Why is love considered taboo for the Jedi?

[AlexDougherty]

The Jedi are overreacting because not all attachments would lead to jealousy or obsession, or bring forth a host of negative emotions that would lead to the dark side. In fact there are plenty of Jedi in the lore who are married or are in relationships, and don't fall to the dark side. It also ignores the many positive aspects of what the Jedi call 'attachments,' like selflessness and devotion.

 

I can understand why the Jedi prohibit attachments, because some of the more selfish and emotional Jedi (like Anakin) would be at risk. But they've banned something across the board due to a small risk posed to a small number of people. Its a bit of an overreaction. Instead of banning attachments, they should teach their padawans how to deal with those relationships and how to avoid falling into the traps that lead to the dark side. Manage it, not ban it.

 

This arguement kind of depends on the meaning of attachment, for the Jedi "Attachment" is more than just a connection to someone, it's a overattachment to a person, place or philosophy, which is why the Jedi ban them, an emotional connection is fine, an attachment is not.

[Bytemite]

Aren't you basically arguing against the very notion of enforcing any sort of peaceful law at all, instead of using the Jedi specifically to enforce such a law?

 

Simply apply the same argument to the police forces, or to the military: why train somebody in the use of firearms or martial arts or what have you in order to keep the peace, when the mere act of training someone to do that makes them more dangerous?

 

There's nothing really Jedi-specific in what you're talking about.

 

Yeah, basically. The thing is I think they probably should be trained and should have the guidelines, if only for their own personal lives and self-defense and safety. And if people want to put having relationships on the same level of danger and corruption as the abilities they use to make war, then they really should be consistent with the rules and guidance. As I said, it seems like such a skewed sense of priorities that it's almost comical, and does make the Jedi seem like scared overvigilant jittery old hens.

 

Plus you're talking to an avowed anarchist here - I actually believe that if you remove the power hierarchies from society you will no longer HAVE war on the scale we're talking about, because there will be no organizations large enough to recruit to the extent necessary to maintain such a war. Conflict will exist and will ALWAYS exist, but if you limit the scale you limit the damage.

 

Although you'd have to have at least small scale democracy or some sort of cooperative collective thing going on, or it all goes to hell in a handbasket mega-fast.

 

Anyway. My biggest problem with the Jedi is that they're a religious AUTHORITY, with all the problems that come with giving a group of people authority over others, or them thinking they SHOULD exert that authority over other people. The Jedi are judgmental and perpetuate violence and warfare and enforce an unnatural set of rules on people despite their statements that they're acting on behalf of restoring peace. It is my view that with their existing viewpoints and inability to coexist with differing philosophies that they can never actually establish peace, and that they actually bring about a lot of the conflict that they purportedly wish to avoid on themselves.

 

I don't necessarily have qualms about helping such organizations in the real-world, assuming they're still well-meaning and actually are managing, in their limited short-sighted capacity, to do SOME good, but I'm not exactly going to be first in line as a convert or a recruit either. And If they're misusing power, I tend to prefer they don't do anything at all, via obstacles and so forth.

Edited July 13, 2013 by Bytemite

[Myeh-Myeh]

They say Jedi like to do the weird stuff.

 

(We do the weird stuff)

 

+500 Nerd/Geek points if you get this.

Was just listening to that song! Made my day lol.

 

On topic, Jedi don't want to become too attached to others because it could, for example, mess up their decision making, and it would be a weak point if the person they loved were ever captured. Also, since love is an emotion and emotions are against the Jedi code, love is a no-no.

That being said, my light side Jedi still romanced people, as does my neutral/darkish Jedi. It seems to me that love and compassion are pretty important for heroes to use in decision making