelist is considered an important religious figure by some and a con artist by others. eg Benny Hinn. I'm sure some people in the star wars universe saw jedi as religious figures while others saw them as smart ass and power hungry overlords. > > Obviously I am an atheist, > > I can't imagine why that would be obvious. Chad has been arguing here, > and he's Christian like me. I found it obvious you were christian and assumed the opposite would be obvious. No big deal. Maybe I should have said "well, I'm and atheist and..." To me the jedi could still be religously based. I don't see anything that much different to scientology or even other religions. Remembering of course that it is just a movie and I think George wanted that feeling of mythology and mysticism. tim -- --------------------------------------------------------- Tim & Therese Fairchild Atchafalaya Border Collies. Kuttabul, Queensland, Australia. --------------------------------------------------------- Email mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Homepage http://www.bcs4me.com Photos http://www.pbase.com/amosf ---------------------------------------------------------
