>Their "specific purpose" is high-handed holier-than-thou bullshit that
>smells strongly of a justification for making people whimper and
>squirm to me. The hypocrisy in that segment is the most naked example
>I've seen since the last time I read anything about J. Edgar Hoover.

Not as such. The Bene Gesserit saw greed as a weakness; the merit of their goal is dubious at best, but in the context of the book, it did succeed, though the result of their breeding program was out of their control. Which was part of Herbert's point. They set about to create a messiah, and expected him to be less than such. After all, the definition of a messiah is to save mankind from something; in this case, it's corruption. The Harkonnens were thoroughly corrupt, and the Corrinos losing ground to their machinations. The Emperor was losing power steadily, and it took a coup by Paul to restore order to the galaxy.

>Bleah. If that's supposed to be an agenda to better mankind, I'd
>prefer remaining unbettered, thanks.

On a personal level, no argument here. I'll go into this further.

> Shadowy organizations which
>profess to be acting for "the common good" generally aren't, and in my
>eyes the BG are no exception to that rule.

See, the Bene Gesserit had boundaries that they were reluctant to cross, but their fatal mistake would have been to train an Atreides daughter as a Bene Gesserit and then marry her to a Harkonnen son, and then produce the Kwisatz Haderach from that union (as was their original plan), for not only would he have been as rebellious as Paul, he would likely have been as corrupt as his paternal forebears. Jessica went against that, and the Bene Gesserit did not take well to that, but she did, ultimately, make the correct choice, for she did it out of love. That was Herbert's point, I think. The BG's ends were dubious, perhaps, and their means were cold, but they were not a malicious order. What political power they did accumulate -- which was always of the behind-the-throne sort -- was simply a means to an end.

As for how they compare to the Jedi, think about this: Jedi routinely lie, deceive, and manipulate, to achieve their ends. That is canon. ("Darth Vader betrayed and murdered your father.") That their intent is good is what generally justifies it. The Bene Gesserit are an order with a specific agenda, a spiritual one that takes advantage of a political system. They're cold, ruthless, and single-minded, but they are not and never have been malicious, greedy, or self-centered. On an individual basis, Sisters and Reverend Mothers are wise and compassionate healers and teachers; as for their agenda, it's clear that their control over it isn't as absolute as the kind of organization you're describing would have to have. Otherwise, they would have arranged for Paul's death and ordered Jessica to have a daughter.

-- Sean --

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