The Jedi and Rebels are fundamentalist terrorists!!!

I am sure a lot of you have seen the following picture circulating around lately:

So, are the rebels terrorists? Is the Jedi Order a religion populated by fanatical fundamentalists?

My personal belief is that it is a load of garbage, for a variety reasons:

1. The "force" is not a belief, it is scientific fact, and it is studied by the Jedi, not worshiped. Conversely, it is a tool to be used by the Sith as well, not some "higher power" they submit to (quite the opposite, really).

Additionally, the general's comments of "your sad devotion to that ancient religion" and "Don't try to frighten us with your sorcerer's ways" are meant to show ignorance, not to imply that the force is magic and something to be idolized.

2. If every harsh action that resulted in a dramatic change was called "radicalization", the whole world would be labeled terrorists. Luke was the victim of a military attack that left him alone and without any family, and more importantly a working farm to look after. He'd likely be in debt soon due to equipment costs and failure (broken power converters, unruly droids, etc), and his much-expressed distaste for farming indicates he would not be any good at it. Joining up with the Rebels was a logical choice, in addition to an emotional one.

And, lest we forget, he expressed interest in joining before the attack; with nothing holding him back, Luke was free to pursue his life as he saw fit.

3. At the risk of sounding insensitive: a galaxy-spanning empire incorporating hundreds (thousand? Millions?) of solar systems, planets, and other habitable areas likely has trillions of inhabitants. A death toll of 300k people is not that bad.

When you incorporate the fact that the target attacked was solely a military target, and used to commit acts of war so terrible it resulted in the vaporization of entire planets, it is entirely reasonable to accept this attack not only as necessary, but a brilliant, logical, and just act of war.

The rebels would have been more than justified in pursuing mutually assured destruction and, in response to Alderaan, blow up an Imperial planet, but instead took the higher ground and went to the source of the galaxy's problem: the Death Star.

As for any civilian contractors that might be up there, I cite the argument in the film Clerks. Anyone building it or working on it knew what they were getting into, and it is the Imperial's responsibility to keep them safe by offering them escape pods, shuttles, and so forth in the event of danger. War, sadly, results in collateral damage. During WWII, Britain built bomb shelters for their populace and anyone working in factories making arms. If you work in a factory in California making bombs for a war in Russia, that factory is still a legitimate target for war. The government/factory owner should install early warning systems and shelters.

In conclusion/TLDR, Luke Skywalker is not a fundamentalist, the study of the Force is not a religion nor magic, and the Rebel Alliance is not a terrorists organization.

Your thought?

boring! Zzzzzz

So, was the USS Cole bombing a terrorist attack? Because that was a military target too.

I saw a Facebook image a while ago stating that the government watches us with millions of tiny mosquito drones. I don't think those things are meant to be taken so seriously.

That image is dumb because I don't think the rebels ever once wanted to inspire terror in the hearts of the people in the galaxy, but rather free them from the tyrannical clutches of the government. A historical analogue to them might be the American founding fathers. As opposed to actual terrorists who attack soft targets and try to maximize civilian casualties.

I don't think terrorism has ever required attacks on soft targets or trying to maximize civilian casualties.

tbh I don't think there is a rule book.

But if you read and watch whats going on, you'll hear that when a terrorist fights the military, he or she is referred to as an "insurgent". When they attack civilian targets, its an act of terror, making them "terrorists". A country's military wouldn't be very good if every time they were attacked they were "terrorized". Likewise, it is expected for civilians to be terrorized by something as small as a pipe bomb.

That has just been my observation, at least.

old unoriginal joke...

actually, if we are going by the same lore, Stormtroopers are conscripted soldiers. The Emperor lost faith in the clone troopers.

Imperial army staffing is kind of modeled after Roman and Spartan types, in that you'd have families that essentially are military families; a dad joins, his kids join, and so forth.

Makes sense considering USA is as evil as the Empire.

From the Empire's perspective, that might very well be true. The Rebels are viewed as "terrorists" as far as they are concerned due to their sabotage of Empire facilities and armed rebellion against The Empire.

On the flip side the Rebels view themselves as freedom fighters seeking to end the facist and xenophobic Empire who seeks a total totalitarian control of the Galaxy.

So it depends on the perspective. One persons freedom fighter might be a terrorist when viewed by someone else.

That was EXACTLY the clip I used to reply to this stupid meme.

Rebel scum.

Obviously the rebels and Jedi are fanatical terrorists who abduct children. Luke was just an innocent boy until he was radicalized by a known terrorist named Ben Kenobi.

Also we had to destroy Alderaan, they had Weapons of Mass Destruction. I mean, why else would we destroy it? But then Luke destroyed the Death Star and killed millions of our troops.

I support our troops. Kill the rebels. I'm reporting this thread to the authorities. Die Rebel scum!!!1

Well, usually. But like, I recall the USA Cole bombing being referred to as a terrorist attack all the time. Anyway, my point wasn't to say that the rebels ARE terrorists. I was just saying that the fact that they attacked a military target doesn't automatically mean that they're NOT terrorists. It's entirely possible to commit acts of terrorism by attacking a military target.

Now, there are certainly arguments for why blowing up the Death Star wasn't an act of terrorism. And I think that one of the best arguments is that the main intent wasn't to send a message to (or "terrorize") the Empire, but rather to eliminate something that is actively trying to destroy the Rebellion. If the Rebels had blown up the Death Star during a time of peace, in which the Death Star wasn't an active threat, then there'd be a much stronger argument that it's terrorism. But as it happens, the Death Star had JUST blown up an entire fucking (POPULATED) planet, and was mere minutes away from utterly eradicating the Rebel's base. That's not so much "terrorism" as it is "simple self-preservation."

I thought the term terrorism has lost most meaning to all by now. First it was reserved for brown, bearded men living in the desert, but then it's been abused and slapped around by anyone wishing to demonize a group of people. I reckon, however, that there are quite a few "traditionalists" that remain faithful to the original bias; nevertheless, they contribute to the corrosion of the term by waiving it on their deserving own.

Because he's white, there's your sole reason :3

religion = practice

yes the force is a religion

exactly! now you're learning

:P

But I think we can all agree that Lando Calrissian is a terrorist. He blew up the second death star. And he's black.

:-D

I must have broken a couple in my life time then. Is that why you see them more in winter these days in house then you use to. lol

did obi wan tell the truth to luke even one time or did he lie and manipulate luke every moment they were together?

is that what the light side does? hide in the shadows of galactic politics and manipulate the entire system? lie to children, do everything possible to keep darth and princess whatherface apart thwarting the force that wanted to produce the chosen one and bring balance?

light side jedi are obviously more evil than the simple direct honest "dark" side jedi.

had lukes mind not been poisoned by obiwan he would have redeemed vader, reunited with his father, deposed the emperor, brought balance to the force and the jedi would have been re-established as a source of law enforcement under the control of the galactic government not a rogue group of manipulative power mongers enforcing their will from the shadows.