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December 04, 2004
LukeVader
Evil and Good seems like a quickly graspable idea, by youngsters.
At first, though, they seem to understand this concept as a black and white issue versus the grey aspects which seem to rear their head as life progresses.
Take for instance, Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker. Good versus evil, right? Nice and clean cut... or is it? Luke is the offspring of Vader, and wrestles with the Dark Side of the Force. Vader used to be THE man for the good guys (funnily enough, the 'rebels', which mixes more grey into the soup.
Consider the Christian.
Ender, "Daddy, are you a good guy?"
Dad, "Hmm. Sorta kinda. I will be completely good one day, although I am good and evil now, and was completely evil before I was born, although I was never completely evil because I was regenerated before I was born."
Ender, "So, then, you are an evil good guy, right?"
Dad, "Sort of, but not really. I am a good guy that screws up a lot and depends on Jesus to fix all that, which He promises to do. So, I am a good guy who still does bad things."
Ender, "So, how do you tell good guys from bad guys?"
Dad, "Isn't it getting kind of late? Perhaps you should go to bed."
----
Well, then, I decided to have fun with my son's young views of good and evil. Still liking Star Wars, because I was born in that era, despite the crap the has recently been produced by the LucasArts machine, I had let my son watch several of the episodes.
Obviously, unlike Episode 1 and 2, the earlier Episodes had a clearer view of good and evil, with the whole Darth Vader/ most everyone else thing.
So, we decide to play Star Wars. Ender, still wanting to be the good guy, and not having a particular hero in the series, decides to be a generic good guy... not Luke or Han or anyone like that... but I suppose his own character who is IN the story, but not the one that we've seen (kinda like the whole Redemptive Historical perspective, hmmm).
He usually wants me to be one his side, whether we are good guys or bad guys, which probably also says a lot about child rearing and the importance of parenting... but me, ignoring these two things (which I should probably pay more attention to), I decide to be Luke Vader.
Dad, in a low, breathing voice, "I am Luke Vader."
Ender stands still, trying to figure out whether he should be fighting me (him a good guy, me a bad guy; him a bad guy, me a good guy) or helping me (him a bad guy, me a bad guy; me a good guy, him a good guy). It is fun to watch the decisions and implications wash across his face as he comes to grips with the current situtaion.
And then, everything becomes simplified for him, as the world slides back into black and white, as often I wish it would do for me.
So my little crusader does what any good crusader would do... he attacks.
Whether he has come to decision that I am bad and he is good; or that I am good while he is bad, I do not know...but he does know that it is often much more fun to go on the offensive, than it is to remain and idle bystander when issues of life and good or evil and bad are at stake.
I chuckle, then take him out. For after all, whether Luke Vader is good or bad, he's got some talent in light sabre fighting.
Posted by oriondark at December 4, 2004 12:00 PM
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Comments
sweet mary that was beautiful.
Posted by: JosiahQ at December 8, 2004 11:51 AM