Creating a System of Jedi Ethics

[JT Swift]

Concerning the issue of WHEN is it okay for a Jedi to use the Force to kill?

It's been shown in Star Wars that large amounts of violent death [or even violent pain and torture] leave distorted dark side Force taints in the area it happened.

If large scale taints occur for large amounts of violent death then small scale taints probably happen for individual deaths. Now if one is using the Force to DIRECTLY touch that death (say by Force Choke) then that taint would be directly connected to the Force user. Maybe that's a bad thing? Maybe that taint [as weak as it is] can travel back up the link and infect the Force User?

So if a Dark Sider uses Force Choke then he gets a bit of a buzz (cuz they like those Dark Side nexuses). But if a Jedi uses Force Choke then part of the taint is attached to him [like some sort of point of dark side ]

So Jedi prefer to use something that keeps the death at arms length. Like a lightsabre, or a blaster, or a proton torpedo launcher. The Force controls their hands but the violent death is still happening some distance away from where the Jedi is using the Force.

This would mean that Force pushes could cause taints if they kill or seriously hurt someone. But otherwise they are fine. And THROWING rocks at someone with telekinesis is fine too, as long as you don't guide the rock to its target after 'launch.' Basically all these 'Dark Side Force Powers' would boil down to 'powers that have you touching the target through the Force while causing damage or death.'

And before people start claiming that this is purely mechanistic and has nothing to do with spirituality, I'd point out that the cosmological component of Campbell's definition of a religion relates to understanding and living in accord with the rules and laws of the Universe.

At least that's how I rule on things. YMMV

On a different note: If droids have no midiclurians, then they can't communicate or influence the Force. Therefore they can't create a taint when they die violently. Meaning that none of the above applies to 'killing' droids. Which explains a lot of what we see Jedi doing to droids in the Clone Wars.
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- J.T. Swift

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