Zach Wilson--General Topic 3

Star Wars is my all-time favorite movie series.  Apart from the terribleness of Hayden Christiansen’s portrayal of Anakin Skywalker, the acting is pretty good, the musical score is pretty awesome, the fight and action scenes are really really good, but above all, there’s really good philosophy found throughout the entire series.  Lucas does a great job incorporating a pretty deep philosophy into his screenplay, and it just fascinates me to no end.
The dichotomy between the Sith and the Jedi are the two things that fascinate me to no end, as I see a lot of my Christian faith alluded to.  Anakin Skywalker or SPOILER ALERT Darth Vader is one of the best characters portrayed in film (aside from Christiansen’s terribly cliche existence).  You start out with an innocent kid who dreams of becoming a Jedi and helping to free people like himself from slavery.  He starts missing his mom, as any kid would.  Then he fears that he will lose her, that she will die.  The fear of losing that which he loves overtakes him, and eventually leads him to misuse his power to get revenge (which Jedi never advocate, they only use their powers for good) on the sand-people who kidnap and murder his mother.  He’s increasingly hard on himself, and blames himself for not being powerful enough to save her.

Luke (no pun intended) 14
²⁵ Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: ²⁶ “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. ²⁷ And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

That quest for greater, unnatural power leads him to turn to the dark side.  He fears losing his wife, Padme, in childbirth, and sells his soul to the devil to attempt to gain powers from the Sith. He is seduced by the attractive short-term power of the dark side:

Luke: Vader… Is the dark side stronger?
Yoda: No, no, no. Quicker, easier, more seductive.
Luke: But how am I to know the good side from the bad?
Yoda: You will know… when you are calm, at peace, passive. A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, NEVER for attack.

But the dark side eventually deceives him, and Darth Vader he becomes.  He is a slave to the emperor, and is forced to do his bidding, and still cannot save his wife, who now hates him.

John 8:34
Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.”

He has such conflict inside of him, and does not stop to consider wisdom, and yet goes with his ‘heart’ or his ‘passion.’ He sacrifices what he stood for, and what he knew to be true.

Proverbs 14
¹⁶ The wise fear the LORD and shun evil,
   but a fool is hotheaded and yet feels secure.
 ¹⁷ A quick-tempered person does foolish things,
   and the one who devises evil schemes is hated.

His descent into the dark side can be summarized by this quote by Yoda:

“Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.”
-Master Yoda

In my Christian faith, God does not call me to do all things, but He calls me to allow Him to do all things in me and through me.  He requires full and unadultured devotion to Him, without fear.

“Death is a natural part of life. Rejoice for those around you who transform into the Force. Mourn them do not. Miss them do not. Attachment leads to jealousy. The shadow of greed that is. Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose.”
-Master Yoda

I must not fear even death.  I cannot add one day to my life by worrying, fearing, or missing.  I must never be attached, or I will feel anger, hate, jealousy, and suffering.  In Christ, I can allow myself to let go of everything that I fear to lose.  I become fearless. I become dependent, but not to someone like Darth Sidious who only seeks to control me for his own interest of maintaining control and gaining power.  God has my best interests at heart, he has a plan to prosper me, for a future!  Unlike the Sith, and more like the Jedi:

“The Jedi use their power for good. The Jedi are selfless. They only care about others.” ―Anakin Skywalker

Even when it comes to grace, Star Wars is right on. Even after Anakin has done all these terrible things to the galaxy, killed Jedi younglings with his own hands, and blown up entire planets with the Death Star, he is still granted grace.  His son, Luke Skywalker still looks for redemption in him, and pursues him to bring him back to the good side of the force.

Never. I’ll never turn to the Dark Side. You’ve failed, your highness. I am a Jedi, like my father before me.

-Luke Skywalker

In the end, Anakin returns, and Darth Vader fades.  It was only for a moment, maybe a deathbed-confession of sorts.  But he still had grace.

Darth Vader: Luke, help me take this mask off.

Luke: But you’ll die.

Darth Vader: Nothing can stop that now. Just for once, let me look on you with my own eyes. “You were right. You were right about me. Tell your sister … you were right.”