# Star Wars: Do Jedis not have a problem with lying? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 16, 2014, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-do-jedis-not-have-a-problem-with-lying/693265 "2014-07-16T11:37:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-do-jedis-not-have-a-problem-with-lying/693265/41 "2014-07-17T00:29:27Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > For that matter, they could have mind-tricked a moneychanger into accepting the Republic credits, and used local currency to buy the engine repairs. Why bother? Dude’s a Jedi, he’s already ready to win the bet by cheating at dice. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-do-jedis-not-have-a-problem-with-lying/693265/42 "2014-07-17T01:14:05Z")
[It’s not really lying.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSOBeD1GC_Y) ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-do-jedis-not-have-a-problem-with-lying/693265/43 "2014-07-17T01:40:15Z")
One of my favorite movie quotes (from **Lawrence of Arabia** ): “A man who tells lies merely hides the truth. But a man who tells half-lies, has forgotten where he’s put it.” ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-do-jedis-not-have-a-problem-with-lying/693265/44 "2014-07-17T01:45:23Z")
> [@Johnny\_Q](#): > > [It’s not really lying.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSOBeD1GC_Y) The canes and straw hats make them much more convincing… from a certain point of view. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-do-jedis-not-have-a-problem-with-lying/693265/45 "2014-07-17T02:09:50Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Though Yoda never mentions this particular philosophy on screen, it’s clearly part of the Jedi code: The ends justify the means. I agree, I started a thread awhile back putting forth the hypothesis the Jedi sabotaged the senate and brought the galactic order down on purpose. ---
**Author:** ![Find\_Friends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@Find\_Friends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Find_Friends)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-do-jedis-not-have-a-problem-with-lying/693265/46 "2014-07-17T13:41:17Z")
> [@Bozuit](#): > > Wait, did I just Jedi mind trick you? 😕 What do you mean? And what would you like me to do next? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Find\_Friends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@Find\_Friends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Find_Friends)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2014, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-do-jedis-not-have-a-problem-with-lying/693265/47 "2014-07-18T15:42:26Z")
This is Trans Fat 0g, the ultimate thread-killer! I like the fact that no one has remarked on my last post, or any other posts here. _THERE IS NO NEED TO COMMENT ON THIS THREAD ANY FURTHER… YOU MAY AS WELL MOVE ALONG._ (Please repeat this to yourself.) ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2014, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-do-jedis-not-have-a-problem-with-lying/693265/48 "2014-07-18T17:09:33Z")
Anyone with a reasonable understanding of the universe is aware that lying is sometimes necessary in life. It is neither a crime nor a sin\*. It would be utterly asinine to set up an organization like the Jedi and then have some idiotic moralistic prohibition on lying. - Except where prohibited by law or religion. ---
**Author:** ![Grestarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grestarian/32/3227_2.png) [@Grestarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grestarian)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2014, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-do-jedis-not-have-a-problem-with-lying/693265/49 "2014-07-18T23:16:53Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Just because Obi-Wan is capable of mind-controlling them into thinking the droids are a begonia and a Waldorf salad doesn’t change the fact that these are the droids they’re looking for. I always thought Ben’s little trick with the stormtroopers was a variant of the bene-jesseret (sp?) _voice_ that the user applies to implant distractive suggestions. [Yeah, I’m mixing milieu; sue me.] In fact, since there wasn’t much conversation with the troopers, Obi-Wan’s little trick was a poor response to an educated guess. The troopers never say they’re looking for droids that had arrived with a holographic message; but it would have been just as easy to believe they were run-of-the-mill cop-types looking for a couple droids that had been stolen from another region of the planet, in which case he could have very honestly said, “These aren’t the droids you’re looking for.” and not needed to apply any _force_. It would have been less conspicuous (though perhaps more of a lie) to just say, “No, we just got in from Targerra station [or some other place almost impossibly distant and in the opposite direction from from the droids’ landing zone] and this gold one hasn’t shut up for three days.\* Would you like to buy it? I’ll give you a good price! You could give it to those guys who lost theirs…” —G! Well, why don’t you just…" _blam_ “…shoot it? It’s only a cheap droid! You’re welcome; move along!” ---
**Author:** ![emarkp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3be4f8/32.png) [@emarkp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emarkp)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2014, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-do-jedis-not-have-a-problem-with-lying/693265/50 "2014-07-18T23:42:36Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > It would be utterly asinine to set up an organization like the Jedi and then have some idiotic moralistic prohibition on lying. But less asinine then breeding force users out of existence. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2014, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-do-jedis-not-have-a-problem-with-lying/693265/51 "2014-07-19T00:52:03Z")
> [@emarkp](#): > > But less asinine then breeding force users out of existence. Nah, like Babylon 5’s Psicorps, the Jedi have a breeding program. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2014, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-do-jedis-not-have-a-problem-with-lying/693265/52 "2014-07-19T02:27:48Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Nah, like Babylon 5’s Psicorps, the Jedi have a breeding program. Does it involve a gom jabbar test? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2014, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-do-jedis-not-have-a-problem-with-lying/693265/53 "2014-07-19T12:06:53Z")
