The Force is a metaphor for Christianity

Here's an excerpt from an interview Lucas did with Bill Moyers:

Moyers: What do you make of the fact that so many people have interpreted Star Wars as being profoundly religious?
Lucas: I don't see Star Wars as profoundly religious. I see Star Wars as taking all of the issues that religion represents and trying to distill them down into a modern and more easily accessible construct that people can grab onto to accept the fact that there is a greater mystery out there. When I was 10 years old, I asked my mother, well, if there's only one God, why are there so many religions? And over the years I've been pondering that question ever since and it would seem that I've come to the conclusion that all the religions are true, they just see a different part of the elephant. Religion is basically a container for faith. Faith is the glue that holds us together as a society, faith in our culture, in our world, and whatever it is that we're trying to hang on to, it's a very important part of, I think, allowing us to remain stable, remain balanced.
Moyers: And where does God fit into this concept of the universe, in this cosmos that you've created - is the Force God?
Lucas: I put the Force into the movies in order to try to awaken a certain kind of spirituality in young people. More a belief in God than in any particular religious belief. The real question is to ask the question, because if you haven't enough interest in the mysteries of life to ask the questions is there a god or is there not a god, that's for me the worst thing that can happen, you know, if you ask a young person, is there a god? And they say, I don't know. I think you should have an opinion about that.

There's more of the interview here.

 

I think that it is a metaphor for religion, but if you had to pick one it would be buddhism. buddhists are like the same exact thing as jedis.

 

I don't think The Force can be said to represent one religion in particular. If pressed I probably would say that it had more in common with Eastern Philosophy than Western.

I have heard Jedi Knights being compared to many things, including Buddhist monks, but interestingly also as Arthurian Knights of the Round Table. So, as someone has already said it depends on your point of view.

I've heard Yoda compared to Jesus, the Dalai Lama and even an old English country gentleman due to the way he talks.

Personally I would say that the Force is similar to Buddhism because of the concept they share that everything is connected and bound together. But that is just my opinion and I can see why others would take the idea of Anakin and the virgin birth as a metaphor for Christianity.

 

I hope the Force isn't like Catholicism.
The younglings have enough problems without worrying about a panting old Jedi Master.

But seriously, I think the Force has a very significant contrast with Christianity, in that the Force doesn't revolve around a father-figure who punishes individuals based on the morality of immmorality of their lives.

 

I think your making a bit of a leap here but maybe that's just me.

You said
Anakin and Luke together represent Jesus Christ. Anakin is the chosen one, and came to bring balance to the force, much like jesus came to pay for our sins and save us. however, he DID turn all evil and had much hatred and stuff, therefore i say Luke represents the part of jesus that is supposed to be a really pure person.

Wouldn't then Anakin be Adam, and Luke be Christ? Adam allowed himself to be seduced by the devil while Christ gave himself up for the sins of the world

 

But seriously, I think the Force has a very significant contrast with Christianity, in that the Force doesn't revolve around a father-figure who punishes individuals based on the morality of immmorality of their lives.

is this really your perception of what christianity is???? someone has painted a very narrow and tainted picture. It is not about punishment, it is about redemption - keeping us safe!

 

THE FORCE IS NOT A METAPHOR FOR ANY KIND OF RELIGION. if you just look up qi gong meditation you will see precisely where lucas stole the idea from. it doesn't go any deeper than that. just look at the name "qui-gon jinn" & "jin qi gong". that would be jin qi gong (for healing & prevention of diseases) as opposed to yang qi gong (for physical strength, etc). the force isn't a metaphor for anything, lucas stole the idea from an old-school chinese meditation thing.

 

No other story comes eevn close to the personal sacrifice Jesus made, Anakin's demise was his own and trying to compare Star Wars to Christianity is a lost cause' no other story no matter how cool or flashy can come close to what jesus did. I'm sure you didn't mean to step on anyone's toes with what you said, Axle-Starweilder but frankly that was an insult to me and I can see where there are some comparable point to some religious belifes but religion is simply that... some idea. What jesus taught was the personal relationship with him and the belief of what he did and why, that far exceeds and meditiation or even life comitment to some form of a god or power.

 

Maybe so. Some things do make sense,but Yoda would not be God,just because God does not fail. Yoda did in ROTS.

 

sorry i just cant beileve this they dont talk about a god the force isnt a power of god its something we have to experience and the thing with the virgence and all it doesnt really seem that....i just cant beileve it.

