Seduced by the Dark Side

Seduced by the Dark Side

EDITOR’S NOTE: Dr. Snyder wrote his Ph.D. dissertation at Northwestern University on the religious and psychological meanings of the movies of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, including the first three Star Wars movies, and has published several articles on these subjects. Since that time, he has continued his research in this area, and pub­lished a book titled Myth Conceptions (Baker Book House, 1995) on the New Age myth scholar, Joseph Campbell, on whom Lucas based much, but not all, of his Star Wars saga.

No matter how hard he tries (and, like most other non-Christians, he tries very hard), George Lucas cannot escape God’s world.

That’s why, despite the New Age, Buddhist elements in his Star Wars movies, Lucas also includes some Christian elements in them. Theologically speaking, the Star Wars movies, including the latest one, The Phantom Menace, have been a mixed bag. Their basic tale of good versus evil contains Christian symbolism of sacrifice, redemption and love, but the plot device of “the good side of the Force versus the bad side of the Force” has deliberate Zen Buddhist and pantheist elements. Such elements undermine belief in the existence of the personal God of the Bible.

All of these theological themes, however, are part of an exciting, action-packed story that has positively defined heroism for a whole generation. In the first three movies, Luke, his father and his friends all learn that they must restrain the evil within their own natures in order to move beyond tragedy, failure and despair and to defeat the evil forces in their environment. One of the reasons Star Wars is so popular may be due to the biblical connotations in this heroic theme. The new film continues this theme of overcoming the evil within.

One of the more visually striking elements of the new movie, however, is its strong visual depiction of the horror of evil, most notably in the red and black horned face of the major villain, Darth Maul. Darth Maul stands in stark contrast to the oily, seemingly benevolent machinations of the other villain in the movie, Senator Palpatine, who eventually becomes the evil emperor in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. In this way, The Phantom Menace seems to be taking up St. Paul’s warning in the New Testament to beware the demonic force that appears as an angel in white.

It’s too bad that George Lucas doesn’t take his own advice.

Time Magazine recently ran an interview Lucas did with Bill Moyers, the PBS “journal­ist” who bowed down before the deceitful image of George’s mentor, myth “scholar” (and plagiarizer) Joseph Campbell. After an extremely insightful discussion of the nature of evil, Lucas says how he wants the Star Wars movies to pique people’s interest in asking whether or not God exists. This is all well and good, but in the interview Lucas agrees with Moyers that one religion is “as good as another.” Lucas himself also declares, “The conclu­sion I’ve come to is that all the religions are true.”

It never ceases to amaze me how absurd non-Christians can be! In fact, it’s really downright confounding how a man as smart as George Lucas can make the stupid statement that “all the religions are true.” They can’t possibly all be true!

Christianity has a completely different viewpoint of Jesus Christ and God than that of the Jewish faith, especially that of the Talmud, a group of writings that contains slanderous charges against the person of Jesus Christ. Furthermore, when it comes to the truth about Jesus Christ and God, Christianity versus Islam, and Christianity versus Buddhism and Christianity versus Hinduism are not even on the same page!!!

It is thus obvious to anyone with half an ounce of intelligence in his little head that Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and all the other non-Christian religions disagree ENTIRELY with the New Testament’s view of God and Jesus Christ, and with the historic Christian faith. To pretend otherwise is not only just wishful thinking, it’s a BIG FAT LIE!

Obviously, like Mr. Moyers and his mentor, Mr. Campbell, before him, George Lucas has been seduced by the evil notion of today’s Post-Modern Age of Relativism—that we are just one big happy, pluralistic family and that nobody’s right and nobody’s wrong. This, by the way, is different from traditional American pluralism, and traditional Christian plural­ism, which taught that people have a great deal of freedom when it comes to how and what they eat and drink, what they wear, and what kind of house they inhabit, but that they still must abide by society’s common moral standards, God’s revealed moral commands and the Bible’s (and the Christian church’s) basic Christocentric theology. In reality, of course, today’s pluralism is a superficial, contradictory, completely irrational idea because, at the same time that it says there is no one way to God, no absolute truths and no moral abso­lutes, it demands that everyone, especially Bible-believing Christians devoted to their faith in Jesus Christ, must follow the one way of modern pluralism. This new pluralism, naturally, is the height of totalitarian arrogance and totalitarian folly. It is, in fact, a totally absurd notion that only tyrants, demagogues and villains within a George Orwell novel find comforting.

Therefore, despite the clever costumes, the fantastic special effects, the amazing set designs, and the exciting hairbreadth escapes, there’s an evil disturbance in the cinematic force of George Lucas’s The Phantom Menace. It’s a real, palpable menace called Intellectual and Moral Relativism. This wicked threat is a seductive danger that can overcome even the best of us (just look no further than the cowardly actions of the so-called “moderates” and “conservatives” in the U.S. Congress when faced with phony pleas for money and favors by alleged constituents on the liberal side of the aisle, pleas that are ignorantly aped like a Nazi salute by the anti-Christian humanist elite of the national news media).

All of which leads us to ask: Why doesn’t Mr. Lucas take the advice of his colorful Jedi Knights to “Beware the dark side!” and deny Intellectual and Moral Relativism? How can we destroy the evil grip that Relativism has on Americans like George Lucas and on the whole world? Moreover, what dastardly crimes will Bill Moyers get George Lucas to admit when the next Star Wars installment rolls around three years from now? Will the American news media ever allow intelligent Christians to refute the lies that people like the late Jo­seph Campbell enjoy spreading?

Who knows but God?

One thing we can say, however, is: Turn away from the dark side, America! Follow the light of Jesus Christ, the Way, the Truth and the Life. Repent and believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ, for the Kingdom of God, and the Reign of God, is near. May the Power and Grace of the One True God be with you forever and ever. Amen!