A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, there was a great energy known as the "Force" that held the Star Wars universe together and gave many people incredible powers. Now, an energy that powerful is very hard to understand, but through the words of great men long gone, it is possible to discover what the Force truly is. The basic definition of the Force would be that it is an energy field generated by all living things (Slavicsek 165). Ben Kenobi, a master of the Force, summed the Force up best when he said, "It's [the Force] an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together (Star Wars IV: A New Hope n. pag.)." Master Yoda also described the Force when he said, "Life creates it, makes it grow. It's energy surrounds us and binds us (Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back n. pag.)." So, now that one knows what the Force is, one needs to know why it has such an influence on the lives of the people of the Star Wars Universe. Here again, Yoda has said, "... my ally is the Force. And a powerful ally it is (SW V: ESB n. pag.)," and Ben also stated, "... the Force is what gives a Jedi his power (SW IV: ANH n. pag.)." Expanding on these vague sayings, we find that like any normal energy field, the Force can be manipulated, and knowledge of how to manipulate it can give people great powers. The people who manipulate the Force are called the Jedi, and they can either follow one of the two sides of the Force: the light side, which offers peace, knowledge, and serenity, or they can accept the anger, fear, and aggression of the dark side. (Slavicsek 165) Jedi's are taught in a master-student situation which can range from a one-on- one to a Jedi academy situation (SW V: ESB n. pag.). The Jedi masters are teachers and miracle-workers of extreme power and ability (Slavicsek 165). The Jedi always keep their minds one with the Force and are able to feel and sense things through the Force. The good Jedi were "... guardians of justice and freedom (Slavicsek 165)," and they followed the Jedi Code:
Master Yoda once said, "Excitement, adventure... A Jedi craves not these things (SW V: ESB n. pag.). The
dark Jedi, on the other hand, were ruthless, reckless. They turned to the dark side of the Force and formed
their own philosophy of the Jedi Code (Anderson. DA 70). As one examines the beliefs of those who use the
Force in the Star Wars universe, it becomes apparant that there are many connections between the Force and
real-life religions.
First, let's learn more about these "incredible powers" that the Jedi have. There are three categories
of Force powers: control, sense, and alter. Through the control skill, a Jedi has the ability to control his own
body functions. The sense skill allows a Jedi to feel things in the Force, and the alter skill allows Jedi to
"change the distribution and nature of the Force to create illusions, move objects, and change the
perceptions of others." (Slavicsek 165) Now, these general categories can be broken down into many specific
powers. For example, one of the most amazing Jedi skills is healing. Through the Force, the Jedi can heal
themselves and others. In one instance, a Jedi Knight, Luke Skywalker, heals a massive calcification of his
skeletal structure that was caused after he was electrocuted by a Dark Jedi Master, Emperor Palpatine. (Tyers
8) In another situation, a Jedi named Cilghal healed a woman who was dying from a deadly poison. The Jedi,
"...opened her mental doors, freeing her thoughts, allowing currents of the Force to flow into Mon Mothma's
form." (Anderson. Champions of the Force 302) Another amazing power of the Force is levitation. Jedi's have
the amazing ability to lift objects taping only the energy field that binds all living things. Although we find
that it is very hard for a Jedi to manipulate very small or very large objects, objects such as rocks or the Jedi
themselves can be moved easily. (SW IV: ESB n. pag.) Clairvoyance, the ability to see other places outside of
the body in the past, present, or future, is another power that the Jedi exhibit. Master Yoda told Luke during
his Jedi training that, "through the Force, things you will see. Other places. The future... the past. Old friends
long gone (SW V: ESB n. pag.)." The Jedi also have the unique ability to create a barrier between themselves
and their environment by using the Force. This skill allows them to do a wide range of amazing feats which
include deflecting projectiles, protecting themselves from cold or heat, and even walking across water or in
one instance with Luke Skywalker, a lake of lava. Amazing as it sounds, he, "...walked across the lake of fire."
