I was reading this article (found here with it’s colorful comments), and had to wonder; what actually constitutes a religion?
Most (if not all) of the major religions are founded on some variation of the basic golden rule tenet, “Do unto others as you would have done to you.” Basically treat people nicely and they’ll do the same. At their core, religions preach basic peace and harmony.
While I am going to single one religion out later to point something out, I’m not going to say there’s one right or wrong religion. Frankly I’ve never seen the point of them as a whole aside from a social network that shares a particular branch of beliefs. I’m OK with that as long as they’re open minded enough to at least accept the feasibility of other views.
But back to the question. Most religions are founded around a central idea. OK, so far so good. Most have some established, ideal code of conduct punishable under the penalty of ______. In many cases there is some sort of higher power or powers involved, primarily as a rallying point for the faithful.
Christians and Jews have Jesus, Muslims have Allah and Muhammad, the Church of Satan has…well…Satan. Scientologists believe in various forces. So why *can’t* there be a Jedi religion? Way back when, when religions were established, someone had to start worshiping tree spirits and I’m sure folks thought that guy or gal was pretty wacky. Now, I don’t believe in “the force” per se, but I believe in the power of self belief. I belief that people can steer their destiny by believing in things. It’s not so much that they have the power to will something into existence, but more that by believing something will happen, they will unknowingly make small changes in their lives that help bring that about. However, while I’d love to have the power to wring someone’s neck with my mind, I don’t think it exists.
With the Jedi though, the first part this comment rings very very true:
Like SpruceStreetPhil says, Islam is based off a REALLY OLD book.
In 500 years, Jedism will be based off a REALLY OLD movie.
I suppose, like a fine wine, we just need to wait for it to mature, is that the difference between a cult and a religion?
Or is the difference that a cult does horrible things to those who try to leave or those who try to disparage it? Because that’s what I was always taught. I’m pretty sure if you laugh at the Jedi they aren’t going to produce false evidence that you’re a child molester, you know, unlike the “Church” of Scientology.
In that comment stack there were a few people going back and forth comparing the Jedi to cults. Most folks when they think of cults think of religious fanatics all together in similar garb doing their holy business. Kind of like these folks.
Let’s be careful slinging about the cult label. One religion may be better funded than another, but it doesn’t always make it less of a religion.
