My last blog of the year is a joint one, posted at both Religion in American History and Sowing the Seed (an online scholar-student collaborative). Enjoy, happy New Year, and May the Force be with You.

So I’ve been (over)thinking Star Wars for the better part of a month now. If you know me, you know I’m quite the nerd. For the past few weeks, though, it’s been turned all the way up to 11. Not only have I been obsessing over Star Wars, I’ve been thinking about Star Wars as American religion.
Why? Well, I’ve known for some time that I’m due for an end-of-the-year RiAH post. In the throes of syllabusing (like Charles McCrary and so many of us this time of year), my initial instinct was to blog on course construction. Then Richard Newton, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Elizabethtown College and fellow Star Wars overthinker, solicited essays on religion, religious studies, and Star Wars forSowing the Seed (a student-scholar digital collaborative that hosts conversations on religion, culture, and teaching). Gauntlet thrown, challenge accepted, I settled on the following topic: What would it mean to think about Star Wars as American religion?

What does that even mean, you might ask? Well, to restate the question, I’ve been wondering under what circumstances (by what parameters, for what purposes) Star Wars might be considered American religion. To put it yet another way, could I include Star Wars in my Religion in America (RELS 250) course this spring? These are the kinds of questions that awaken – I know, I know, that pun was a little Forced – when you rewatch the (original) Star Wars trilogy and see The Force Awakens(twice), all while writing your Religion in America syllabus……. See what I mean? The nerd is notched up to Ludicrous Speed.

My nerdiness notwithstanding, it strikes me that how one answers these questions could tell us quite a bit. Whether a teacher is willing to consider Star Wars as American religion has the potential to tell us how they define “religion” and how they conceptualize the purpose of a “religion in America” course. Continue reading →