What Is Good and Evil?
(crossposted from Theatrical Muse)
Most Jedi will tell you that the Dark Side, and those who serve it, are Evil. They will leave unspoken the assumption that we who serve the Light are Good. These are axioms, definitions we use to live our lives by. We go our way through the Universe secure in the knowledge that we are guardians of peace and justice, and that our way is the right way.
But anyone who has ever faced one of us over the business end of a lightsaber might have a few words on that subject. Who gave us this knowledge? Where did the idea come from that Light is Good and Dark is Evil? Anyone who has sat under a star-filled sky on some primitive world can show themselves that it takes both Dark and Light to create the majesty that holds them spellbound in the night. There is no night without day, and no day without night.
In order to pass their Trials, a Jedi Padawan Learner must learn many things - strength, endurance, agility, strategy, guile, the Force and its sense and manipulation. But the most important thing a Padawan learns is about the Dark within himself. He must learn to cage it, but he must still learn to feed it, and keep it healthy. For in order to recognize the Darkness when it comes his way, he must first recognize it in himself. As Master Yoda is fond of mumbling, “Hard to see, the Dark Side is.” I often think that this is because so many of us don’t want to think that Darkness touches us - even though we had to learn better to pass our own Trials.
Many of the denizens of this Forum have pronounced that Good and Evil are simply two sides of the same coin, and that it is all relative. In one aspect, I must agree with them - there are two sides, yes. But the two sides of that coin face in opposite directions, and never meet except at the edges. They are diametrically opposed to each other, and will always be that way. No matter whether it produces good for another, Evil intentionally produces suffering for someone.
Muse: Qui-Gon Jinn
Fandom: Star Wars TPM
Word Count: 362
Most Jedi will tell you that the Dark Side, and those who serve it, are Evil. They will leave unspoken the assumption that we who serve the Light are Good. These are axioms, definitions we use to live our lives by. We go our way through the Universe secure in the knowledge that we are guardians of peace and justice, and that our way is the right way.
But anyone who has ever faced one of us over the business end of a lightsaber might have a few words on that subject. Who gave us this knowledge? Where did the idea come from that Light is Good and Dark is Evil? Anyone who has sat under a star-filled sky on some primitive world can show themselves that it takes both Dark and Light to create the majesty that holds them spellbound in the night. There is no night without day, and no day without night.
In order to pass their Trials, a Jedi Padawan Learner must learn many things - strength, endurance, agility, strategy, guile, the Force and its sense and manipulation. But the most important thing a Padawan learns is about the Dark within himself. He must learn to cage it, but he must still learn to feed it, and keep it healthy. For in order to recognize the Darkness when it comes his way, he must first recognize it in himself. As Master Yoda is fond of mumbling, “Hard to see, the Dark Side is.” I often think that this is because so many of us don’t want to think that Darkness touches us - even though we had to learn better to pass our own Trials.
Many of the denizens of this Forum have pronounced that Good and Evil are simply two sides of the same coin, and that it is all relative. In one aspect, I must agree with them - there are two sides, yes. But the two sides of that coin face in opposite directions, and never meet except at the edges. They are diametrically opposed to each other, and will always be that way. No matter whether it produces good for another, Evil intentionally produces suffering for someone.
Muse: Qui-Gon Jinn
Fandom: Star Wars TPM
Word Count: 362