“Your father’s lightsaber; he wanted you to have it, when you were old enough. Of course, he never actually _said_ that, since he didn’t know he had a son. And, when you get right down to it, he only ever indicated a desire to keep the thing for himself; I just decided to swipe it after hacking off his arm, is all.” ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2014, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-do-jedis-not-have-a-problem-with-lying/693265/54 "2014-07-19T12:30:46Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > “Your father’s lightsaber; he wanted you to have it, when you were old enough. Of course, he never actually _said_ that, since he didn’t know he had a son. And, when you get right down to it, he only ever indicated a desire to keep the thing for himself; I just decided to swipe it after hacking off his arm, is all.” No, no, Ben wasn’t lying at the time. Remember that Yoda warned, “Always in motion is the future.” The same is true of the past, although Yoda didn’t say it. It was probably just too much for Luke to absorb at the time, that the Creator of the Universe can alter the past. So when Luke confronts Ben in EMPIRE for deceiving him, the better answer than “from one point of view” would have been: “No, Luke, I told you the truth based on reality at that time. But the great Jedi God Sucal Ergoeg changed his mind and revised the past after I told you about your father having been killed. This happens all the time, that the past is changed. Talk to Han in a few years about the shooting at Mos Eisley cantina.” ---
**Author:** ![Find\_Friends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@Find\_Friends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Find_Friends)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2014, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-do-jedis-not-have-a-problem-with-lying/693265/55 "2014-07-19T14:11:58Z")
> [@Trans Fat Og](#): > > … I like the fact that no one has remarked on my last post, or any other posts here. > > _THERE IS NO NEED TO COMMENT ON THIS THREAD ANY FURTHER… YOU MAY AS WELL MOVE ALONG._ Sigh… It’s not working. I forgot that it only works on weak minds. Most of the minds here are strong. Not necessarily “strong with the force” just not weak. ---
**Author:** ![emarkp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3be4f8/32.png) [@emarkp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emarkp)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2014, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-do-jedis-not-have-a-problem-with-lying/693265/56 "2014-07-19T15:28:40Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Nah, like Babylon 5’s Psicorps, the Jedi have a breeding program. Except it’s the opposite. You’re not allowed to have kids (wouldn’t want to lose those precious bodily fluids), but force abilities run in families. So the Jedi council run around the galaxy finding force users and effectively snuffing out their family line. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2014, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-do-jedis-not-have-a-problem-with-lying/693265/57 "2014-07-19T16:25:38Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > “Your father’s lightsaber; he wanted you to have it, when you were old enough. Of course, he never actually _said_ that, since he didn’t know he had a son. And, when you get right down to it, he only ever indicated a desire to keep the thing for himself; I just decided to swipe it after hacking off his arm, is all.” "Well, one of his lightsabers, anyway. The guy went through these things like you wouldn’t believe. We used to call him ‘Butterfingers Anakin,’ for the way he was always dropping them off the side of cliffs or into pools of magma. He broke one once when he left it in his robe pocket and put it through the washing machine. Anyway, he had this one for three or four weeks, which was practically a record for him. Here, catch." ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2014, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-do-jedis-not-have-a-problem-with-lying/693265/58 "2014-07-19T18:01:08Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > "Well, one of his lightsabers, anyway. The guy went through these things like you wouldn’t believe. We used to call him ‘Butterfingers Anakin,’ for the way he was always dropping them off the side of cliffs or into pools of magma. He broke one once when he left it in his robe pocket and put it through the washing machine. > > Anyway, he had this one for three or four weeks, which was practically a record for him. Here, catch." “I haven’t gone by the name of Obi-Wan since, oh, before you were born. No, wait; I was still going by ‘Obi-Wan’ _after_ you were born; sure, I remember, because that’s what your mom called me in the delivery room, upon naming you and your twin sister. In point of fact, I started going by ‘Ben’ _because_ I was bringing you here; how could I possibly forget that? Your birthday was, like, the turning point of my whole life.” ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2014, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-do-jedis-not-have-a-problem-with-lying/693265/59 "2014-07-19T18:19:55Z")
> [@Trans Fat Og](#): > > 😕 > What do you mean? I’ve just never had anyone just say “okay” to one of my posts before. Standard procedure is to disagree or ignore. I thought perhaps I had more midi-chlorians than I expected. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2014, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-do-jedis-not-have-a-problem-with-lying/693265/60 "2014-07-19T20:12:16Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > Both Anakin and Obi-Wan lied about having girlfriends. HOLY SHIT! I’m a fuckin’ JEDI! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-do-jedis-not-have-a-problem-with-lying/693265.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-do-jedis-not-have-a-problem-with-lying/693265.md?page=4)