A Disturbance in the Force

I'm about three weeks behind the times but I finally went to see "Revenge of the Sith"  You can read several great reviews at Hollywood Jesus .

Several guys from my parish got together for what soon became known as the "Unofficial St. John the Apostle, StarWars geek movie night".  It was a guy's night out as we went to see the film and then conviened at my favorite pub (The Dragonmead) to knock back a couple of brews and discuss the movie.

One thing that struck me about our discussion was that no one seemed to pick up on an element of Anakin's descent to the Dark Side.  In witnessing all of his rebellion, anger, and selfishness one thought kept running through my head.  "It's the Jedi's fault".  You see, up until the very last minute, Anakin was willing to give up on his desire to preserve his wife from death.  But as he prepared to hand over the evil Darth Sidious to the Jedi Council, Anakin realized that it was not their intent to bring Sidious to justice but rather to kill him.  Nothing wrong with that.  I mean if anyone deserved death it was this guy.  The problem was that it was an action that went against the code of the Jedi.

I wonder how many times the rebellion and disappointment that people feel against the Church or the government can be traced back to the fact that the leaders abandoned the principles that they champion for everyone else?  It might be the hypocracy of a Senate that won't allow others to have the same Social Security options they have.  It could be a Bishop who ignores the church law that binds all others under his care.  The fact is that those who lead must earn the trust of those who follow with each decision they make. 

How sad when a Jedi Master lets his apprentice down.  How many Sith are created in such a way?

Pax Christi
Fr. Tim

Comments

[Rick]

Haven't seen ROTS just yet so some of what was said is a bit foreign to me. But much of this does resonate.

But I also have to admit that some of the "malaise" (to quote Jimmy) I'm feeling I have to be responsible for in some way.

[Feeble Knees]

Very interesting point, I had not considered that. Will have to ponder that some more.

What kept ringing through my head the whole time was "he who seeks to save his life shall lose it..." In fact, I thought the whole thing had a very surprising Judeo-Christian ethic woven throughout, which is ironic for a series of movies that have been vilified by many Christians for being "New Age" and "Eastern"...

[Fr. Tim]

Rick, I think so much goes into our alienation from groups and people who honestly start out with the best of intentions. You are of a "slightly" older generation than I am (ahem*boomer*ahem). Many of your generation (ahem*hippies*ahem) have demonstrated a lack of trust in organizations (ahem*flowerchildren*ahem) in the first place.

But seriously at lot of times it only takes getting burned once in order to make you put your guard up forever.

Fr. Tim

[Fr. Tim]

Ok, maybe you're not that old . . . yet ;D