Relevant Community Citations-
- Defense - A Jedi understands that defense is not purely physical, but that there are many ways to defend a person or property. As such, it is important to understand that Jedi are not vigilantes. If, however, they are in a position where they are called to defend themselves or someone else against loss of life, limb or senses, they are allowed to apply the appropriate amount of force necessary for defense.” (The Jedi Compass)
- “Tolerance - You do not need to agree with someone's religion, their nationality, their career choice, their dress or anything else for that matter. Tolerance is not about agreement, it is about showing respect for the freedom of a persons choices and to respect their choices, until it reaches a point in which a reasonable person would consider the individual's actions as a/an (emotionally, spiritually, financially, and/or physically) abusive threat to you or another person.” (The Jedi Compass)
- “Justice: To always seek the path of ‘right’- A Jedi is unencumbered by bias or personal interest. Justice is a double-edged sword, one that protects the weak, yet also passes judgements according to a set of values. A Jedi tolerates that which is not Jedi and does not pass judgement on that which causes no harm for it is just.” (Temple of the Jedi Order Doctrine)
- “A Jedi does not let personal interest or bias determine justice. They know that Justice is a double-edged sword, one which protects a party, yet passes judgment upon another according to a set of values. They tolerate what is not Jedi, and only pass judgment against that which inflicts harm upon another being.” (Principles of Jediism, 2019 Temple of the Jedi Order Project)
- “A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, never for attack” (The Skywalker Code)
- “Respect the Law - A Jedi knows enough of the law to operate within it. Jedi should respect, and do their best to live by, the laws of the land they are living in. However, these are man's law, and like man, subject to flaws. A Jedi must act for the best interest of mankind as he/she sees the situation.” (The Jedi Compass)
- “Honor the Law - One of the most important roles of the Jedi was to protect the peace and justice of the Republic, and so no Jedi was above the law. Jedi were expected to follow the law the same as they expected others to. Jedi were permitted to break laws, but only when it was required, and only if they were willing to suffer the consequences” (Jedi Behaviors)
Discussion
What does it take to enact a curse? Each of the above citations build a foundation for a Jedi’s Rules of Engagement [RoE] (tolerance) and Escalation of Force [EoF] (Law & Defense).
In the Military, A RoE is a set of guidelines for when you are allowed to engage in Escalation of Force against the Enemy. Things like, “Return fire with aimed fire” when you’re getting shot at is a combination of RoE (when you’re getting fired at) and EoF (return fire with aimed fire). But you may be given more complex RoE’s, like having a set of things you have to protect. This may be a building, or classified equipment. That is, you have the right to defend it up to lethal force if the situation calls for it. At that point, you have to use your best judgement for your EoF model. Basically, these are rules for when you’re called to be combative.
The reason I bring it up, is because Curse Work is a form of Metaphysical Combat. And just like Physical Combat situations, there should be an established RoE and EoF. For the Jedi, the RoE is outlined in our sandlines of Tolerance and Defense. Each one draws a line in the sand when real harm is present. The Jedi Compass distinguishes the discussion of when to get combative, at the point that there is a loss of life, limb or eyesight. Tolerance, although making the statement that Jedi draw a line at “abusive threat” has to take into account that there are a multitude of ways to resolve problems before it reaches the point that physical altercation is necessary to protect a person. This is further covered by understanding a person, even a victim, has the right to decide their own fate.
That may seem very hard for some people to read. But if you talk to a seasoned cop about Domestic Violence, you’ll learn that the Cycle of Violence is a very difficult pattern to break out of and it requires the victim to step out on their own and make movement forward- otherwise they’ll fall right back into it. Therefore, on average, the best way to help them out of the situation is through diplomatic means. However, Domestic Violence that has gone Physical, certainly fits into the category of “loss of life, limb or eyesight”.
But does Curse Work that doesn’t involve Death Curses fit into the model of a Tolerance line in the sand? Maybe a curse that aims to teach the person a lesson? Say, something that will cause the target to go to jail or to think twice about cheating on someone?
If the evidence is there to support jail time, then this evidence should be turned over to the proper authorities (Respect/Honor the Law). If the person is cheating, honestly it would be better to empower the person asking for retribution to approach the cheater and break up with them.
Because I’ve defined the Jedi as the Investigator, and not the Executioner, Jury or Judge, it means that once the curse is out of the Jedi’s hands- there’s no telling what form a potential curse may take. The aforementioned cheater may contract an STD, and not care at all who they end up with. The lesson, whether executed by the Jedi themselves or the being they hand over the case to, is not guaranteed and may result in unnecessary collateral damage (Overcome/Conquer Recklessness).
In considering these things, it means that curse work may only be warranted when there is a credible threat of loss of life, limb or eyesight. But in holding true to the discussion of the Law (Honor/Respect the Law), this has to be an imminent threat. Not a threat that could occur in an hour from now- one that is taking place at this moment. We can see this clearly laid out in the code’s line “Jedi use the Force for knowledge and defense, never for attack”.
Although the films do have extenuating circumstances where they will attack things before they are actively used (such as taking out the Death Star, or the fight with Darth Maul), we have to recognize that there are a few very important points to address.
The Death Star was a Military Target. The people in the Death Star may have lost their lives, but they were armed with the most dangerous weapon in the galaxy. And they had already demonstrated they would use it on innocent civilians. No other options but to get rid of the Death Star existed. Even disabling the laser on it would have only bought them borrowed time. In the case of Darth Maul, Maul drew his weapon first and presented a threat to Padme’s forces. The moment he drew his weapon, it wasn’t a matter of attack, but a matter of defense.
As long as someone is alive, and not at this very moment being abused, they have options. They are not in “Imminent” danger, according to the law.
Now one might ask “Why bring up worldly law, when this deals with the metaphysical and can’t be proven in a court of law?”. Of the two citations at the beginning of this section, the most lenient is probably that of the Jedi Compass which points out that the laws of the land are man-made and subject to flaws. Although true, I feel that Honoring or Respecting a Law deals less with the letter, and more with the spirit of it.
The Spirit of American Law is built upon the concept that “You Are Innocent Until Proven Guilty”. Since you cannot know for certain the mind of a person until they speak it or act upon their thoughts, we have to be patient with our actions. This also means that we have concrete evidence of the action taken in the moment.
Curse Work falls short in this arena. Unless you can enact a curse to work within seconds of beginning it, then it means that its effects will come long after the attack has been committed (whether it’s the Jedi doing it or a third party they’ve called in). By this point, law enforcement may already be involved, or the victim has made their decision to leave or stay. Which brings me to another point of consideration- that the added stress a curse has on the assailant may get taken out further on their victim, and escalate to proportions the curse was trying to prevent. Again, entering into Recklessness.
If we Honor/Respect the Law in terms of the Law of the Land, then our integrity should hold us accountable to the same principles of the Law of the Land in our Metaphysical usage.
So my second conclusion is: Curse Work isn’t practical when analyzing it against the Ethic of Defense. And it is against the Spirit of the Law, which is covered under Respect the Law.
These aren’t the only things I considered in my personal exploration. I have one more angle I considered that I want to share with you before I circle back and address the question from the first entry in this series, because at the end of the day- there are corrupt governments. So if we deem that our government's laws are flawed, because man is flawed, is there something else in the philosophy which addresses this question? I'll post on that tomorrow. :)