(Anderson. Jedi Search 112) Luke did this by simply walking on the Force. The Jedi also have the ability to
use the Force to speak in other languages. One instance of this power happens when Luke Skywalker talks
to an alien creature on the planet Dathomir. Luke has no idea what language this creature speaks, but
through the Force, he is able to communicate with it. (Wolverton 156) The Force also allows the Jedi to live a
life longer than their normal life span. The Jedi, who follow the light side, can live to be several hundred
years past their expected life spans, but interestingly enough, the lives of the Dark Jedi are noticeably
shortened because of the dark side of the Force eats away at their physical and spiritual forms (SW VI:
Return of the Jedi n. pag.). To put it best, we again turn to Master Yoda when he said, "when nine hundred
years old you reach, look as good you will not (SW VI: ROTJ n. pag.)." So, as one can see, the Jedi - light or
dark - truly have powers beyond our wildest imaginations.
Mystical powers are not the only gifts that come from the Force. It also contains a belief system
that is very similar to two real world religions: Taoism and Christianity. Taoism is essentially an oriental
philosophy on life even though it's teachings were later corrupted by turning it into a practiced religion. The
philosophy, written by a man named Lao-tzu, had three main doctrines. The Tao (way) is a non-being
creative-destructive Force that brings everything into being and dissolves everything into non-being; Fu
(return) is everything's destiny; and non-action, or wu wei, which describes an action that is in perfect
harmony with nature. Basically, Taoism teaches that one should accept everything and live one's life in
harmony with nature. The main literary work for the Taoist philosophy is called Tao De Ching, written by
Lao-tzu, and it contains eighty-one chapters on how to live by the Taoist Philosophy. Later on, the Taoist
philosophy was twisted around to form a religion whose main beliefs focused on physical immortality, breath
control, alchemy and personal hygiene. It also centered itself around the concept of in faith healing through
confession of sin. ("Taoism" Grolier n. pag.) Christianity, on the other hand, is a monotheistic religion that
centers itself around the teachings of Jesus Christ, who is seen as the messiah, or the son of God. The basic
beliefs of the Christians lie in the forgiveness of sin through the death and resurrection of Christ, and God's
grace, which is received through faith. Although these are the basic Christian values, Christianity has broken
itself up into many opposing sects or denominations which have their own interpretation of these values.
The main literary work for the Christians is the Holy Bible. The Christian Bible includes the Old Testament
along with the New Testament which is a collection of early Christian writings proclaiming Jesus as lord and
also telling of the many miracles performed by himself and his followers. ("Christianity" Grolier n. pag.)
With the basic elements of the Force and of Taoism and Christianity outlined in the preceding
paragraphs, some of the similarities between these beliefs become more clear. In Taoism, Taoist masters
believe that living life as a being who is "one with the Tao" will enable a person to live for several hundred
years ("Taoism" Grolier n. pag.). This same notion of long life is found in the Jedi who are also "one with the
Force." It is also said that Taoist priests were experts in levitation ("Taoism" Grolier n. pag.) as were the Jedi.
