Definition of Christianity.

Words are so interchangeable the root word Church means gathering, you know that there are 200 ways to say love and hate they all mean the same thing in no matter how you spell it or speak it, it also depends on the user and there experience.
Tomato, tamato it is still the same food used in many ways, temple / church are interchangeable depending on your up bringing and both are valid for this place of worship and gathering which is what we do here and I'm sure that no one here makes sacrifices except sleep to keep up with the time zones in the IM-ing each other.

Mojiimoto - Jedi Padawan

You see, thats part of the problem, people come here to worship. What would a Jedi worship? The Force? I don't think so. So why come here to worship? I have no problem with people being any religion they want to, but if you want to worship God, Budda, Muhammed or whoever, that should be done at a church created for that purpose, or at home. Not in a Temple created for the development of the Jedi way of life, phylophy, and even for a Jediism spiritual journey. To me, that would be equivalent to going into a Muslim shrine and kneeling to pray to God, or going into a Catholic church and sitting on the floor or a pillow and begin chanting to begin your buddist meditation. Would either of those make sense? Not to me. I'm in no way saying that people should hide what they believe and so forth, but as far as discussion goes it should be directed more toward Jedi and Jediism.

DK

Dhagon Krayt wrote:

You see, thats part of the problem, people come here to worship. What would a Jedi worship? The Force? I don't think so. So why come here to worship? I have no problem with people being any religion they want to, but if you want to worship God, Budda, Muhammed or whoever, that should be done at a church created for that purpose, or at home. Not in a Temple created for the development of the Jedi way of life, phylophy, and even for a Jediism spiritual journey. To me, that would be equivalent to going into a Muslim shrine and kneeling to pray to God, or going into a Catholic church and sitting on the floor or a pillow and begin chanting to begin your buddist meditation. Would either of those make sense? Not to me. I'm in no way saying that people should hide what they believe and so forth, but as far as discussion goes it should be directed more toward Jedi and Jediism.

DK

Exactly, YOU don't think so. Many others do however think so and are more than welcome to do so. This is a a Jedi Church to be sure but Jediism is an interfaith religion, syncretistic in its form. That is what makes Jediism so great! You are more then welcome to feel the way you do. and it is that freedom in faith that strengthens our unity.

\"Etymology: Middle English worshipe worthiness, respect, reverence paid to a divine being, from Old English weorthscipe worthiness, respect, from weorth worthy, worth + -scipe -ship
Date: before 12th century
1chiefly British : a person of importance —used as a title for various officials (as magistrates and some mayors)
2: reverence offered a divine being or supernatural power; also : an act of expressing such reverence
3: a form of religious practice with its creed and ritual
4: extravagant respect or admiration for or devotion to an object of esteem <worship of the dollar>\"
-Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary

According to this there would be no reason not to be able to worship the Force.

Br.Dhagon, I thought a lot about what you said. Could we not consider Jediism as say a type of common lanuage we all speak here, and Christianity/Buddhism/Islam/Wiccan... as the (cultural) dialect in whic each individual Jedi speaks?

Jon wrote:

\"Etymology: Middle English worshipe worthiness, respect, reverence paid to a divine being, from Old English weorthscipe worthiness, respect, from weorth worthy, worth + -scipe -ship
Date: before 12th century
1chiefly British : a person of importance —used as a title for various officials (as magistrates and some mayors)
2: reverence offered a divine being or supernatural power; also : an act of expressing such reverence
3: a form of religious practice with its creed and ritual
4: extravagant respect or admiration for or devotion to an object of esteem <worship of the dollar>\"
-Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary

According to this there would be no reason not to be able to worship the Force.

Br.Dhagon, I thought a lot about what you said. Could we not consider Jediism as say a type of common lanuage we all speak here, and Christianity/Buddhism/Islam/Wiccan... as the (cultural) dialect in whic each individual Jedi speaks?

I Love it Hans...Dead On!

Please explain to me what there could possibly be to worship of the Force. I'm not talking about Christians who see the Force as the same thing as the Holy Spirit. I'm talking about the non-deity, part of everyone, everyone a part of, envelops and penetrates us all Force. What is there to worship?

DK

Here, before anyone replies to my last post, let me offer this. After a moment of \"different\" clarity after taking my pain meds (percocet). That if everyone lived thier life according to common sense, it wouldn't matter what religion you were, you would already be welcome into whatever after life you believe in. Think about it, common sense is that you shouldn't kill someone, you shouldn't take something that is not already yours without paying, to include someones spouse. You should be truthfull, whereas the only reason to tell a fib would be where it could hurt someone to know the truth (i.e. does this make me look fat?) You do all you can to take care of yourself and your family without help from others, unless necessary. If necessary help out others who absolutely need it. That sort of thing. Even if you are not taught these things at a young age, it is common sense for the most part. If everyone kept to themselves about personal morals/religious views we wouldn't have half the problems in this world.

DK

Dhagon Krayt wrote:

Please explain to me what there could possibly be to worship of the Force. I'm not talking about Christians who see the Force as the same thing as the Holy Spirit. I'm talking about the non-deity, part of everyone, everyone a part of, envelops and penetrates us all Force. What is there to worship?

DK

Hey Br.Dhagon you answered your own question....

\"I'm talking about the non-deity, part of everyone, everyone a part of, envelops and penetrates us all Force.\"

What could not be more understandable than to reverence that which keeps us alive? Life itself!

I still see no reason to worship it. Life Is. Thats all, if you worshipped life, you'd have to worship everything that lives, that could be time consuming don't you think?

\"Worship\" may mean different things to different people?

I cannot \"worship\" the Force, or consider being a Jedi as part of a religion. But that is from my perspective.

As a Quaker - we do not \"Worship\" God - but listen to hear what we sense is the message of the almighty. (Quakers do not have icons of any kind including the cross - in fact - you do not have to be Christian to be Quaker but most are also Christian.)

Not having the experience of some of the Christians here and in particular Catholics - with their strong visual service and use of symbols - I may not be able to understand the depth of the word or from what angle a Catholic may understand \"worship\".

As an Episcopalian - and in those services - I did see \"worship\" more as \"respect\" and \"obedience\" to the Bible which was the word of God.

So my viewpoint on Christianity is that I can equate the ideals with the symbolism and also acknowledge the limitations that I find in the Christian methodology of religion/worship???

But I do not have the full experience - only mine.