Evidence for the light side of the force before Force Awakes?(spoiler)

[blahface]

Spoiler

In Force Awakens, we hear Ren saying that he is being temped by the light side of the force so I guess there is some evidence.

Ok, the spoiler tag either isn't working or I am just doing it wrong. I'm guessing it is the latter, but I have no idea what I could be doing to screw it up.

In the other films though, what evidence is there that a light side exists? To me it seems more likely that the force is naturally evil and jedi have to very disciplined in order to avoid being totally corrupted by it. Other than the Jedi saying that a light side exists, what is the evidence for it? It seems like a baseless assertion to me.

[Borgholio]

Young Anakin was instinctively tapping into the Force before he was trained as a Jedi, and he was a very benevolent and helpful character. He didn't turn evil until Palpatine messed with his head. If the Force was naturally evil, then everybody touched by it would be a bad (or at least, not a good) person.

[biostem]

In the other films though, what evidence is there that a light side exists? To me it seems more likely that the force is naturally evil and jedi have to very disciplined in order to avoid being totally corrupted by it. Other than the Jedi saying that a light side exists, what is the evidence for it? It seems like a baseless assertion to me.

So, when Luke asks Yoda "Is the dark side stronger?", what is the *other* side, if not "the light side"?

It could simply be a matter of terminology among Jedi, in that everything not of the dark side is the light side - like how people may speak of "normal behavior" as just "behavior", and everything else is abnormal/wrong/not right.

[Zeropoint]

I prefer the interpretation that the Force is morally neutral, and it's people who are dark and light.

[biostem]

I prefer the interpretation that the Force is morally neutral, and it's people who are dark and light.

The Force *is* morally neutral - in the same way that fire is morally neutral - yet people can use fire to warm themselves and cook food, or to commit arson. The only difference is that only particular people can tap into the Force, and a deciding factor is whether they tap into it via calm, concentrated acts of will, or via their passions.

Though not said outright, I feel that if someone was able to draw upon their emotions, without crossing the line toward selfishness and a hunger for power, then they could draw from the Dark Side without going evil. IIRC, wasn't Mace Windu one such practitioner, who could skirt this line?

[Lord Revan]

I prefer the interpretation that the Force is morally neutral, and it's people who are dark and light.

The Force *is* morally neutral - in the same way that fire is morally neutral - yet people can use fire to warm themselves and cook food, or to commit arson. The only difference is that only particular people can tap into the Force, and a deciding factor is whether they tap into it via calm, concentrated acts of will, or via their passions.

Though not said outright, I feel that if someone was able to draw upon their emotions, without crossing the line toward selfishness and a hunger for power, then they could draw from the Dark Side without going evil. IIRC, wasn't Mace Windu one such practitioner, who could skirt this line?

it's never stated in canon IIRC but it was in the legends sort of in that Mace Windu (and others using the same style) danced about "grey" area inbetween light and dark but he never outright drew from the dark side. Also it's strongly implied that the light side users of form 7 are always in danger of falling to the dark side when employing the style which is in a sense why Mace Windu was the only person to master the style within the Jedi Order.

[biostem]

I prefer the interpretation that the Force is morally neutral, and it's people who are dark and light.

The Force *is* morally neutral - in the same way that fire is morally neutral - yet people can use fire to warm themselves and cook food, or to commit arson. The only difference is that only particular people can tap into the Force, and a deciding factor is whether they tap into it via calm, concentrated acts of will, or via their passions.

Though not said outright, I feel that if someone was able to draw upon their emotions, without crossing the line toward selfishness and a hunger for power, then they could draw from the Dark Side without going evil. IIRC, wasn't Mace Windu one such practitioner, who could skirt this line?

it's never stated in canon IIRC but it was in the legends sort of in that Mace Windu (and others using the same style) danced about "grey" area inbetween light and dark but he never outright drew from the dark side. Also it's strongly implied that the light side users of form 7 are always in danger of falling to the dark side when employing the style which is in a sense why Mace Windu was the only person to master the style within the Jedi Order.

Gotcha. At the same time, we never explicitly see the Force, well, force someone to do something. There is this underlying temptation to draw more and more from it, or to "fall" to said temptation, but not outright "possession by the Force".

[Lord Revan]

The Force *is* morally neutral - in the same way that fire is morally neutral - yet people can use fire to warm themselves and cook food, or to commit arson. The only difference is that only particular people can tap into the Force, and a deciding factor is whether they tap into it via calm, concentrated acts of will, or via their passions.

Though not said outright, I feel that if someone was able to draw upon their emotions, without crossing the line toward selfishness and a hunger for power, then they could draw from the Dark Side without going evil. IIRC, wasn't Mace Windu one such practitioner, who could skirt this line?

it's never stated in canon IIRC but it was in the legends sort of in that Mace Windu (and others using the same style) danced about "grey" area inbetween light and dark but he never outright drew from the dark side. Also it's strongly implied that the light side users of form 7 are always in danger of falling to the dark side when employing the style which is in a sense why Mace Windu was the only person to master the style within the Jedi Order.

Gotcha. At the same time, we never explicitly see the Force, well, force someone to do something. There is this underlying temptation to draw more and more from it, or to "fall" to said temptation, but not outright "possession by the Force".

true but way it was explained was that it wasn't so much a possession but rather a "the road to hell is paved with good intentions" situation where you might have the best intentions orginally but if you're not very careful it's those good intentions that cause you to fall.

or kind of how the One Ring is told to work in Lord of the Rings, it doesn't force you to do bad things, but rather makes you think that doing bad things is needed to achivive the good thing you're trying to do.

basically the temptation isn't to do "evil" acts for shits and giggles. No it's much more insidious that's why you need be calm and at peace with yourself to know the Light side from the Dark, because the temptation of the Dark side can "cloak" itself with the apparence of reasonble actions if you don't look at them too closely.