Beyond just granting similar powers, the origins of the Force and the Tao are comparable:
Chapter 34: The great Tao flows everywhere. All things are born from it, yet it doesn't
create them. It pours itself into its work, yet it makes no claim. it nourishes infinite worlds,
yet it doesn't hold on to them. Since it is merged with all things and hidden in their hearts,
it can be called humble. Since all things vanish into it and it alone endures, it can be called
great. it isn't aware of its greatness; thus it is truly great. (Mitchell 34)
This sounds exactly like the nature of the Force. It flows everywhere, and that it nourishes infinite things,
but it does not hold onto or claim any of these. Another connection between the Force and the Tao appears
in chapter five, "The Tao doesn't take sides; it gives birth to both good and evil (Mitchell 5)." This too is
exactly like the Force in that the Force itself is neither good nor evil, but it can be used either way. Finally, in
order to live one's life in the Tao, it is written that the follower must constantly seek no emotion and serenity
(Mitchell 9). This is incredibly similar to the words of the Jedi code quoted earilier. Like Taoism, there are
several aspects of Christianity that connect to the Force. Two examples of which are the powers of the Holy
Spirit, which is seen as the extension of God's will onto humans and the acts and miracles that Jesus Christ
performed. First of all, the powers of the Holy Spirit include healing, prophecy, and speaking in other
languages. ("Holy Spirit" Britannica n. pag.) One example of allowing people to talk in other tongues comes
when, "they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave
them utterance (Holy Bible Acts 2.4)." These powers of the Holy Spirit are also powers that the Force grants
to the Jedi. The Jedi are able to, through the use of the Force, talk in other languages, heal people, and
predict possible futures. In the Bible, there are many accounts where people, all of whom are very close to
God, receive visions or are able to predict the future. The most prominent passage in which prediction is
mentioned is the entire book of Revelations in which a man is given a vision that predicts the end of the
world. (Holy Bible Rev.) This connects with the Jedi being able to receive visions or predictions through the
Force. Another parallel appears in the biblical story of Joseph, who was strong in his relationship with God.
He lived to be a hundred and forty-seven years old, which is way beyond the normal life span of a human
(Holy Bible Gen. 47.28-29). This is the same as a Jedi Master, who is strong the Force, living way beyond his
normal life span. Finally, the most amazing connection between real religions and the Force are the acts of
Jesus Christ and his followers. First of all, it is reported that Christ has the incredible ability to heal people
who are ill or dying. In the book of Matthew, Chapter Nine, Verses two through thirty, Christ heals a large
number of people including a crippled man, a woman with a blood disease, and according to this startling
account, "he touched their eyes saying, According to your faith be it unto you. And their eyes were opened
(Holy Bible)." These healing powers are the same exact powers that the Jedi have, even to the part where
physical contact is required as a part of the healing process. Christ is also able to walk across water (Holy
Bible Matt. 14.25-33). As mentioned above, the Jedi are also able to walk across water. Jesus also exhibits the
ability to calm a storm (Holy Bible Mark 4.35-39), just as the Jedi are able to control certain types of storms
(Slavicsek 166). When Christ dies, there was a "great blackness that came upon the earth (Holy Bible Luke
23.44-45)." This same great blackness happens when a great Jedi Master dies (Zahn 461). Finally, there is the
example of Jesus Christ teaching a group of twelve men who were later able to go out and perform many
miracles on their own, such as healing (Holy Bible Acts 3.1-11). This connects to a Jedi Master teaching his
students about the Force and then the Pupils' ability to go out and perform the same miracles that their
master demonstrated. So, we find that there are many startling connections between the Force from Star
Wars and the real religions that many of use practice today.
Finally, we come to the possibility of the Force becoming a real religion. Besides the fact that the
Force is found in religions already practiced today, Star Wars has millions, possibly billions of fans who
would love to follow the Force as a true Jedi would. Because of the massive number of fans, there would not
be a problem finding membership to a religion based around the Force. (Gartley n. pag.) We also find that
Star Wars, as a religion, already exists on the internet. The most noticeable place is a page on the internet
that tells of how one can learn to live his or her live through the adventures of the characters in Star Wars.
This page also mentions the fact that Star Wars could never really work as a practicable religion, but could
only function as a philosophy on life because of the fact that there is no real "worshiping" involved any
religious part of Star Wars. (Jones n. pag.) So, we find that the Force is something more than a simple part of
a movie, but it is rather something that many people in some way or another are connected to whether it be
through their religious beliefs or the way they live their lives. So, in closing, we once again turn to Obi-Wan
Kenobi when he said, "the Force will be with you, always (SW IV: ANH n. pag.)."
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