Hevvrol Sector, Glom Tho System, Glom Tho 1- Citizens of Glom Tho were reminded today by High Priest Xanxus Drol that “droid beatings” and “droid abuse” are considered unjust actions in Crimson Dawn territories, with exceptions granted by special permit, such as the droid on droid boxing circuit on Glom Tho. Events like these use very low level droids that are not self aware or semi self aware.
The reminder comes after esteemed Jungle Priest Wynk Waawat made headlines recently stating “For those of you already hooked on “Beating the Bantha,” I strongly recommend you try another, more ethical source of combat training: droids! The BAF-1000 Assault Droid or the old reliable R0-L0 Tank Droid are particularly well suited for this sort of thing. There’s nothing wrong with a little sparring, but don’t pretend your Bantha likes it!”
High Priest Xanxus Drol, who has championed droid rights in Crimson Dawn space, going as far as to make manumissioned droids a protected class of citizen, had alot to say about this issue.
“First let me say, I consider Wynk to be a friendly face in a sea of frowns when I look out at the galactic community. Crimson Dawn, while not a participant in all of the Legacy of Ithor’s great works such as the Galactic Parks Network, in principle we support what they do, and the message to not abuse creatures is also one we stand with. I'm sure the Jungle Pope's comments were well meant, but casual disregard for the rights of droid-folk needs to be addressed too." Xanxus says to the camera, pausing briefly.
“We want to point out that not all droids are meant to be beaten upon, the mentioned droids are of course of a combat capacity and are built and programmed for strenuous training with humanoid life forms. A Protocol droid, on the other hand, is smart enough to know its being damaged, and that its not meant for that.” Xanxus continued, stating “ We would not want the public to mistake one for the other. The Many Gods call upon us to treat these beings with dignity and respect.”
“Beyond the programming conflicts this causes a low level model, imagine the ramifications for more intelligent and even semi-self aware droids, and of course the rare sentient droids…. “ Xanxus took a moment before continuing. “In Crimson Dawn territory, we do things differently then alot of places, we have a vibrant community of manumissioned droids that contribute to our society.”
Xanxus went on to talk about vandalism and assaults on droids and other issues regarding droid rights, but ultimately circled back to the main point “So its nothing against the Jungle priests mission, but statements like these made casually tend to raise and bolster hate on droids, which we will enforce against in our territories our way, and protect the citizenry as needed, even the mechanic ones.”
Xanxus said he hoped to meet or otherwise commune with the Jungle Priests regarding the inclusion of droids into the Ithorian Law of Life in the future, should they be open to such a discussion. It is expected the High Priest’s weekly “Saturday Sermon” delivered in the Temple Holoserver will discuss droids and their connection to the faith tomorrow morning.