 

According to this, Lucas was raised a Methodist and describes himself as a "Buddhist Methodist," so it's not surprising that there are strong elements of Buddhism and Christianity in the movies.

 

After reading so much crap and nonesense about all this religious-chistian-teories, let me tell what i think about all this..
I don't know what George Lucas was trying to say but for me doesn't matter so much. What does it matters is the things that the movie makes you think.
Religion, was and it will be for a long time inside our dear-almost-global civilization. For the "good" or "evil" it was always around us.
This last star wars make me think about the relation between the master and the pupil. I was reading some minutes ago one dannish myth about a pupil that overpasses his master becaming stronger and killing his master later.
The force, i understood as just the force, the chi-ti-whatever capacity of having powers by the concentration, and the trainning of the same.
Force cannot be "god- the good one" or "satan- the bad one" once there is dark and white sides... These sides are just patches abble to give you positive or negative energy like a magnet.
The myth about "The One", or "The Anti- Christ" are also relevant, but in a perspective that has nothing to do with religion, or at least not in a direct way.
Like in Matrix, Neo was "The One", Anikin is "The One" of Star Wars. The man able to break the barriers of the Nature and overpass his teachers: The Nietzschean Super-man.
Of course there is two paths for the perfection, and Anakin chooses the path that he tought was better for him and his loved ones.
Anakin is a very emotional caracter. Confronted by this eternal religious existencialist dualism good-evil, the choise was made not very concienciously.
Like in a greek tragedy all the conditions seem to take him to the dark side, alone with his new master that he will destroy later on.
The only religious point to present- good-evil dualism. You cannot hide the cloths black and white, or unconnect the rage and the hate with evil, the love and peaceful mind with good, because this is inside our christian culture.
So try to abstract yourself from that!


So... What do you think is better, to be the Master, or Pupil? Stronger?

 

Great post Hungry Ghost, thanks for finding that interview. It was well worth the read.

 

Both have elements in common, however the biggest and most important difference is that in Christianity one can only find salvation through Jesus Christ; Star Wars teaches us one can find salvation through oneself. Qui gon has mastered this: by letting go of one's physical self.

 

^
Very good point.

I also feel that idea of the force could of come from some Native American Religions. Like when Yoda explains the force is all around us in the rock and ship. Similiar to a Native American belief that great spirit is all around us in the animals trees plants rocks and even air.

The force is so open to interpertation that is what is so great about Star Wars.

 

"Those two (buddism & taoism)are not religions as the term is understood in the usual senes."

How do you figure!? Whenever someone studies religion (which I have) the world's top religions are always: Buddism, Taoism, Hinduism, Judaism, Islam and Christianity (the last three of which are all basically the same up to a point where the latter two split off).

Also, I agree with the previous posting that all religions are basically the same. If you study all the major religions in the world, the central themes are always to be a good person.

 

"I don't know what George Lucas was trying to say but for me doesn't matter so much. What does it matters is the things that the movie makes you think."

I agree with that!

Here's what I've always thought about Star Wars and religion:

It's a big metaphor for WWII and the Nazis. The Empire is like the Nazi Empire and Palpatine is like Hitler. Darth Vader is like one of the main Nazi Henchmen, and there's a bunch of supernatural stuff about him, but strip that away and you have a guy who leads the STORMTROOPERS (the SS... that was what the german name translated to, "Stormtroopers.") So, these Nazi/Imperials go around and want to wipe out the Jedi... or Jews. The Rebel Alliance is the Alied Forces and the Death Star battle is like D-Day. Luke Skywalker represents the United States. A young and innocent person/country who doesn't want to get involved until they are savagely attacked (Pearl Harbor/the burning of Aunt Beru & Uncle Owen). I can go on and on, but I think you all get where I'm going.

 

Actually Anakin/Vader represents satan/lucifer because Anakin was a powerful Jedi just like satan was a powerful angel but satan turned on God just like Anakin turned on the Jedi and went to the dark side and turn the people and destroy the Jedi just like satan is turning people against God so Anakin represents satan not Jesus,Jesus is perferct and never falled but satan/Anakin did.

 

After reading all your posts,I can only say one thing:Everything is true,from a certain point of view.Obiwan's quote "Who is the more foolish,the fool or the fool who follows him?" reminds me of Jesus'quoting about the blind leading the blind.

 

First off, I am a Christian, and this post is my personal opinion and I am not here to put down anyone else on this forum in any way.

