12.13.2015

The Star Wars Worldview - Monism



Excerpt:


How to be a Jedi
  1. Joining the Church of Jediism involves signing up to the group’s online newsletter and completing a ten-part training course
  2. Jedis believe in the Force, “a unifying energy, which everything exists within, around and always returns to.”
  3. They do not believe the Star Wars films to be real. The church says: “Although Jediism was inspired by the beliefs of the fictional Jedi, we do not believe the Star Wars films – they are entirely fictional.“
  4. Meditation is a key tenet of Jediism. The church says: “Our minds are like sponges, which soak up information daily. In order to keep our minds 'clean', we must 'rinse' them of negative Force.”
  5. A belief in God is optional. The group says: “There are no strict rules in Jediism, as we believe in freedom and so joining the Church of Jediism would not pose any restrictions on your life. “
The Apocalyptic Cosmology of Star Wars 

Excerpt:

It is well-known, for example, that George Lucas self-consciously constructed the screenplay for the first film under the influence of popular mythologist Joseph Campbell. In an address to the National Arts Club in 1985, Lucas noted that he was entirely without direction until he stumbled upon Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Faces

...To understand Campbell's view of Star Wars, one must have some sense of his overall philosophy of religion. Campbell had very little formal education in religious studies. He studied Medieval European literature, Romance philology, and modem literature, especially the works of James Joyce and Thomas Mann. His main encounter with religion began through editing the posthumous writings of Indologist Heinrich Zimmer and through working with Swami Nikhilananda translating and editing the Upanishads. On the subject of mythology, he was an autodidact without formal training. When one looks at Campbell's assessment of religions in his published writings, this background is evident. Many of his examples come from modem or medieval literature with little explicit reference to religion. When he does speak of religions, he shows a decided preference for Hinduism's conception of the divine and salvation, and in particular, the traditions of monistic Vedanta. He degrades the western religions, Judaism in particular, for sharply distinguishing God from the world. "The Biblical image of the universe simply won't do any more,4 writes Campbell, and he also claims that in eastern religions the ultimate divine mystery is sought beyond all human categories of thought and feeling, beyond names and forms

Anthropomorphic attributions of human sentiments and thoughts to a mystery beyond thought is--from the point of view of Indian thought--a style of religion for children." One may note that this judgment even preferences non-dualistic Vedanta over the devotional forms of theistic bhakti practiced by most Hindus. In any case, the "proper" religious teaching of identity with the Godhead is not taught in the West, according to Campbell, because it is viewed as heresy or blasphemy; Campbell even claims Jesus was crucified for claiming identity with God. This is the sort of oversimplification of historical and theological matters in which Campbell revels. He generalizes about religions, concluding all that do not preach monism are superstitious and parochial. He reserves particular venom for the Jewish claim to be the chosen people who have received a unique revelation from God. That this denigration of Judaism is tied to Campbell's own anti-Semitism has been well documented
Comment: The "church" site (UK)

What is Monism?
Monism (from the Greek word monos, meaning “single” or “alone”) is the view that everything is ultimately one. Nothing that exists is really distinct from anything else that exists— which is just to say that, in the final analysis, only one thing exists. And that one thing— call it “the universe,” “reality,” “the One,” or whatever you like— cannot be divided or decomposed into more fundamental parts or constituents. If it could, then reality would not be ultimately one. It would be ultimately many.

So the Monist has to say that the apparent diversity we experience in the world is an illusion. The distinctions we make between things are only in our minds, because if those things were really distinct from one another, there would be more than one thing in existence.

Monism is a very radical philosophy. It has generally proven more popular in Eastern philosophies and religions than in Western ones. While it has enjoyed some sophisticated defenders over the course of history, it faces some quite formidable objections.

In the first place, Monism is highly counterintuitive and flies in the face of our immediate sense experience. It asks us to disregard as illusory one of the most basic features of the world as it appears to us. It implies that our experiences of the world are thoroughly unreliable. After all, those experiences present us with a plurality of things: people, cats, dogs, trees, cars, doughnuts, cell phones, and the like.

For the Monist, all these diverse things are either ultimately identical or ultimately unreal. Neither of these options is easy to swallow or to defend. What’s more, it’s tough to live as a consistent Monist. Our everyday thoughts and decisions presuppose real distinctions between things: between your body and my body, between your spouse and my spouse, between your car and my car, between your credit card and my credit card, and so on.

And what goes for physical things such as our bodies must go for non-physical things such as our minds, as well. If Monism is true, your mind must be ultimately identical to my mind; your thoughts must be ultimately identical to my thoughts. But in that case, how could we disagree about anything? For example, how could we have different thoughts about whether or not Monism is true?

Anderson, James N. (2014-01-31). What's Your Worldview?: An Interactive Approach to Life's Big Questions (Kindle Locations 966-980). Crossway. Kindle Edition.
Final comments:

  • I am not trying to be some sort of killjoy. I enjoyed the first three of the Star Wars films and admire the quality of the film-making
  • Enjoy the film - reject the worldview presented!

7 comments:

  1. Whenever a movie choice came up it was always hard to determine whether to see a Star Wars genre movie or a "Smokey & The Bandit" movie. I usually chose "Smokey & The Bandit." Now of course I don't go to movies and wait until they come out on tape, as all Christians do. I can't wait for this movie to come out on VCR because I might want to actually see this latest one. I hope it's sooner than 6 months.

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  2. My family and I really enjoy Disney movies, as that is a fine, wholesome, Christian-friendly company that we would all welcome into our homes as partners. If I ever see a movie with the name "Disney" associated with it, I don't even begin to question it and give my approval to it immediately.

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  3. Church to celebrate Star Wars with Return of the Jedi-themed service:

    and one church has decided to get in on the act - with a service themed on Return of the Jedi.

    The service will include scenes from the film with music to match, in a bid to get as many bottoms on seats as will be in cinemas across the globe.

    The Zion Church in Berlin's central Mitte district is set to hold the service on Sunday at 10am.

    The brainchild of Lucas Ludewig and Ulrike Garve, the trainee pastors believe that there are parallels between the film and the Christmas story.

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  4. Wow, that is wierd, wild stuff. But hey, more power to them. As a Christian, I don't think we should go to movies because we were taught that it would be a bad testimony because the people driving by don't know if we are there to go to a movie or if we are there as crisis actors who are part of a false flag operation such as the Batman movie in Colorado. While we may know that we are legitimately going to a movie, the passersby on the street may think we are part of the crisis actors designed to be part of another hoax such as Sandy Hook or the Batman Aurora hoax. We want to avoid all appearances of being part of a false flag operation. I think that most true Christians have not gone to movies because of this since the 30's.

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  5. The real-world origins of the names and languages in 'Star Wars':

    Tying these disparate cultural elements together is the work of mythologist Joseph Campbell, whose book, The Hero with the Thousand Faces, claims that all cultures throughout time have told and retold the same essential myths. Reading Campbell’s book helped Lucas build his characters and story on time-tested archetypes and mythic structures.

    ReplyDelete
  6. 'The Force' in 'Star Wars' Is Stupid and Immoral:

    Here’s the sad truth: the false dichotomy between the Dark Side and the Light Side of the Force is just another indicator of the decline of Western civilization.

    Seriously. (Well, kind of seriously, because hey, it’s Star Wars.)

    First things first. I have not seen the new movie, so there will be no spoilers here. Also, I love the original films, and know them well. That doesn’t mean that they don’t push an immoral vision of the universe.

    ReplyDelete

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