Hi Derek,
to say that their 'religion' is the Star Wars Mythos would not be accurate, the Star Wars mythos is used within their religion. The basic idea is that form and content are separated, form is understood psychologistically, so what religious symbols, texts, rituals.... do is effect the psyche in various ways. So, the appropriate content to inject into the form is considered to be dependent on the individual. Now what I do not like about this has nothing to do with the idea that people might use hollywood, or other aspects of pop culture to provide a content. What I find objectionable is that it is such an individualistic understanding of religion - religion is about me. 

I think most of the people who are involved in this kind of stuff - people in the Chaos tradition and various related groups would find it very humorous that you were upset by the use of "tawdry Hollywood fantasy" because your focus on that would just seem to them a focus on the external trappings, which according to them are really not important. Remember its not about interaction with a super-mundane reality, its about exploring and influencing one's own psyche. But really think about what is going on, don't fixate on the idea that some people inspired by Phil Carroll and Michael Aquino use Hollywood or literary motifs in their practice, its a very interesting phenomenon at the cultural level. Its individualistic, rabidly so in most cases, it is metaphysically minimalist and so forth. What does this say about the understanding of religion?


In any case, its clear that mentioning it touched a nerve. But the world of NRMs is a wild place full of creative engagements with religion. Japan is one of the most interesting contexts for those interested in NRMs. Many people, particularly those with religious or irreligious commitments might have things to say about the seriousness of much there. Personally I have no religious or irreligious commitments - my interest in religion comes from being raised in a certain kind of environment.


Phil