Star Wars Jesus

We recently stumbled upon www.starwarsjesus.com, which is an Internet front for a book of the same name. The book consists of 101 meditations upon Christianity, as framed by instances throughout the six released Star Wars films.

Our initial reaction was apathy, as this appeared to be yet another cash-in on the late JC, like Buddy Jesus, Dashboard Jesus, and Touchdown Jesus. After all, much-better additions to the pantheon of Jesi (our new plural term for Jesus) might be Broken-Condom Jesus (gotta make them Catholics!), Weeping-Drunk Jesus (he had an abusive, emotionally distant father and an itinerant stepfather who didn't trust his mother), and Cheeses Christ (oh, heavenly flavor! need we say more?).

However, a trip to Amazon was instructive in pointing out that there are actually quite a few books that connect Star Wars with Christianity. Thinking about it a bit, this makes total sense, as writings advocating any deity are essentially fan fiction. Why not combine Bible fan fiction with Star Wars fan fiction?

Further, George Lucas pointed out in a 1977 interview with Rolling Stone Magazine that he was looking, post-American Graffiti, to do something that would resonate with children. One way to do that, he figured, was to have the audience forget about science and suspend rationality (he gave the example of "there is no sound in space", yet Star Wars depended heavily upon laser blast and explosive sound effects). Certainly, religion (qua faith) requires the complete suspension of rationality. Thus, the phenomenon of which Star Wars Jesus is a part seems natural.

It would be interesting to know Lucas' thoughts on this. He is, if not a fan of fan fiction, a supporter of its existence. On the other hand, he was a student of Joseph Campbell, the famous scholar of myths, who saw the Bible as fiction. In Myths To Live By, Campbell put forth that:

Today we know--and know right well--that there was ... no Garden of Eden anywhere on this earth, no time when the serpent could talk, no prehistoric "Fall," no exclusion from the garden, no universal Flood, no Noah's Ark. The entire history on which our leading Occidental religions have been founded is an anthology of fictions.

Would Lucas be OK with Bible fan fiction mixing with Star Wars fan fiction? After all, the Bible is the basis for countless cruelties and intellectual regressions throughout the centuries, whereas, as far as we know, no one has died for insulting Star Wars (even in Clerks II). It appears clear that if Lucas is indeed uncomfortable with mixing Jesus and Star Wars, he keeps it to himself as no one is evidently suing to stop these books, as they persist for sale on Amazon. Of course, being a California guy, Lucas' attitude might just be "whatever".