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Transcript:
The Church of the Force is a body of individuals who believe in the power of the Force and worship that power. But where did they come from?
INTRO
Hello, Star Wars fans! My name is Joel Robinson and welcome to day 8 of the 16-day countdown to Rogue One!
The Church of the Force was a group of loosely-affiliated individuals who were spread across the galaxy. The common ingredient between the different churches was that they all greatly respected the Jedi Order and worshipped the Force and the power that came from it. However, when Emperor Palpatine transformed the Galactic Republic into the Galactic Empire at the end of the Clone Wars, he orchestrated the near-complete annihilation of the Jedi Order, and with it, he banned all from the study and worship of the Force and made it treason to disobey his decree.
One notable Church of the Force member who lived during this time was the explorer Lor San Tekka. San Tekka traveled the galaxy after the rise of the Empire, on the belief that the Emperor's claim that the Jedi had attempted to assassinate him at the end of the Clone Wars was false. Many believers in the Force sought him out throughout the Empire's reign as a result, wishing to share in his knowledge and join his church gathering of believers.
On the sacred desert moon Jedha, an ancient temple attributed to the Jedi, the Temple of the Whills, sat, pointing heavenward in one of Jedha's most-notable settlements, the holy city. Due to Jedha's strong ties to the Jedi Order even after the Jedi Purge began, many Church of the Force members took pilgrimages to Jedha to learn more about the Force from sometimes flamboyantly garbed spiritual priests and monks--like the blind monk Chirrut Imwe.
However, due to Jedha's incredibly strong ties to both the Force and the Jedi Order, Jedha was eventually occupied by the Empire. The Empire occupied the diminutive moon in order for Imperial mining crews to dig up massive kyber crystals that were said to lie beneath the moon's desolate landscape.
In Jedha's holy city, the Church of the Force was allowed to continue to worship, if only because a majority of the holy city's population worshipped the Force through the Church of the Force. The Empire instead deployed contingents of stark-white-armored stormtroopers to patrol the holy city and keep the Church of the Force affiliates inline with Imperial line.
However, some worshippers of the Force, like the villagers of Lor San Tekka's Tuanal church village on the planet Jakku, were not pacifists--they took up arms against the tyrannical Empire and formed a rebellion.
Church members believed very similarly to the Jedi: they believed that it was best to resolve disagreements and conflicts peacefully, but if that was no longer an option, it was entirely acceptable to defend oneself and others from evil if given no other choice, or prompted by the Force. Monk Chirrut Imwe and his non-believer partner, the assassin Baze Malbus both participated in the prolonged insurgency. Chirrut, though, blind fought
If you like this video, please share it! Thank you so much for watching, please subscribe if you need more Star Wars. A special thanks to Calvin Schubert who wrote this video, be sure to check out his all of his work on wookiepedia! and as always may the force be with you.
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No Purchase is necessary. The contest in open to residents of the 50 states. To enter, share the link to any video in the "16-Day Countdown to Rogue One Playlist" on Facebook or Twitter and tag the accounts "Joel Robinson" or "@TheJoelRobinson". Only one entry per platform per day will be counted as an entry. You may share on both platforms once per day for a total of two entries. Winners will be announced on Facebook and Twitter. There will be 16 winners total.The winners will be picked at the discretion of Joel Robinson, and Joel Robinson has the right to refuse the giving of a prize at his discretion.