I'm not a Jedi, but a ...

[alatar]

Originally Posted by Boo Radley

Arrgggghhhh! Bamboozled yet again! Curse my midwestern corn fed naiveté!!!

Sorry, I couldn't help it.

But I don't believe you can have much of a religion if you don't have a deity laying out ground rules.

What about belief systems that don't have a deity, such as Buddhism?

[Morthoron]

Originally Posted by alatar

What about belief systems that don't have a deity, such as Buddhism?

As far as political affiliations, were the hobbits squirearchical agrarians? Or would an anarcho-syndicalist commune be more appropriate?

I don't believe there were any Pantheistic worshippers -- like Bombadilian Unitarians. Eruistic Deists may be accounted a belief system in Valinor. There were more pagan demon worshippers (of Morgoth and Sauron) than any other given religion, wouldn't you say?

[alatar]

Originally Posted by Morthoron

As far as political affiliations, were the hobbits squirearchical agrarians? Or would an anarcho-syndicalist commune be more appropriate?

I might as well type random sequences of letters for as much as any form-reader would accept the values you propose.

I don't believe there were any Pantheistic worshippers -- like Bombadilian Unitarians. Eruistic Deists may be accounted a belief system in Valinor. There were more pagan demon worshippers (of Morgoth and Sauron) than any other given religion, wouldn't you say?

What if you took the Sil and TH and LotR as a whole, and made a belief system from it? What would you call that monster?

And Boo Radley, now that we know that I know about the Jedi, and as I saw that their Church has a website, care to comment on their belief system, as I don't remember there being a supreme being in the Star Wars world - though I may have missed it?

[Boo Radley]

Originally Posted by alatar

And Boo Radley, now that we know that I know about the Jedi, and as I saw that their Church has a website, care to comment on their belief system, as I don't remember there being a supreme being in the Star Wars world - though I may have missed it?

" The Jedi church recognizes that all living things share a living force and that all people have an innate knowledge of what is right and wrong, and the Jedi Church celebrates this like no other religion."

That capsule definition from their site says three things. The first two have to be taken on faith and the third... is fairly pointless in my opinion.

Hey! Pretty much what you can say about any religion if you aren't a believer.

I really can't comment on their religion because to the way I was brought up and because of my belief system, it's a made up religion with no basis in the history of any culture, not unlike the religion that L. Ron Hubbard came up with.

[alatar]

Originally Posted by Boo Radley

I really can't comment on their religion because to the way I was brought up and because of my belief system, it's a made up religion with no basis in the history of any culture, not unlike the religion that L. Ron Hubbard came up with.

You have to think long term. All religious systems started at some time, and at that time, were typically counterculture and may have even been considered to be 'made up.' Some, of course, used ties to the older established culture to get going, but then went off from there. Others got co-opted and changed directions from the original revelation.

A thought: Though I have lived in the time of Elvis' death, and have been to Graceland, who knows what will be a thousand years from now in regards to "the King?"

Anyway, I've considered answering, "Tolkienite," but this may be wrongly thought to be "Trotskyite," which might not be a good thing. Also, by answering the former, I'm risking getting more spam from the Science Fiction Book club.

[Boo Radley]

But Illuvitarian has such a nice ring to it.

[Estelyn Telcontar]

How about Numenorean*? We do know that some religious observance (in the case of Faramir and his men, for example) was linked to the West, so that would seem a viable choice. The word itself offers two religious options: the good Numenoreans, who worshipped Eru, and the Black Numenoreans, who worshipped Sauron.

On the other hand, it could be mistaken for a mathematical cult of some kind if the word is not read precisely.


*I left the accents out on purpose - you wouldn't want to confuse some poor American computer that's attempting to read your form, would you?!

[Boo Radley]

OK, instead of "Deity", lets use the term Teacher. Buddha had a system of beliefs, rules, observations that if followed, would lead the believer to a state of enlightenment, or whatever.
There is still interaction and direction.
Not so much with Illuvitar. No burning bushes, no turning himself into a swan for a bit of slap and tickle, no hand writing on the wall.

But, going back to your original question:

...what, if I believed as, say Aragorn or Elrond or Frodo or Galadriel, would be my similar Tolkienesque response?

Chances are your response might be something along the lines of, "I am no member of a religion as I understand the term. Illuvitar created everything and everything is part of Illuvitar. My worship of Him is not required or would even be recognized.
And no, I don't want your magazine."