The Devil is Closer Than Dagobah

Say what????

I am a big fan of Star Wars, from way, way, back. I had tons of action figures as a kid, and I cried and whined so that my mother would take me to see all three movies of the Trilogy. (Poor woman, rest her soul. Now, when I watch The Lion King for the 2000th time, I look up at heaven and say "Moma, I think I know how you felt!!!") She sat there like a trooper, eyes glazing over, desperately fighting sleep, but I don't think she would have taken me to see those movies if she thought there was anything REMOTELY Satanic about them. In fact, if Star Wars really did have demonic overtones, the movies would never have lasted as long as they have in mainstream culture.

Period.

Why Someone Would Think Star Wars is Satanic

Star Wars has a lot of Eastern Philosophy woven into it's content. In our ethnocentricity, we tend to view ideas that do not come from our culture as bad or inferior. The culture of mainstream America is very binary--i.e., yes-no, good-bad, black-white, right-wrong, etc.

"The Force" can be viewed in the same light as "chi"--the energy of the universe that exists inside of everything. The concept of chi is generally not accepted in the west, and may be viewed by some fundamentalist christians as some occult or mystical force that is not of God.

I am a christian. REPEAT: I AM A CHRISTIAN. However, when I first heard about chi, I thought it was merely an eastern expression for the Holy Spirit. After all, aren't we taught that God, in the form of the Holy Spirit, is inside of us all, is in nature, and is the force that drives Creation?

Some fundamentalists may also believe that the Star Wars movies promotes the yielding of powers (Jedi Mind Trick, teleportation, telekinesis) that are similar to witchcraft or other forms of spirituality that are viewed as evil in the west. I have to disagree: I think that the movies are just entertainment. It would be quite boring if the space people couldn't do anything superhuman. Other fundalmentalists may see the creatures portrayed in the movies as demons or devils. I disagree. Unless George Lucas goes on the record for saying he invokes Mephistopheles on a daily basis, I will think that the creatures came from his imagination. After all, the stories do take place on OTHER planets, right?????

If we follow the premise that everything with any magical overtones is evil, then we have to guard our children from the following things that we may consider harmful:

• All bedtime stories (talking animals must be possessed by the devil)
• 85% of age-appropriate cartoons (I've always felt that Barney was evil. Or is it just that he's ANNOYING!)
• All stories of Santa Claus, The Tooth Fairy, and the like (By the way, the pastor at our church does NOT like the idea of Santa. He feels it takes away from the meaning of Christmas. He may have a point there considering that it is supposed to be a time for spirituality and not some excuse to focus on materialism)
• 95% of all childrens books (the Devil is inside those choo-choo trains))
• Half of the nursery rhymes (the Devil must have gotten inside of the gingerbread man)

And there goes the innocent imagination of childhood.

The Devil is Here, Inside Human Beings

There are a LOT more things that humans do, that I think are inspired by Satan, on a daily basis. Satan: