Values, credo, culture: Antarian Rangers and the Force – a possible religious belief?

Antarian Rangers have a complex relationship with the Force. While most Rangers “lack the ability to tap into the Force” and the organization is open to “non-Force users”, “those without the ability to touch the Force”, or “have no Force powers”, it requires its members to have “at least rudimentary knowledge of the Force” – an understandable requirement given the Jedi they assist.

Yet, the organization is also open to Force-sensitive individual – and one might say, is especially open to them. Not only, do the Rangers hold a favorable bias toward Force-sensitive beings, but they do their best to recruit them into the organization, thus “continually [keeping] tabs on recruits turned down for Jedi training, especially those old enough to make the decision to join”.

In this light, Force-users are likely to be particularly well perceived within the organization and their failure to use the Force to the best of their abilities would create a sense of failure such as the one experienced by Tyria Sarkin “I failed to learn the ways of the Force and uphold my family traditions”, “Seeing that my ancestors for twenty generations back have all lined up behind me with stern expressions to make sure I’m doing it right, and I suddenly realize that I can’t swim well enough to make them proud of me”.

Beyond the added-value of being a Force-user in such an organization, the organization may have had an ambiguous stance toward the Force, where the latter could be perceived as something attainable “a natural place for those without the ability to touch the Force to turn to in fulfilling dreams of connecting with the Force”. How exactly would they be able “connect” with the Force is unclear. A somehow far-fetched hypothesis can nevertheless be formulated, if the Antarian Rangers see the Force in a religious way, as hinted in The New Essential Chronology which uses the word “desecrated” for the Chapter Houses. In this context, the belief in the Force may be seen as a vessel to become Force-sensitive. More information would however be needed to confirm or infirm such hypothesis.

Sources: Hero’s Guide, The Force Unleashed Campaign Guide (p.66-68), Imperial Commando 501st (p.68), X-wing: Wraith Squadron (p.186, 214), The New Essential Chronology (p.50)