Education and Doctrine in Jedism

As this religion has come from the fictitious world of the Star Wars films originally coined by George Lucas, where does the doctrine from which the religion follows come from? More to the point... what does this doctrine state as its key fundamental beliefs? Where can a person who wants to become a Jedi, or just wants to learn about the practices get this information from? and how applicable could this be with real life spiritual beliefs? These questions are what led me into researching this post... lets look further...

The best, most informative website which I came across in my research for this is The Jedi Website http://jediorganization.addr.com/jedi/. On this website we are presented with an extensive array of web pages which contain information and articles and support networks for everyone who wishes to get involved and be associated with this religion. So what exactly does this entail?

This website, as many of the others do as well, clearly states its mission statement which enables the user to see what the website is about, what its aims and objectives are and also what the aims and beliefs of the creators of the website are as well. This particular websites mission statement states that:

1. The JEDI Website provides high quality content available for all those who are or aspire to be Jedi.
   
2. We aim to set the standard in making information relevant to users and by optimizing communication tools to share such knowledge.
   
3. We are open and able to offer different perspectives on life and experiences through sharing information.
   
4. As volunteers, our purpose is to teach and learn the way as Jedi in a practical, yet real sense, and to strengthen and expand upon who we are.

(http://jediorganization.addr.com/jedi/website/mission/)

and that:

To this end, we undertake the following specific commitments:

• We are committed to providing an open method of learning, whereby all types of training methods are supported. These methods will encourage academic excellence, inquiry, leadership, and cooperation in students and communities.
  
• We are committed to providing the most up-to-date educational information and theories as represented throughout the online Jedi community and beyond, with mindful consideration of the maturity and implications of providing such resources.
  
• We are committed to providing for the spiritual needs of others, broadening our educational structure towards philosophical and ethical understanding.
  
• We are committed to helping academic participants by providing them the means to reach their individual goals.
  
• We are committed, with mindful consideration, to foster better communication and appreciation between the various online Jedi communities.
  
• We are committed to honoring the perspectives of other Jedi paths and non-Jedi faiths, acknowledging their uniqueness, collective knowledge, wisdom and the preferences of their followers.
  
• We are committed to the continual effort of unifying with other communities both online and offline that hold similar academic interests.

(http://jediorganization.addr.com/jedi/education/)

Therefore, what can be seen to be suggested here is that the website aims to provide the user with as much information as possible about Jedism and also to help those who wish to aspire to be Jedi. They claim that they do this voluntarily, in order to strengthen their own character... which could be seen to be an admirable quality.

So what does this website say are the key beliefs to Jedism? The websites founders have come up with a list of principles through which they believe help the person attain the state of mind which is to be adhered by Jedi's... that is to say that they believe you should follow the laws of INSPIRATION:

Integrity
Nobleness
Significance
Passiveness
Imagination
Responsibility
Affection
Truth
Interest
Optimism
Naturalness
(http://jediorganization.addr.com/jedi/library/creeds/jedicreed/inspiration.html)

Therefore, as this list suggests this could actually prove to be a workable ethical system by which people can live by within the real world? It also seems to have strong associations with the ethical system of Buddhism, therefore it could be seen to possible for implementation, but what are the beliefs exactly....

The main essential belief which penetrates this religion is that of belief in the Force. The Force, in the Star Wars films, is what enables the Jedis to move things with their minds, control others thoughts etc... so how applicable is this in the real world? Firstly, i think we need to understand what is seen to be meant by the force!

The website claims that :

The Force is, put simply, the energy field that is created and sustained by all living things. It is this this energy field that the Jedi learns to commune with, to protect and serve in the interest of all life. The Jedi draws from the Force only when needed to serve that purpose. Drawing power from all that is life in the interest of selfish pursuits is the path of destruction and is the way of the Dark side.

The Force has many names throughout history, mana, ki, and quintessence among others, but all share a common vision of it's existence and power. Those among us who learn to co-exist with it can find peace and great strength and ability in times of duress.

The Force is the great equalizer in the galaxy. It's disciples are not hampered by size and shall always overcome in the face of adversity. Take the daisy that cracks the boulder to reach the sunlight, the Force can empower life to achieve what might be seen to some as impossible.

We are all children of the Force and charged with it's protection. Life begets the Force and needless destruction of life will in turn send ripples of discord through all that live. A Jedi draws from the Force to protect life.

This is the way of the Jedi. 


