The fatal flaw in the Jedi code

In the OT, both Luke and Yoda make statements to the effect that the Force runs strong in the Skywalker family. This would lead one to assume that force abilty is a genetic attribute, passed down through the yet to be named 'midiclorians'(ugh), from one generation to the other. Leia's fledgling Force ability bears this out.

However, it is pretty clear that in the PT, the Jedi are expected to lead a monastic life, without marriage or the siring of children.

If this is the case, then where do all these children who begin training as Jedi at the age of, say, 5 or so, come from? Are all children born in the Republic checked for Force ability, with the best canditates being plucked away from their former lives? Seems to me that the Jedi code is akin to a champion horse trainer refusing to allow his fastest, most powerful steed to sire offspring. If the Republic was smart, they'd let the Jedi procreate like rabbits so their ranks would swell,(no pun intended), and there would be no shortage of Force sensitive rugrats levitating around. Plus, maybe the Jedi wouldn't be so uptight and stern if they were allowed to get their freak on every once in a while.

 

Yes, Jedi do test all children born in the Republic. When one is found to be Force-sensitive, I guess they ask the parents if they want to give the kid to the Order.

Attatchment--that is to say, marriage or having a long-lasting relationship with someone--is outlawed to the Jedi, but they're not celibate. For all we know, Obi-wan could have a few illegitamate kids running around the galaxy.

 

You make some interesting points. As a matter of fact they give creedance to the theory that the state of the Jedi order at the time of PT has alot to do with the downfall of the Republic. Some reforms may have been implemented to perhaps keep their minds fresh and clear, which may have prevented certain Dark Side force wielders from clouding the clairvoyancy of the Jedi Council. If you recall in ESB the training of Luke is necessity not a choice ( or else Yoda never would have ).

 

I take the quote about the force running strong in the Skywalker family to be a statement of exception rather than rule, as if it is something that shouldn't happen but did occur in one unique family: the Skywalkers, the offspring of the Chosen One. If one is to believe the number bandied about of approximately 10,000 Jedi existing in the Republic at the time in which the prequels are set, then that is a truly miniscule amount in a galaxy of presumably trillions upon trillions of sentient inhabitants.

If the Republic were to test every newborn in its constituent systems and only 10,000 were identified over a period of several decades, then it is highly unlikely that an instance of Jedi-level force sensitivity would occur in the same family even across several generations. Given the probabilities, there is no reason to think that prohibiting a Jedi from reproducing would limit the generation of new force sensitive children because the possibility of one Jedi, even with another Jedi, breeding another force sensitive would be so remote that it would nearly be considered an impossibility.

Part of the explanation as to why a family may be willing to give up a newborn never to be seen again is that the identification of a potential Jedi must be such a rare, signficant event, imbued with the aura of thousands of generations of galactic lore and import, that a family would willingly part with this child for what must be considered a privelege. Think of the pride that a Roman Catholic family often used to have when a son became a priest or what signficance the identification of a son as a Lama in a Tibetan Buddhist family must mean. Multiply that exponentially across the probability of a galaxy over time and you may get a sense of the rarity of the event when a son or daughter is chosen to be a Jedi.

Now think of the improbability of a father, a son and a daughter of one family in subsequent generations all being stronngly Force sensitive, in a galaxy of trillions. Such a rarity would prompt one to find it worthy, even indispensable, to exclaim as dying words after more than 900 years of life: "The Force runs strong in your family. Pass on what you have learned, Luke. There is another Skywalker."

 

Now think of the improbability of a father, a son and a daughter of one family in subsequent generations all being stronngly Force sensitive, in a galaxy of trillions.

According to Shatterpoint, Haruun Kal is a world full of force-sensitive people who descended from stranded Jedi. They bred and produced a whole lot of Force-sensitive individuals.

 

there are two jedi masters who are cousins, i think

but Force senitivity can;t just be purely gentic, from the moment they started being monastic they would have died out quickly

 

Force sensitivity could be similar to a recessive gene, sort of like how, out of nowhere in a family, a kid with flaming red hair appears.

 

yeah, but in some families the gene is dominant, like the skywalkers

 

Also have you ever noticed that most Jedi are orphans.

 

If the Jedi were allowed to procreate, that would create the risk of family group loyalty destabilizing the internal coherence of the Jedi Order. You would have different clans or tribes vying for superiority over each other. As long as each person is loyal to the Order only, and not to any other Jedi in particular, you would have a stable system.

 

Weren't they allowed to have kids way way back in the days of the Republic? I think I read that they changed that because it sometimes caused jealousy (sibiling rivalries with the Force can be a big deal) that would lead to more Dark Jedi than usual.

 

A Jedi could not marry, but GL has stated several times since AOTC came out that Jedi can have relationships with the opposite sex. A Jedi can still have children.

-Seldon

 

Padme and Anakin getting so much alone time together is part of Palpatines manipulation - he knows the kids' raging hormones will have a part to play in his turning to the darkside. But it may be true that sexual trysts are allowed ( although ive never heard GL confirm this in any magazines or newsletters as is suggested in an earlier post )- its the love part thats forbidden. Come to think of it thats kinda of silly - it must be the sex thats forbidden because it suggests lust - which is an hard to control " darkside"
emotion like anger or fear.

 

In The Approaching Storm, luminar Unduli says the Jedi do not have children to one of the ansionians

 

That Jedi code still stands at the end of ROTJ. The Jedi Code doesn't change, and the films aren't meant to bring that change about. Luke returns to the Jedi Code.

 

Hey this is a great topic. My interpretation follows part of PalpatineAntikristos' logic and part of DarthNigel's:

My idea is that aptitude with the Force IS inherited but that direct or known Jedi lineages are statistically few BECAUSE Jedi abstain from marriage. This way Force-sensitivity is genetically propagated but favoritism of offspring (which could lead to greed, etc.) is avoided by preventing Jedi from becoming responsible for raising their own children. Instead they have the Master-Padawan relationship.

Some might like the idea of Force-sensitivity being unique to the Skywalker family but I feel like the universality of the mythical motif of inheriting heroic powers from one's mother or father begs capitulation within the Star Wars galaxy.

 

Guys i need clarification. A Jedi cannot marry but can have sexual relationship?? Wow, now i know why ppl wud like to be Jedi. They can just jack around without even thinking bout marriage.
But seriously guys, enlighten me.