I honestly don't understand why everyone is so eager to relate everything ever made back to Christianity and such.

For example, I was in Barnes and Noble the other day and happened across two books on a table towards the front: Christian Wisdom of the Jedi Masters and Looking for God in Harry Potter. There has also been books about finding God in Lord of the Rings and such. (Before I get someone on my case about that one, Tolkien himself said that he hated allegories and never intended to write a Christian story, though he was Christian himself, saying that yes elements of his faith would be there because his faith is part of him, and he wrote the books).

The way I see it, the reasons that everyone is trying so hard to fit God into anything is that truly people are afraid of what they don't know. Christians as a whole tend to be the most close minded and judgemental group of people in the world today, and when there is some huge phenomenon like Star Wars that brings up something like a religion that has nothing to do with theirs, it bothers them. It would almost appear that the Christians who write books like the previously mentioned are trying to justify to themselves a love for something like Star Wars that focuses on a religion they don't believe in. By making whatever it is "Christian" they give themselves the OK to enjoy it, because it helps to build upon their Christian faith.

Why can't we all just call something as it is? Why can't everyone just accept a story, a book, a movie, for what it is? Star Wars is a movie. (sorry to anyone who finds that as a shocking revelation ) We should all just be able to accept this wonderful story for what it is, without messing it up by trying to fit square pegs in round holes when we try to mold the story around our religions. If it bothers you that the story is not Christian I suggest you not watch it (though most fears like these are subconscious).

As far as the "virgin birth" in Star Wars, who is to say that Anakin's mom was a virgin? Sure, she may not have concieved him through a man, but that doesn't mean she hadn't had sex before that. Politely, Qui-gon doesn't ask for details on her private life, so the movie never really says if she was a virgin when she had him, just that he was concieved without a man.

The whole point of a movie is what you take out of it. When you walk into the theater, you are yourself, the person you have created through struggles, pain, happiness, experience. As you walk in, you are you. But, when the lights dim and the movie starts, you can become whoever you want to be. You set aside your life to experience someone elses and share in their gains and losses. Then when the lights come back on, you are now yourself again, but a part of that movie is also added to your experiences, thus a tiny part of you. You can take a movie and make it yours, adding your experiences and reflections. That, I believe, is what Lucas set out to do when he made Star Wars. He wanted us to believe in something, to take something from the movie. But the great thing is, he never told us just what to take. That is up to us, and that is the beauty of Star Wars.

Sorry if this wasn't very well written or put together, or if I didn't get my thoughts across in a coherent way. Just my twenty-seven cents and a paperclip found at the bottom of the washing machine...

-Leah.

 

I will never understand how the Force can be associated to Christianity. For anyone knowing anything about eastern philosophy, it is so plainly obvious that the Force resembles Chi (Ki). It is impersonal (unlike Christian god), it is immanent (unlike Christian god), it has a dark side and a light side (yin and yang). Obi-Wan literally referred to it as an energy field surrounding all living beings, Yoda referred to as being immanent in everything. All this is exactly the Eastern concept of "Chi". It is used by the Jedi the same way that in Chinese legends Qigong masters use the "Chi" for leviation, fighting, meditation, prekognition and so on. Even the immortality concept of the Jedi is the same as in old Chinese philosophy.

 

/\/\ Agreed, but in addition I believe Anakin is the physical, the personal manifistation of the Force in the physical world: 'The son of the suns'.

This gives him a Christ like quality. but as I stated before, he has things in common with Christ but there are differences as well.

 

I like to watch movies, incl. Star Wars just like it is... but sometimes its interesting to see paralells also.
First there are a huge difference between star wars and christianity, and some similarities as I see it.

First, a jedi use the force to feel inside themself to know what right? They believe the truth lays inside themself. Remember when Luke were on a spaceship and he has to shoot or navigate manually.
Second, a jedi are willing to kill someone if they doesnt believe the same as themself, or are not on the Light side.


The star wars saga as a whole I see Anakin as Mankind... Anakin are born like Adam (almost), mankind are guided like Anakin, mankind disbelief in God and turn to the "dark side". Luke are the saviour who are born to save the galaxy and mankind (anakin), just like Jesus.

 

I think from one view Anakin is the tale of all of us. God sent his Son and saved us from our sins, and now He hopes we will accept His grace. At first we do, but because we are human we fall from His grace, but God is always ready to recieve when we truly have a heart of repentance.

 

Word.