(http://jediorganization.addr.com/jedi/library/theforce/interpretations/theforce.html)

Another key element to Jedism which is discussed on this website is the practice of Meditation. Meditation is a method of relaxation and inner thought which is adopted by many spiritual ideologies, and is also adopted by Jedism. However, Jedism seems to have re worded the associations which are generally used with Meditation to use terms such as the Force, to mean Chi or Karma or Lifes Energy.

The website claims that:

There are many of us who recommend we should do this or that. One wonders how many of us actually do these things we recommend? Not many.

Some say our health is important. Others say we should take care of our bodies and our minds. We should think good thoughts. We should train ourselves to be opened and mindful. To do this requires a practice.

Many Jedi have turned to meditation in order to act on these philosophies they stand for. Sometimes a meditative technique is complicated. Many, though, are not. Some are so simple you may not even realize you are doing them.

Take the time to relax. It is never a wrong decision to take some time to relax and set the sitation for what it is. Whether it is saying a prayer before you go to bed, taking a breath before you go to the office, or making sure you eat real food before you grab the snacks. We all get busy and there are many excuses out there for us to remain this way. There's always time to start getting rid of some of your bad habits by putting some good ones in their place.
(http://jediorganization.addr.com/jedi/library/practices/meditation/)

As well as loads of different methods by which to do this including:

Entering a Meditative State (Kiae-Quon dei) Feel the Force (Streen) The Awareness (Streen) Breath, You Are Alive! (Spark Vallen) Chakra Meditation (Opie-Wan Macloed) Chakra Balancing Meditation (Demetrius Vorak) Color Healing Techinque (Opie-Wan Macloed) Colour Healing Meditation (Jim Malloy) Cosmic Meditation (Opie-Wan Macloed) Creativity Meditation (Spark Vallen) Empty-Mind Meditation (Teal'c Nyal)

Fluid Emotions (Saidi) Inner Light Meditation (Jim Malloy) Light Body Relaxation Technique (Jim Malloy) Light-Fire Meditation (Rin-Xia Aran) Mindfulness Meditation (Jim Malloy) Relaxation Meditation (Jim Malloy) Stars Inside (Opie-Wan Macloed) Walking Meditation (Spark Vallen) Yin/Yang (Opie-Wan Macloed) Zazen (Spark Vallen)

(http://jediorganization.addr.com/jedi/library/practices/meditation/)

I would like to conclude with this video which i found on youtube which seems somewhat tongue in cheek, but i think is useful when thinking about the nature and indeed practicality to actually believing in the way of the Jedi.

This video seems to highlight the key elements of the ways in which a person can become a Jedi within modern day society, and although, as i said the video seems fairly colloquial there are many things which can be learnt from this!

Therefore what seems to be viewable through this is how practical the religion of Jedism is and how close it is to other forms of religion and spiritualities through which people follow today. Therefore it could be that the reason why people consider Jedism with such high speculation could be due to the fact that they misunderstand the religion itself and fear it due to the fact that it stemed from the sci-fi movies themselves.

Do you think that there is anything inherently wrong with following a belief system such as the Jedi? Do you think that the main reason why people do not accept this as a true form of religion is based on the fictitious nature of its origins?

As always... May the Force be with you!

Social Networking, Smartphones and Religion - the holy trinity of the 21st Century?

As we, as a society, have become more affiliated with these forms of virtual communication we seem to have begun, if not already mainly completed, a complete digitization of everything within our lives. We have moved from 45's and 78s records, to Cassettes, to Compact Disks, to now MP3 with our music collections, Online Dating, Online Banking, Online shopping, Online religion, Online games, Online messaging, Streaming Movies, Online Newspapers, Online Books and book readers such as Amazon's Kindle... need I really go on? Does this digitization of life alter the way in which society works? does the convenience offered to us by the internet really alter the true intrinsic nature of what it is to 'live'?

One thing I have noticed which has been on the increase over the past decade to the extent that now, in contemporary society, seems as though the world revolves around, is the ever-growing usage of social networking websites such as Facebook, Twitter and MySpace, and also the recently growing dependence on smartphones to help us within our everyday lives. So as we have moved our social organisational skills to an online context, does this mean the social aspect of religion is thusly affected also? Let us look deeper.

