Christopher
Jedi High Councillor
USA
1209 Posts Posted - 31 May 2002 : 16:51:18 Show Profile Email Poster Visit Christopher's Homepage Send Christopher a Yahoo! Message Send Christopher an instant message
Online El Paso Article:
http://www.borderlandnews.com/stories/living/20020517-197936.shtml
Christopher
Jediism:The Religion with a Force
Christopher
Jedi High Councillor
USA
1209 Posts Posted - 31 May 2002 : 17:01:59 Show Profile Email Poster Visit Christopher's Homepage Send Christopher a Yahoo! Message Send Christopher an instant message
I was interviewed by an El Paso newspaper a few weeks ago. The interview appears in their religion section.
Here are a few of their questions.
Your faith seems like a very peaceful one and focuses on inner mastery, are there ways to better define inner mastery? What does it feel like and how does one attain this mastery? Also, are there different levels of inner mastery?
Your mission statement addresses true Jedi Knights, is there a way to distinguish someone as an authentic Jedi and someone as inauthentic?
How does one become a Jedi Knight? Is there a process with a sanctioning body?
In the Official Code from your site you mention that "Jediism bases less of its focus on myth and fiction, and more upon those real life examples of Jediism." Can you identify a few real life examples for me?
What are some of the obstacles your faith faces as it continues to spread?
Are there any estimates for Jedi Knights around the world yet?
What did you think of the push in New Zealand, Australia and Great Britain to get Jedi recognized as a religion for census results?
I know Jedi Knights make a distinction between their faith, which is real, and the filmed saga from George Lucas, which is fictional. I also understand that the history of your faith traverses over 5,000 years of thought, but are there any direct connections to the Lucas vision and the faith?
You probably take a lot of comedic shots from those who are reluctant to take Jedis as anything other than Star Wars fans gone a little wild. How do you deal with that and what do you tell people to help enlighten them about your faith?
What basic concepts about being a Jedi Knight do you really enjoy and why?
Are you a fan of the George Lucas films?
How we deal with the media and the press can be a thermometer regarding how we are viewed publically - serious religion or cult? Think about the questions a little, and consider strategically how the answers to them can be either construed positively or misconstrued. During interviews, all questions are trick questions.
<><><><><><><>
Your faith seems like a very peaceful one and focuses on inner mastery, are there ways to better define inner mastery? What does it feel like and how does one attain this mastery? Also, are there different levels of inner mastery?
Inner mastery is finding a place within where love and appreciation to all life can be upheld. I believe that a component of inner mastery is keeping an open mind by looking at all sides of "the elephant" (like the fable of the blind men who were asked to describe one, and ended up arguing amongst themselves as to what the elephant looked like) and use the available information not to conflict with one another, but as sharing a common theme we eventually come to recognize as a universal truth, or truths.
In Jediism, we uphold the Light of Truth and Illumination as our founding principle, our faith and creed. Jediists believe that Light (as described in numerous doctrines, from Christianity to Buddhism, to Pantheism and Taoism) is a golden thread that runs through every major and positive religion, philosophy, and way of life. We believe that Light holds a key to the inner spiritual freedom of all men.
Because we recognize that truth is nonetheless truth regardless of where it is found, we have adopted a stance of both an appreciation for and nonjudgment towards many differing ideologies and belief systems inherent within all positive religious and philosophical disciplines. Many devout members of many other faiths find a home with us while retaining their personal religious and/or philosophical choices and private walk on the path of their choosing. (Thus, a Christian Jedi, a Buddhist Jedi, etc.)
Your mission statement addresses true Jedi Knights, is there a way to distinguish someone as an authentic Jedi and someone as inauthentic?
Yes. Self-proclaimed Jedi Knights who have not begun to challenge the Darkside proponents blocking their inner attainment cannot be deemed as true Jedi Knights by the Council.
The Darkside (selfishness, hate, fear, doubt, anger, hostility, judgment, haughtiness, ingratitude, resentment, jealousy, arrogance, egotism, etc) and its effect upon the inner and outer life is constantly sifted through by ranking members who work diligently to transform these lessor components into Light (selflessness, service to others, love, appreciation, forgiveness, mercy, community effort, teamwork, humility, etc) through meditation, prayer and voluntary community service.
How does one become a Jedi Knight? Is there a process with a sanctioning body?
It is determined only by unanimous vote from the Council. We look at many varying factors regarding the culmulative mastery of the applicant in relation to the four quadrants of being (physical, mental, emotional and spiritual) and either approve advancement or suggest additional training. We do offer apprentices a private online training center to assist them, and in rare occasions, private one-on-one tutoring and mentoring.
In the Official Code from your site you mention that "Jediism bases less of its focus on myth and fiction, and more upon those real life examples of Jediism." Can you identify a few real life examples for me?
Sure. Examples of selfless service to mankind, lack of egotism and a true love for the truth represents what we deem important examples in the spirit of Jediism - the true heroes. Jesus, Siddhartha, Krishna, Mathatma Gandhi, William Wallace, Martin Luther King Jr, John F. Kennedy, Yogananda, and in fact many people in history who have surrendered their lesser identities as a small sacrificial offering for the greater cause of freedom for all.
