"An elegant weapon for a more civilized age."
well my guess is that You can use it not only as a weapon but as a shield of sort as well since you can deflect projectiles or parry melee attacks, not to mention you can cut through objects - like door/floor/wall whatever
except that, normal person shouldnt be able to wield it, so even if they disarm you and take your weapon, they wont be able to use it against you without chopping their own head off?
lightsabers are a symbol as well, and jedi were guardians of peace so this "weapon" became symbol of peace and hope sort of.