A Tolerated Imbalance

As I finish the Star Wars book series "Legacy of the Force" this week, I reflect back on the "New Jedi Order" series as well as the Legacy series. In the NJO we see young Jacen Solo, son of Han & Leia, twin to Jaina. His journey from young Jedi Knight, to war hero, to tortured and brain washed captive of the Yuuzhan Vong and Sith. The tragedy of his struggle in understanding the extent of his great power and watching so many others in the galaxy making poor choices that affect so many others.

Jacen, in his wounds from being tortured and brainwashed by the Vong and a Sith, went into a self-imposed exile, trying to "find his way" and pushing himself away from the teachings of the Jedi and his Uncle Luke. In this he explored all sorts of other Force teachings, including the Sith.

Jacen's biggest struggle was that he wanted to bring BALANCE to the Force and to the galaxy. For generations, millenia, there was the struggle of Light vs Dark, Jedi vs Sith. The galaxy, constantly at war, billions of lives lost, as both "sides" constantly pushed to make the *Other* out to be the bigger villain, consistently swinging the pendulum of power back and forth, from Dark to Light, good to evil.

"Why can't we all just get along" would probably be a rallying cry of Jacen's. Unfortunately, in his effort to serve and care for all, to bring BALANCE to the galaxy and to the Force, to keep the pendulum from swinging too far in either direction,  in the Legacy series, Jacen eventually became the very monster he fought to stop.

In his quest to bring fairness and balance, equality and justice, he became a Dark Lord of the Sith, following much closer his grandfather Darth Vader's footsteps than that Kylo Ren wannabe has.

Jacen did not bring equality or justice, fairness or balance. Jacen became hate-filled to anyone who saw things differently than he. He criminalized and vilified good people, heroes of the Republic, his own family. He did not stop the pendulum from swinging. His passion to do that, though, drove him to be even more intolerant and judgemental and "-ist" than all those he opposed.  Rather than bringing balance he sent the pendulum swinging deeper into darkness.

Jacen fell because of his pride.  Like the Gnostics of old, he felt he had a secret, hidden knowledge and destiny.  He was superior than everyone else, smarter, more powerful in the Force.  Only he knew true justice, and so everyone should do as he saw fit because his way was the right way.  And those who did not fit perfectly into his box and do as he said faced harsh penalties as he wrote them off, unfit to be family, friend, or even servant.

This is exactly what I see has happened in our nation today. As a moderate who has views all across the "Liberal" and "Conservative" spectrum, who is purposefully not a member of any political party, I see more and more those like myself being forced into silence (or else we are bullied and labeled with untruths) and forced to swing one way or the other on the pendulum.  There is no longer tolerance, acceptance, equality or balance, but rather a militant attempt to conform everyone to feel and believe the same as ME, or else be vilified.

Putting people or groups of people into stereotyped boxes, and then writing them and their view off.  Calling them "illegal", "racist", or "privileged".  Refusing to respect someone enough to listen, to understand the reasoning or experience that brought them to the place where they sit.   Silencing or demeaning others' opinions or feelings because of their race, gender, faith, political party, worldview or anything else.  All of these things rock the pendulum, create imbalance, and build walls.

These things do not respect or value other individuals, diversity or equality.  This does not bring people together but tears them apart, creating an ever-increasing divide instead of reaching across the divide with the hands of our commonalities in order to build a bridge thru our differences.

from "A Liturgy of Ordinary Radicals"

Forcing your way, your view, does not bring balance.  Taking away from, vilifying, or demeaning one person in order to gain justice for another is not justice at all: It is simply repeating the original evil.  What is sad is that the result of all of this is exactly what happened with Jacen Solo.  He fanned the flames of a great galactic civil war, symbolised by the burning of the Wookiee homeworld Kashyyyk.  His actions pitted his own family against one another for a time, until eventually they were all sadly forced to fight against him.  With broken hearts, they had to destroy him in order to save the rest of the galaxy.

If we continue on this path we will not bring equality, justice or balance either, but more destruction.