ThreadSketch
Well-Known Member
Based on Obi-Wan's declaration that the Jedi were "the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic" in ANH, and how we see them dispatched in the prequels, the Jedi Order was basically an order of monks with both diplomatic and martial training under the command of the Galactic Senate - aka, they were the Republic's psychic wizard police. They were meant to achieve conflict resolution diplomatically and bloodlessly as much as possible, but they had the supernatural and intensely-honed abilities to fight off and quash threats if necessary in place of an actual army, and their powers allowed them to anticipate things ahead of time or sense intent beyond what regular enforcers could. Like, imagine if our US House of Reps and Senate had a quasi-religious group of psychic soldiers to go handle major incidents around the nation, and they could not act on their own terms, but would need governmental permission to go do so.
No, the Jedi don't proselytize their tenets to anyone else because it only concerns their own followers - even though there's aspects about the Jedi "code" that would benefit anybody (aka, keep a calm head about things because you don't accomplish anything good by losing your temper and wits and doing something stupid or harmful), the average galactic citizen doesn't have the power to literally kill others with their mind, so they're the only ones who really need to abide to by their self-appointed guidelines to keep their emotions in check.
But yeah, the Jedi Order isn't quite a religion; they certainly don't seem to regard the Force as divine, even though they occasionally refer to it having some sort of will. It's more of a way/path of life established around the uniquely objectively-proven supernatural ability to sense, commune with, and wield an invisible energy field that permeates the galaxy. It seems that at some point in the distant past they and the Republic came to some sort of mutual agreement (one would hope - it's equally possible the Republic was less than altruistic about their desire to have magic space wizard police at their beck and call to secure their power and reach) that the best way for these magic space wizards to be effective "good guys" for the masses was to join themselves to the main galactic government to become more trustworthy and have greater resources at their disposal (because let's be real, if the Jedi are beholden to the Republic Senate, somebody's gotta be funding this Order and the most logical source of money is the Republic itself, since it's obvious from the films they don't go around asking for Jedi Temple donations or selling wares to replenish their Jedi Robe Replacement fund). For better or for worse - in the prequels' case, worse, because the Jedi were losing touch with the Force and themselves and being manipulated by Palpatine's increasing chokehold on the government and background string-pulling of the Clone Wars - the Jedi weren't just lone rangers operating randomly anymore.
On paper, it's not a bad idea for such powerful people to have some sort of check and balance on them - even though they did possess the ability to take over by violence and rule as tyrants themselves if they REALLY wanted to, how are you going to deal with 10,000+ wizards who can choke you and lift you like a ragdoll without even touching you if they put their minds to it...which is precisely what must have led them to have that code they abide by to control themselves. They can channel this mysterious energy that binds the galaxy together, and for the sake of all life they have to do so responsibly. Because that connection also makes them intimately aware of how interconnected and vital life, and the things that make life thrive, is, they'd want to develop a mental framework for upholding that sanctity of life. That's really it - their code/beliefs just boils down to self-discipline for the sake of preventing themselves from becoming walking nuclear bombs. Anything else they do is focused on increasing their perception of the Force and improving their techniques for utilizing it, rather than worshiping it or honoring it in a ritualistic way. Like, no, they have no special days or celebrations or activities or objects they revere just for the sake of revering the Force because, at the end of the day, they're viewing the Force as a tool - granted, a sacred tool, but a tool nonetheless. There really isn't a framework for "sin" in their beliefs either, other than the warning and shunning against using the Dark Side.
I do yearn for the days when the OT kept everything vague enough that it was just a glimpse of space fantasy: a romantic vision of a bunch of noble space knights going around protecting the people of the galaxy before they were cruelly wiped out. However, while the PT left much to be desired on the execution of the concepts it was trying to get across, the kernel idea of "hey, actually, those noble space knights were kind of out-of-touch and stuck-up and tethered to and hampered by a corrupt and dying Republic, and while they didn't deserve genocide, they really did need a wake-up call" was a surprising twist that added depth to what would've otherwise been a more two-dimensional good guys vs. bad guys story. Because that depth now adds an even more profound triumph to Luke's moral victory in ROTJ: he is not the last of the old Jedi, but the first of a new kind. Someone who barely has at most a few weeks or months of training applied to his raw talent and power instead of a lifetime, but none of the baggage; someone who has embraced "attachment" in a healthy way and used it to save his father, and by extension, the entire galaxy. Luke embodies the application of love, of true, selfless compassion and empathy, as the means to forge a new path for the Jedi, finding a third way where his teachers and the Emperor himself both expected black and white outcomes, and that accomplishment is made all the more satisfying knowing that he's coming from a background of magic space knight bathrobe glowstick wizards that had lost their way.
Not sure if this ramble made sense for what was stated up there, but that's where the braincell took me.