What are some of the obstacles your faith faces as it continues to spread?
Our faith seems to face some of the same obstacles that many beginning movements do: misunderstandings based on preconceived notions, and sometimes harsh judgment and persecution because of an unfortunate climate of intolerance, fear and hostility created by those preconceived notions. False premises that we promote the use of lightsabers as yet another weapon of mass destruction, and moving objects with our minds (rather than using attunement to move hearts) also continues to be brought up as a challenge to our validity as a religion, which we subsequently attempt to correct as not part of our theology. Being essentially categorized as "simply just some Star Wars fanatics" couldn't be further from the truth.
If people truly wish to harbor these opinions, we steer away from repeated attempts to pry them from the desire not to know the truth, for they have chosen that belief, however untrue, in an exercise of free will. We bow in peace to their choice, yet that is not to say that we personally agree with their decision.
Are there any estimates for Jedi Knights around the world yet?
The Jediism movement is growing so fast that any estimate I offer you today will not be correct days from now. We have an average of ten to twelve new registrations per day (twenty two yesterday) and roughly about fifteen new apprentice applications a week.
(Editor's note: these figures have since doubled)
As for true Jedi Knights, many organizations that harbor a separate theology and belief system from our own exist (yet who are valid in their own right) so the number of Jedi Knights around the world could well number into the thousands.
What did you think of the push in New Zealand, Australia and Great Britain to get Jedi recognized as a religion for census results?
I believe that this may be a positive thing.
However, we also have observed that the main problem may lay within the initial motive for such a campaign: is it to truly recognize Jedi Knight as a viable religion, or yet another prank to justify self-proclamation as a Jedi Knight without the training and a tested system of checks and balances?
On one hand, the thought as Jedi Knight as a real religion has positive repercussions for our faith. Yet on the other hand, questionable motives and pranks that generally equate to service to self and and the false need to exalt self over others serves more to cheapen the designation, rather than in recognition of the real truth behind the level of Jedi Knight.
We also recognize that not all attempts to get Jedi listed in the census is impure - some have very deep and profound reasons for doing so. I personally support their efforts as an exercise of freedom of religion and freedom of speech.
I know Jedi Knights make a distinction between their faith, which is real, and the filmed saga from George Lucas, which is fictional. I also understand that the history of your faith traverses over 5,000 years of thought, but are there any direct connections to the Lucas vision and the faith?
We are not affliated in any way to George Lucas or his companies. To say that Jediism is part of the Star Wars team or somehow connected to LucasFilms LTD and their holdings is most untrue, and in fact, we try to distance ourselves as an entirely different movement altogether. We are not to be confused with them. Further, we do not adhere to many of the more violent precepts that have made Star Wars famous (lightsabers for instance, the need for one, the need to build one, or the need for any weapon at all.)
Since the dawn of man, gifted folks with a knack for story have been telling their tales with a moral both as entertainment to those present around the campfire, and as a teaching tool. Many holy men used stories and parables to illustrate their points so that complex ideas could be simplified for all to see and understand.
George Lucas is a creative visionary, who seems to recognize that without faith of some kind, the future generations may be lost - mistakenly attempting to fill themselves up from the outside in through all manner of things, toys, events, etc, rather than finding that our true service to life is from a deep inner connection first to a faith from where all true inspiration springs. We do agree with the ideas behind the myth and fantasy. But that is where our similarities end.
You probably take a lot of comedic shots from those who are reluctant to take Jedis as anything other than Star Wars fans gone a little wild. How do you deal with that and what do you tell people to help enlighten them about your faith?
By gently correcting those who truly want to know, and leaving those who wish to believe otherwise to their own conscience. We first tell them to read the Mission Statement and the Code of Jediism. We recognize that all have a right to believe whatever they wish (regardless of how close to or how far from the truth it is) so after an attempt to parlay what we are truly about has failed, we bow to the Light within the one holding onto the preconception, and move on.
Incidentally, it must be said that we do not have an organized recruitment drive to speak of. People come to us out of their own accord. Many decide to stay.
What basic concepts about being a Jedi Knight do you really enjoy and why?
The shedding of intolerance, fanaticism, and spiritual / emotional bigotry, and the upholding of the freedom of discovery of truth, and the recognition of Light, Love and thankfulness in mutual validation by recognizing the precept that truth is truth where it is found.
Are you a fan of the George Lucas films?
For pure entertainment value, they're great.Go to Top of Page
JediLight
Jedi High Councillor
USA
1375 Posts Posted - 31 May 2002 : 17:31:01 Show Profile Email Poster Visit JediLight's Homepage
Just to clarify, Chris was the one interviewed, but I sent his replies in and the writer mistakingly gave me credit in the article. Unfortunately, he did not let us know that he such a tight deadline and the answers were sent in right at deadline time, which we believe resulted in him only being able to use a few things from the interview.
We have been receiving a number of interview requests which we had been turning down because of the possibility of our being linked in with other Star Wars fan sites or being presented in a negative fashion. As this was a an article for the religion section and Mr. Hernandez assured us of his sincerity, we decided to go with it.