Within contemporary society, we seem to be in the trend of making everything 'Facebook Official', that is to say, if its not on Facebook its not real... how ironic that our physical lives have to be confirmed by the virtual... so what could this mean for religion? Well if we type into the Facebook Search Bar a religion of choice, which for the purposes of this blog i went for Jedism, the religion will pop up. (http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Religion-of-Jedism/219871688828?sk=wall). This therefore allows a connection between all people who practice, or who wish to practice the religion who are affiliated with Facebook. They are able to communicate with each other whether this be through Message, Wall Posts, Event Invitations, Facebook Chat etc. Therefore could this be seen to be a creation of a sense of community? However, not only are they able to search for and join groups to do with their religion, they are also able to stipulate your religion on your information page, thus allowing people to put their religion as Jedi, does this therefore mean that people are using this form of internet phenomenon of social networking sites as a means of validation for their beliefs?

I believe, to an extent, that they are. This is because through the declaration on Facebook that their religion is indeed Jedi, they declaring to the world that they are proud to be affiliated with the religion itself and therefore deem themselves as practicing members of the order. For the larger more established and sociologically accepted religions such as Christianity, there are different webpages dedicated to not only the different denominational sects, but also to individual churches, where people are able to get involved with upcoming events and also use it as a way of getting to know fellow congregational members outside of the normal Sunday service, with the added convenience of the Internet. Therefore, it seems as though this could prove beneficial for every religion, due to the fact that people are able to discuss, help, aid, and organize a religion much better through the usages of websites such as these, and could therefore mean that, if the demand and interest was there, Jedism could in fact become a much more established, world wide religion.

I found this image on Google Images and thought it represented something quite interesting... not only is Jedi deemed on Facebook the 10th most popular religion tradition.... but also on an even more intrinsic level... there are comparisons with religious beliefs in the physical world and religious beliefs in the virtual world!!!! What doe this suggest for religion. However, i think one of the most important thing to draw from this is the fact that religion has moved into the virtual, how far i think is still under great debate, but with sites such as Facebook enabling users to communicate with each other, and also practice their religion in a world wide community.... i think it undeniable that social networking sites will hold an important part to play within religion in the future!

So what part do smartphones play in religion within contemporary society? Smartphone operating systems such as IPhone, Blackberry and Android massively dominate the phone market within society, not only due to the popularity and reliability of the phones in question through the advancements and increased affordability of technology, but also the increased introduction of the Application Markets. These application markets offer programmes which enable users to become more in-tuned with certain aspects of their life through the increased convenience of being able to interact and control certain things with their phones.

These applications vary in usage, from games, to compasses, to spirit levels, to cookbooks, to novels, to banking to religion, all able for instant download and immediate usage. Although, at this present time, there does not seem to be many if any Jedism applications available, other denominational religions do! There are applications aiding a Christian in the proverbs of Jesus or as an event calendar for a specific church, or a compass to aid Muslims in the way in which to face whilst praying, to telling them the nearest mosques, to confessional applications for Catholics. What does this suggest about then nature of religion within modern day society? It seems to suggest, in my opinion, that as we are busy with the hecticness of todays lifestyle, working long hours and never seeming to have enough time, that we have moved religion into a medium which can be accessed instantaneously when we see fit wherever we are, whether it be at 2 am in the morning tucked up in bed or on our dinner break at work... religion seems now to be much more controlled by human's lifestyles, as opposed to the traditional aspect of religion controlling peoples lifestyles! What do you think?

I believe also that if there was a growing surge of popularity in Jedism or at least a continuance of interest there will come a time in the near future where there will also be applications applicable to the practicing of Jedism becoming available.

Do you think this would be, or indeed is for traditional religions, detrimental to the nature and purpose of religion? Do you think we should pick when we can fit it in? Or is it a necessary part which we should make time for in the physical work like we used to? is this problematic due to the nature of the multicultural and mutli religious society in which we live now?

May the Force be with you

Rituals in Jedism

Every religion within the modern world has a history of sacraments and rituals which are inherent to the religion itself and also make up a considerable amount of the way in which people practice the religion within their everyday lives. Are cyber religions any different to this? Do cyber religions have sacraments and rituals for their adherents to follow? Seemingly so...

Jedism also follows this example. There are many websites dedicated to informing the reader about the different religious sacraments which are inherent to the religion itself, and also to the ways in which the believers practice their religion. This could be down to a simple piece of clothing that the Jedi's wear or actually down to an initiation process or other such like rituals. These can be seen throughout the Internet resources on the Internet and below there is a video which has been taken from an Anglia News article on a person who lives his life as a Jedi.

