While atheism is a label used to define what I don\u2019t believe, I sometimes talk about my beliefs in Humanism and Star Wars. In fact, I take my Star Wars very seriously (you can ask my wife). With that in mind, an old college friend recently asked me the following question: How are those that believe in the teachings of Christ different from those who believe in the teachings of the Jedi?<\/p>\n
I think this is fair question and it also illustrates an important point. For starters, even though I consider myself a Jedi, I am aware that Star Wars is fiction. While on the other hand, pretty much all the Christians in the world seem completely unaware that their source material is fiction despite the fact that it is much more fanciful than Star Wars and full of plot holes.<\/p>\n
Although Star Wars is fictional, the films (all six of them) are filled with lessons in morality, politics, and life. They also act as a metaphorical guide to life and teach us about deep connection to other people and the universe around us. The lessons from Star Wars are in a very real sense religious despite the fact that it is completely fictional (like all religions).<\/p>\n
The Bible on the other hand may contain some very important lessons for life, but for every positive moral lesson one can find there are about a dozen examples of extremely negative lessons given to us by the central character, God\/Jesus. In fact, the idea of faith is itself one of the most destructive concepts in the history of humankind. No one should ever be compelled to believe anything on insufficient reason.<\/p>\n
Star Wars is better on every level. It is more compact, teaches better morality, better life lessons, more complex characters, more entertaining, less plot holes, and is honest about being a fictional story. Those who believe in the Bible actually believe that the narrative is real when it is obvious fiction\u2026 poorly written fiction at that. Plus, Star Wars teaches that slavery is wrong and women can be strong leaders and kick some ass just like men. The Bible on the other hand teaches that slavery is at best okay and at worst that slavery is really good. The Bible also teaches that women are the property of men and they should never be in a position of leadership over a man. I\u2019ll take my half naked Princess Leia in the gold bikini over that any day. \ud83d\ude09
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