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In The Mandalorian episode "The Child" (S01E02) our hero, Din Djarin, utters this memorable quote:

I'm a Mandalorian... weapons are part of my religion.

But what does he mean exactly by this?

First off, is it a true statement; or does he just not want to give up his rifle when dealing a group (the Jawas) he does not trust?

Second, if it is a true statement, what part of the Mandalorian Creed backs this up? It gets a little complicated here because we find out later that Din is a member of the "The Children of the Watch" which has different rules than other Mandalorians. However, what I have seen the "rules" are (also not sure if this Disney canon or Legends still) of the Mandalorian are called Resol'nare and are as follows:

  • Ba'jur: Raise your children as Mandalorians.
  • Beskar'gam: Wear the armor of a Mandalorian.
  • Ara'nov: Defend yourself and your family.
  • Aliit: Contribute to the welfare of the clan.
  • Mando'a: Speak the Mandalorian Language.
  • Mand'alor: When called upon by Mand'alor, rally to his cause.

In these actions I do not see any mention of weapons. Armor yes, weapons no. So to reiterate my questions...

  1. Is Din's statement true?
  2. If true, what is the source of the belief?
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    ISTR there was a quote along the lines of "some people choose to believe in God; I choose to believe in {sidearm}." That might put a different spin on the quote; not that he has religious imperative for weapons, but that weapons are the only thing he would put his faith in.
    – DavidW
    Sep 27, 2021 at 16:59
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    Weapons are probably included in Beskar'gam since many were built into the armor. Whistling birds, flame throwers, and whip cords being a few examples. Rocket launchers too but they may have been detachable like Rising Phoenix. Weapons could also play an essential role in Ara'nov and Mand'alor.
    – L.T.Smash
    Sep 27, 2021 at 17:14
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    There's probably more to his religion than simply 6 statements of faith. Buddhists have more beliefs than just the 4 Noble Truths; Christians and Jews have more beliefs than just the Ten Commandments.
    – Nacht
    Sep 27, 2021 at 23:17
  • @Nacht And in fact nobody quite agrees on what the Ten Commandments are - the Bible even contradicts itself on this point in several places, but that's a whole other can of worms.
    – Darrel Hoffman
    Sep 28, 2021 at 13:59

2 Answers 2

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1. Presumably yes. He has no reason to lie but what "religion" means specifically to him is unclear.

2. His upbringing.

Din Djarin was brought up as a member of the Children of the Watch, described by Bo-Katan Kryze as "a cult of religious zealots" (Mando S2E3, "The Heiress") who follow a particular interpretation of Mandalorian culture they call the Way of the Mandalore. From what is shown so far, The Way of the Mandalore dictates never removing one's helmet in the presence of others or allowing oneself to be seen unhelmed, protecting other Mandalorians, and (according to Djarin) having a religious connection to weaponry.

According to the show and extended current (Disney) canon, Djarin's upbringing is not the standard for other traditionalist Mandalorian groups, including Boba Fett and his father Jango's relationship, the Death Watch during the Clone Wars, the Mandalorian Protectors, and most of the known Mandalorian Houses and Clans including Clans Wren, Saxon, and Kryze. However, according to Children of the Watch like Djarin, Mandalorians who don't follow the Way are, in their eyes, not truly Mandalorians.

The Resol'nare listed in your question are no longer considered canon, so there's no reason for Disney or anyone else to keep them a part of Mandalorian culture. However, assorted episodes of Star Wars Rebels, The Mandalorian, and Star Wars: The Clone Wars have shown more-or-less analogous attributes (such as wearing traditional armor, clan politics and affiliation taking priority over personal needs at times, and rallying to the call of a Mand'alor) of wider Mandalorian culture without outright using the Resol'nare word-for-word.

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    To further your point, the black-letter tenants of a religion does not always lead to their accepted interpretation just by casual inspection. It's entirely likely that a commandment like "Defend yourself and your family" has philosophy and tradition around it that says surrendering weapons is unacceptable. That the two-word summary doesn't explicitly say so doesn't change anything.
    – fectin
    Sep 28, 2021 at 0:05
  • @fectin Indeed. The Resol'nare in Legends was a basis of Tradition, not a fully-laid-out dictation of how to live them. All Mandalorians could in theory speak Mando'a, for example, but they might not be fluent in it and many did not speak it even when alone with their families, preferring Basic or whatever their own native tongue was if they had merely adopted the Mando life. Likewise, wearing Mando armor but when it's worn and the style, coverage, coloration, and makeup of that armor is entirely up to the wearer.
    – SpaceWolf1701
    Sep 28, 2021 at 0:18
  • "who follow a particular interpretation of Mandalorian culture they call the Way of the Mandalore." ----- I think it's worth pointing out that Bo-Katan said that they were a group that "broke away from the Mandalore society. Their goal was to re-establish the ancient way." They weren't following their own interpretation of Mandalorian culture, they were following the original, ancient rules of Mandalor. "There is only one way. The way of the Mandalor."
    – Millard
    Sep 28, 2021 at 15:33
  • It would really be a pretty violent situation if Mandalorian religion ever branched into separate orthodox slayer of heretics versus reformed slayer of heretics religions and religious sects.
    – Silly but True
    Sep 29, 2021 at 15:06
  • @SillybutTrue Well there was the Mandalorian Civil War which... Well it wasn't exactly a religious war but it was pretty devastating for both sides even without Jedi "intervention".
    – SpaceWolf1701
    Sep 29, 2021 at 20:35
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My impression of the scene was that it was less a matter of that having the weapons on hand was actually part of his religion and more that he had a strong preference for remaining armed, and was willing to quote religion as his reason because it's something many people balk at arguing against. When pressed on it, he was willing to yield, unlike, say, his unwillingness to remove his helmet in front of others until it was the only way to save The Child.

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