SALT LAKE CITY — In general, Utah stands supreme in the geek kingdom.

In 2013, the real-estate website Estately ranked Utah as the "nerdiest state in America." Salt Lake Comic Con is the third largest in the country and the largest per capita in North America, and it's only been around since 2013.

So Utah's love of "Star Wars" shouldn't come as too much of a surprise.

Utah recently caught some attention as the leader in Star Wars-related search traffic as the new movie "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" broke box office records around the world.

According to Google, Utah ranks number one in the nation for search traffic related to "Star Wars," surpassing our closest — and far more populous — competitor of California by a large margin. This searching leads to results: As local theater chain Megaplex reported, seven of its theaters ranked in the top 100 in the U.S. during opening weekend.

While there may be practical factors that play into Utah consistently ranking so high in things nerd — such as the fact that Utah has the highest percentage of households with computers and high-speed Internet access in the nation according to the Census Bureau, or the fact that we have the youngest population in the nation — some think it might be that members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, whose active membership makes up 41.6 percent of the state, and a unique theological openness to Star Wars and other sci-fi stories make the difference.

While the Mormon love of Star Wars could just be due to its family-friendly nature, Matthew Bowman wrote in the Washington Post about what he believes is Mormonism's unique attachment to the galaxy far, far away. It's not just the fact that there's a popular myth that Jedi master Yoda was influenced by LDS President Spencer W. Kimball, he said, but that Mormons are particularly interested in Star Wars because of their beliefs.

In "Star Wars," "the spiritual power of the Force can eliminate tyranny," writes Bowman. "More than many religions in the United States, Mormons carry with them the recent memory of building a society very different from the one we live in, one in which right and wrong were clear. The themes of speculative fiction echo it."

The Force, an unseen energy that binds the galaxy together that has to be felt rather than seen, may resonate with Mormons in particular, which might not be an accident, according LDS Living.

Much like a Jedi uses the mastery of the Force, in Mormonism "a holder of (the) priesthood has power to heal the sick, raise the dead, and even move mountains," reads the LDS Living article.

LDS Living also wrote about Gary Kurtz, an active member of the LDS Church and producer of "Star Wars: A New Hope" and "Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back" who may have influenced Star Wars with Mormon concepts.

"(I)t's not hard to see how Kurtz's exposure to the priesthood may have influenced its creation," reads the LDS Living article.

While claims that Kurtz's LDS background led to overt influence on the Star Wars universe may or may not be true — for instance, the linking of Kurtz with the Jedi Council consisting of 12 members much like the Quorum of the Twelve is rather erroneous since the Jedi council wasn't introduced until "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace" almost 20 years after Kurtz left the production — there are still theological reasons that Mormons might be more attracted to the Star Wars universe than others.

Bowman cites Mormon scholar Terryl Givens who argued "some Mormon doctrine is so unsettling in its transgression of established ways of conceiving reality that it may be more at home in the imagined universes of (Orson Scott) Card than in journals of theology."

Indeed, as Bowman notes, Mormons abound in the science fiction circles.

"Today, an overwhelming number of Mormon authors and movie makers who have achieved national success, including Orson Scott Card, Jared Hess, Stephenie Meyer and Brandon Sanderson, also work in the genre."

So is it Utah's Mormon population's theological views driving our nerdy status to the top of the charts? Maybe it's just a part of Utah Mormons' culture rather than anything to do with their religious beliefs. Or is it just a crazy coincidence and we happen to have a high concentration of science fiction and fantasy lovers residing here?

Make sure to read Bowman's entire article at the Washington Post, and go ahead and discuss any thoughts on the matter in the comments below.

Freeman Stevenson is a staff writer for DeseretNews.com who saw "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" three times opening day.