The Star Wars Canon

Not long ago, Disney bought out the Star Wars franchise from George Lucas for $4 billion. Since they wanted to make a sequel trilogy, they declared the entire Star Wars Expanded Universe to be non-canon so that they could have a fresh start. This radical new direction angered fans of the Expanded Universe, whose favorite characters like Thrawn and Mara Jade were considered non-canonical (and no, Mara Jade is not listed in the Return of the Jedi Special Edition credits, so the character is not in the movie).

But was this a radical new direction?

I started becoming involved in Star Wars message board discussions pretty heavily after the Phantom Menace was released. When discussing characters from the movies, it was inevitable that the controversy would surface as to whether we had to take into consideration the Expanded Universe in order to interpret the movies. In other words, was the Expanded Universe canon?

The debate raged on for years, with both sides adamant in their positions. At some point (this was in the year 2000), I decided to  write to Lucasfilm Ltd. and ask them what their official stance was on the matter.

After about two months, I received a letter from Howard Roffman, President of Lucas Licensing About a week after that, I received another letter from Sue Rostoni of Lucas Licensing. Both letters make it absolutely clear that the Expanded Universe was always considered non-canon, just as the Star Trek comic books are non-canon to that series.

I got excited and posted the letters verbatim on the forums. Can you guess how many people changed their minds after reading two letters directly from Lucas Licensing?

Zero.

Not one person changed their mind on the issue. The people who believed the Expanded Universe to be canon doubted the authenticity of the letters. I then challenged any of them to write to Lucas Licensing themselves, and they would have direct confirmation that the official position of Lucasfilm was that the Expanded Universe was non-canon.

Not one person took me up on that offer.

This is the problem with arguing over the Internet. Most of the people who are willing to argue with you have already make up their minds on the issue, and will not change them no matter what the evidence.

I was also surprised that no one had done this before. Why would two groups argue until they are blue in the face over an issue that can be verified directly?

So I think two lessons can be drawn from this experience. First, if you want to change people's minds, you need to go after people who are not fully committed on a certain issue. People who will argue with you over the Internet are rarely in that camp. You need to engage people in real life, and strike up what might be awkward conversations over these issues. Often it's the only way to reach this group.

Secondly, we all need to make sure that we are not this adamant on controversial issues. Theology is one issue where the stakes are too high for anyone to afford the luxury of denialism. If the evidence strongly supports one position, you've got to embrace it even if it is uncomfortable.

One rabbi that I met said that he wonders how someone like the Pope could be so educated and yet believe these things about Jesus. When I said that I also believe these things about Jesus, and can defend them against objections, he was not interested in hearing any explanation of my position, or a defense of it. His mind was made up, and he did not want to talk to me about it.

Many Christians ask "why don't Jews believe in Jesus?" This is an ignorant and stupid question, and I wish Christians would stop asking it. A better question is "why aren't Jews allowed to believe in Jesus?"

Many of the rabbis that I have encountered appear at first glance to love God and to want to serve him. But they are so hostile to the idea that God manifested himself in the person of Jesus, that no amount of evidence would ever convince them of that. Even if Jesus were to descend from heaven, glowing in white robes, surrounded by legions of angels worshiping him as God, they would still not bend the knee to him. Why would you ever trust such individuals with your spiritual future?