As this video shows, Jedi's believe that they should wear hoods in public to protect themselves from the negative energies which are apparent within our world, and also as can be seen this is highly problematic. This is because of the modern day gang culture which seems to dominate contemporary society. People fear youths who wear hoods, and nowadays the 'hoodie' is seen to have negative connotations with the yob culture. Therefore this practicing of this part of the religion could prove highly problematic, as is exemplified through this video, for the person within modern day culture. 

However, are there other forms of sacraments within the Jedism religion? The answer can be found on a website which has been aptly named as Wookiepedia (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Jedi_Trials), this website contains all the information about Jedism as can be seen within the films, therefore this begs the question, how relevant is it to the religion itself? 

It seems as though, as I'm sure you will agree, the website contains information which would be useful for the person attempting to become a part of the religion of Jedism, due to the fact that although the website gives information about the fictional version of Jedi Knights, there is a large part of it which could be relevant as it discusses the morals and belief systems that the Jedi Knights uphold, which for the large part, are upheld by the Jedis within the world today. For Example, on the Jedi Trials section of the website (found here: http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Jedi_Trials) we see how the trials consist of 5 separate functions, to test the persons Skill, Courage, Spirit, Flesh and Insight, to which they must perform this in front of the Jedi Council. Although this would not be possible nor even attempted within modern day society and is therefore not applicable, we would still be able to draw certain aspects from this. That is to say that the five sections of the trials themselves have been adopted into the Jedism way of thought, and therefore a practitioner would be able to view what is meant by this and put them into perspective. 

Therefore it seems conclusive that even though Jedism is still viewed with much speculation and misunderstanding, in the terminology of the sacramental side of a religion, Jedism does indeed follow suit. The sacraments and rituals which are adhered to by Jedi's would probably differ depending on which site they use as their home base, mainly due to the fact that the religion does not have a single 'Jedi Council' with whom to create a sense of an orthodoxy of sacraments. 

However, a question still remains to be answered, if the rituals and sacraments of a religion, whether this be Jedism or any other religion; Christianity, Islam, Judaism etc, have to be performed in a physical nature, does this bode a problem for cyber religion? Can a persons avatar on the Internet act as a form of identity for which they are able to act on behalf of them? Can a sacrament be participated in the virtual without losing the key spiritual meaning? Do you think this would mean that there is a loss in the sense of meaning and understanding which is trying to be conveyed? Something there for you to mull over until next time is this article I found in the Metro which might give an example of how this could be answered, what do you think?

May the Force be with you

Jedi Identity: online and offline - A problem?

A problem that has always been apparent within the medium of the internet is the issue of identity and who we are communicating with on the other end of the computer, but also the alter ego many of us create on the internet. How does this affect us in our theologically minded exploration? how could this impact the ways in which we research and participate in online religion?

quite ominous.... 

It is a well known fact that our virtual text based lives that are predominant on the internet can be as different to the real world lives we live as chalk is to cheese, and for many they use this ability to be who they want to be as a form of release, or as a means of virtually believing they have achieved what they want and 'living the dream'... literally. Due to the diverse nature of the internet a person in Florida, in USA could be connected to a person in Madrid, in Spain, and a person in Birmingham, in the UK, all at the same time. Due to the fact that the internet is quintessentially a timeless, eternal space which is not affected by distance, a person can be who they wish to be. For example, in religious terms, a person could be a Christian on a Sunday, a Jedi on a Monday, a Hindu on a Tuesday... I'm sure you get my point.

This is probably best exemplified through this video i found on Youtube expressing the problems of the issue of identity online...

The non-physicality of the internet enables people to change character, race, gender, age, even beliefs at a click of a button. Does this raise ethical issues for societies which are based on the trusting of people who we have never met before? Are there dangers to this form of communication and ways of interacting with others, whether this be on a theological level or even a social level? Surely, we accept the answer to this question to be a massive YES!

How then does this affect religions which are essentially based on the internet? Religions which are based solely in a virtual context are subjugated to this trust issue and also the timelessness and the ability given to the user to be anyone they want to be, thus creating inherent problems for not only the religion as a whole but also to the believers.

Jedism is no exception to this. As the religion is predominantly based on the internet, it is subjected to the same issues of identity. Also due to the fact that the religion is mainly concerned with the creation of a new Jedi identity, the transition of this identity from virtual to physical can be seen to be highly problematic. For example, with a religion such as Jedism there are many people who are speculative of the way of thought concerned with it, and also are willing mock anyone who is concerned with it. Therefore, people would probably be tempted to keep their two identities, their physical and their virtual, completely separate.

