Christians may find message in film muddy

See PEW, Extra 8PEW: Missed Bible referenceFROM Extra 1 It's the simplest and most common plot line of all - good vs. evil.

I think that's why the "Star Wars" series has been such a success - despite weak entries among the six movies. We are all drawn to that eternal, universally recognized struggle.

The entire "Star Wars" catalog is saturated with references from the world's major religions, many of which are also focused on trying to make sense of that epic battle of right with wrong.

Last weekend's box-office-record opening for "Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith" seems ample evidence to me that human beings are eternally optimistic - on the whole, anyway. How else do you explain the survival of the latest trilogy, given that its first installment actually stunk, and the second wasn't much better?

It wasn't until "III" that we got a decent story - again replete with religious references that have riddled the series since its inception in 1977.

The movies' curious melding of Christian, Buddhist, Jewish, Taoist and other religious philosophies is wildly popular with their target audience, although profoundly disturbing to some Christians.

While the movies explore themes such as grace, the nature of evil, redemption and salvation, some Christian theologians criticized them for muddying the Christian messages on those subjects.

There is no god or God in the movies, only The Force, which Yoda explains actually comes from us - an energy coming from everything living. There is no Jesus - no supernatural savior - only Luke and his compatriots. There is no clergy, only the Jedi - warriors/quasi-priests who must use force and violence to ensure that good flourishes.

Biblically illiterate?

Lucas' use of religious concepts to bolster his story has been widely studied and written about. Consequently, it was curious - more than curious, really, but maybe not astonishing - that one of the most direct religious references in the latest movie largely went unrecognized, apparently, in reviews.

What secular observers saw was a political reference.

The New York Times' A.O. Scott - always worth a read, by the way - said this in his review of May 16: "Mr. Lucas is clearly jabbing his light saber in the direction of some real-world political leaders. At one point, Darth Vader, already deep in the thrall of the dark side and echoing the words of George W. Bush, hisses at Obi-Wan, 'If you're not with me, you're my enemy.'"

Scott credits Lucas with trying to take movies back to "their early-'70's engagement with political matters" through that kind of dialogue.

It may very well be that Lucas was trying to make a point about President Bush, but given his obsession with religious references in his elaborate story, Lucas may have been simply quoting the best-known religious figure of all time - Jesus Christ.

"He that is not with me is against me," Jesus is quoted as saying in Matthew 12:30.

The president almost surely knew whose words he was echoing. It seems likely that Lucas did, too.

I wonder, though, how many moviegoers did.