Even those who aren’t Jedi, seem to have knowledge of The Force. Are there churches for Force believers in the Star Wars Universe? There also is clearly the Life Day holiday that most in the universe celebrate. They also have a concept of Hell since Han says in Empire Strikes Back, “I’ll see you in Hell.”
shareIt could be interesting to see religion in Star Wars, but if they came out looking like real world religions with a different colour palette, it would be lame.
For the most part, I picture various interpretations of the Force as what most religions in Star Wars are centred around. Jedi are one, Sith are another, and there are other religions as well.
Aside from Force-centred religions, I imagine more localized, tribal rituals and gods. From these more individual sects and cults would come concepts like Hell, since Jedi don't seem to have that.
I see the Jedi as being almost an allegory of the Knights Templar and by extension the Freemasons especially with Order 66 being what wiped out the Jedi just as the Vatican wiped out The Knights Templar all at once. Also the degree structure of the Jedi (ie Apprentice, Knight, Master) being similar to that of Blue Lodge Freemasonry (Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft, and Master Mason).
shareThat's a good analogy, and something of how I picture it. One of the things I like about Star Wars' approach to religion (not to directly talk about it except through "the Force" and the Jedi) is that we get a sense of what these religious groups are like, but nothing seems like a 1:1 with our world. In other words, the Jedi aren't an allegory for the Knights Templar. Because, although the parallels you pointed out ring true, it's also worth noting that the Knights Templar were annihilated from within their religion (the Church) while Order 66 had a political origin. Or, at the very least, was from a Sith, not higher Jedi.
We get to have some parallels and similarities, particularly with Buddhism, Taoism, and other Eastern religions; the Jedi are very much mystical samurai, influenced by Kurosawa's films. However, those parallels don't overwhelm the lore and make us go, "Oh, so they're basically Taoists." (Or whichever religion).
This, to me, is what makes the spiritual aspects of Star Wars fun to discuss and contemplate, and what makes them so wonderful in terms of the world-building. Contrast this to something like the Magisterium in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials series (which I admittedly only know about from The Golden Compass film). That's a direct 1:1 with the Catholic Church and is designed to criticize Catholicism. To me, that has always made that world (again, in the film) seem "small" somehow. Not only is it engaging only with one aspect of one religion (Catholicism in Christianity) it's also there explicitly to make a counter-claim and critique that aspect.
The Jedi are more general, more diverse in their origins, and are given lauds and judgments throughout the series. Far more fun to discuss later.
Religion isn't really discussed much in Star Wars (at least in the movies), and some things, like the Jedi Order, are erroneously seen as having a religion because of their use of the Force.
The Expanded Universe is another area entirely. Religion is only mentioned if it involves a fanatical cult, or some weird, exotic alien religion.
I seem to recall the Mandalorians had a religion they followed, albeit one that included violence and having a code of honor among warriors. At least, the true Mandalorians followed it. As we saw with Boba Fett and many other bounty hunters, some would say they were Mandalorians, but didn't follow the religion of Mandalore in their everyday lives. Din Djarin followed a very fanatical sect of that religion in "The Mandalorian" tv show.
When I was playing "Star Wars the Old Republic," (SWTOR for short), I remember my Jedi Consular character had a best friend who was Trandoshan (a lizard-guy) named Qyzen Fess whose people worshiped a goddess called "The Scorekeeper." Part of his religion involved either hunting animals, bounty-hunting, or fighting and killing bad guys. Each kill or capture they made was considered giving them Jagganath Points, which they would add up in their heads, and the higher the score, the happier their goddess was when they went into the afterlife.
Not surprisingly, I ran into a number of crazy, fanatical cults in places where either the Sith Empire (a different empire that existed 3,700 years before Palpatine did) was in charge, or a corrupt government of another kind was in control, most notably in Hutt Space.