[Regarding "Jedi religion much like others, rabbi concludes":] Actually, Hans Solo called it a "hokey religion" in the very first "Star Wars" movie. And many fans think that this religion is moving away from a struggle between good and evil.
In the story, the war continues as long as people are devoted to the dark or to the light. Their new hero, the young woman Rae, is a told she's a nobody. She has no lineage – either in the light as Princess Leah or in the dark side like the Siths and the emperor. They constantly talk about a balance in the force. What better way to achieve balance than for people to embrace good and bad within themselves? Or rather, to eliminate this "faulty" either/or thinking all together.
We'll see what Disney and the writers do in the next movie coming up. I enjoy "Star Wars" as fiction,, but hate it as theology and worldview. Your article is right: What began as fiction many now take as their religion/worldview, whether they admit it or not. But then I heard George Lucas say in an interview years ago that he was writing a new mythology for a new day, to inspire a new generation.
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Scott Plavnick
