Chad Smith wrote:
Again, the "pracitioner" - in this case, Obiwan and Luke were present,
and Obiwan was a Master - neither corrected him. Also, what
non-religion uses terms like "Temples" to describe their holy sites?
Indiana Jones and the Temple of doom has a temple, but the people in
it are not in a religion, but a cult. In The Matrix, Zion has a
temple, and though they have rituals, it's not religious. Furthermore,
I don't recall anyone referring to the Jedi temple as "holy".
There's more to a religion than the word "temple". One thing that
makes the Force unlike a religion is that you can control it. This is
a feature of witchcraft and magic, but not of religion.
Cheers,
Daniel.
OK, in any discussion about "things of faith", it is important to define
the basic terms clearly. I suspect that based on Daniel's definition of
"religion", he's correct. Based on mine, he's incorrect:
The Official Short Definition of "Religion" According to Gregory J. Neumann:
"Any organized system of beliefs used to explain the world 'as it is'
and provide a framework for ethical behaviors."
By my definition, Jedi qualifies within the context of the movies.
Outside of that, with Voodoo, Wiccan, etc. Most of the world's religions
actually do state that you can control events, things, outcomes, etc.
through ritual, "magic", "prayer", "novena", etc. In all of these
systems the "magic" only "works" because of the underlying power and/or
framework. The New Testament parable of the corrupt judge and the widow
is attributed to Christ as providing encouragement that praying to the
Father actually can and does accomplish something.
So, Daniel, what's your "Official Short Definition"?
Don't ask me to define "ethical'''! ;-)
-Greg