Furthermore, as would be likely due to the public nature of the religion, and the internet, it would be likely that people concerned with and the religion as a whole would be subjected to ridicule through non understanding, and the common misconception that the religion is actually nothing to do with the Star Wars version of Jedism, and is in fact a method by which they have adopted the core principles of this phenomenon and people have adopted this into their everyday lives.

Therefore, identity on the internet is a very contentious thing. There are people who will pretend to be someone else, people who have separate identities for whatever medium they are using. Therefore is it possible to ever truly know someone on the internet? Is it ever plausible to be able to trust a person that one meets in the virtual environment? Does this create distinctive problems for not only cyber religion, but also religions who are now becoming associated with the internet? in that does it alter the true nature of religion, the community aspect and the ability to 'love thy neighbor'? i would like evoke you to think about this, the next time you are looking at religion online, or could this paranoia create an adverse effect for religious belief? Ill leave that question with you...

As always... May the force be with you!

Jedi Discussion: Being connected by the Force?

One of the most prominent aspects of cyber religion which has proven itself to being advantageous to not only Jedism but also to religions as a whole, is the ability to communicate with others who share similar if not the same beliefs as the user. This, however, can prove problematic especially when using online forums where anybody is able to post information, this I will discuss a little more later in this post when I look at some of the forums.

Religions which are found predominantly in an online context rely heavily upon the ability to discuss matters of interest online. The users of these religious forums are also reliant upon this ability to quickly communicate with people who share similar beliefs as them, due to the fact that it is through the websites, such as forums and instant messaging sites where we are able to see a form of virtual community.
One particular website is http://templeofthejediforce.org/modules/newbb/index.php which shows one of the best online contexts where this discussion can be seen. From the Homepage of this site we are able to see the opportunities that it offers for those wishing to become involved in the Jedi Religion. The top two threads of the page offers information to the reader offering them guidance and support upon becoming a Jedi. This therefore proves a major advantage and perhaps symbolises the opportunities available to other religions who wish to exist on an online content. As can be seen throughout this site it offers the believer the ability to get any information they wish about the religion whenever they wish.

However, as these sites are in designed for and maintained in the public domain we are presents with problems which arise for those using these forum sites. The public nature of these sites pose problematic for the users of these sites for the main fact that there are people who use them in order to provoke response, defame or simply ridicule the beliefs held by a particular group. Although this behaviour is strictly monitored by the web page guardians and anyone found to be behaving in such a manner will be banned from the site, the ridicule and humiliation which could be felt by those using the site for legitimate purposes could have a serious detrimental effect upon the usage of these sites. Therefore, if this is not monitored and altered accordingly it could prove disastrous and even ruining for these virtual communities.

The communities are a good way of supporting one another, not only within the religion of Jedism but also within religious traditions such as Christianity, Islam and Hinduism... to name but a few in the vast multitudes of online communities. This is because it aids the believer in feeling that they are not alone and within the busyness of peoples lifestyles within modern culture, where most people do not have the time of day for a simple "hello" anymore this could prove an invaluable attribute to the success of the site. Furthermore it also helps them believe that there is always help at hand, and also that there is always someone who will understand and who will help them at anytime of the day.

A final reason that i would like to propose that these forum sites prove so popular and are used frequently by these online religious organisations, is that they offer users a method of release where they are able to rant, shout, talk about, cry and rejoice in anything which has affected their everyday lives thus proving invaluable to not only people within their religious lives but also as a method of losing themselves in the vast infinity of Cyberspace.

The Storm Troopers are all about the Safety! but is Cyberspace?

Do you think these forums provide a safe place for religious and theological discussion for Jedism or other religions? Do you believe that the Internet and these forums provide the best place for these theologies to flourish? or do you think that they prove too problematic for implementation?

I have to admit... through the examples i have seen and the through the posts on these forum websites, it appears that they do prove to be highly problematic perhaps too problematic for true theological reflection, which i believe is something to do with the issue of identity, which i plan to research and discuss in my next post. I will leave you with a picture of an example of the type of problems which arises from this.

Here we see how a person using these forums have misconstrued the true medium of Jedism and is more concerned with the ability of using "Force Lightning". This seems to be a person making fun of the religion in its intrinsic nature and therefore proves highly problematic. Full link: (http://www.jedichurch.org/webapps/site/4448/5936/chat/message-view.html?msg_id=349514)

May the Force be with you.