So the Messiah in Star Wars is supposed “to bring balance to The Force,” but I never understood what it meant.
Star Wars is extremely dualistic–there is a good side and an evil side, a light side and a dark side, the Jedi and the Sith. Every plotline is based around a manichean struggle where only one side can win by annihilating the other.
The “good side”, the Jedi, are explicitly looking a savior to provide “balance” while at the same time imposing all sorts of restrictions on which force powers are allowed and which aren’t. For an order whose messiah is based on Taoist equilibrium, they are positively Christian in their obsession with purity.
I think there is an implicit subtextual critique of the Jedi Order in the prequels that they incompetent, as you might expect from the leaders of a theocracy, but that’s about as far as it goes.
I think the closest we get to ANY real discussion of balance is Luke’s vision on Degobah, where he must see himself as potentially Darth Vader, which can be interpreted as an attempt towards wholeness OR as a warning to not stray into evil.
Can anyone square this circle?
Edit: It’s funny to me that there are more comments than upvotes. People want to share. I love it.
I agree. That’s why religion and politics don’t mix. Someone truly spiritual is bad at playing politics, a politician can rarely be genuine. So then it just becomes a self sustaining system that doesn’t do or help anyone.
I agree.
Right now I’m just done for now attending anywhere and mostly with studying anything, aside from a few things like looking into Hinduism a bit, visiting with someone to a different sect of Christianity, stuff like that. I’d be pretty surprised if there was no intelligent design or greater purpose to the world. I do believe some form of spirituality is important to the human experience. I’m not married to any idea at the moment though.
Thank you, that’s more than anyone else said :) I haven’t lost her yet, but it’s just a matter of time. A few more years at most.
In my travels through religion, I find that people cluster in predictable ways around EVERY religion. Most people just want to think they live in an orderly universe and can manipulate it with superficial piety. Other people really want to use religion to be better people (usually more compassionate), others want to use it to be worse (tribalistic), and the smallest number are actually looking for an experience of the divine.
Though there is that commonality, there are some wild differences between religions. Like Christianity is very much based around faith in supernatural stuff. If you don’t believe, you’re not part of the Church and you are cast out because your doubt may infect others and thereby send them into Hell for eternity. I wish, as someone who doesn’t believe, that I could find a spiritual home, but I can’t find one within Christianity. But not all religions work that way.
Good luck with your exploration (and your family stuff!