The Jedi were in the right to arrest Palpatine for being a Sith.

"Peace is a lie, there is only passion. Through passion, I gain strength. Through strength, I gain power. Through power, I gain victory. Through victory, my chains are broken. The Force shall free me. "-- The Sith Code.Contrary to what some people, both in universe and out, say their is more of a difference between the Jedi and Sith than just the colour of their lightsabers. And more to the Jedi Council's arrest of the Supreme Chancellor for being a Sith than just a argument between two cults. Skipping over the fact that Palpatine was the mastermind behind the clone wars and was leading the side trying to destroy the republic and that he was planning a coup just the fact that he is a Sith is a very good reason for his arrest and imprisonment if not execution.“Propelled by fear or hatred, even a Jedi can pass beyond the constraints of the Order’s teachings and discover power of a more profound sort. But no Jedi who arrives at that place, who has risen above his or her allegiance to peace and justice, who kills in anger or out of desire, can lay real claim to the dark side of the Force. Their attempts to convince themselves that they fell to the dark side, or that the dark side compelled their actions, are nothing more than pitiful rationalizations. That is why the Sith embrace the dark from the start, focusing on the acquistion of power. We make no excuses. The actions of a Sith begin from the self and flow outward. We stalk the Force like hunters, rather than surrender like prey to its enigmatic whims.”-- Darth PlagueisFrom the Hundred Years Darkness in 7000bby where the proto-sith created monstrous armies to battle the Jedi Order and the Republic, to the invasion of the Republic by the Sith Empire in the Great Hyperspace War of 5000bby and off and on for four thousand years until the End of the New Sith Wars in 1000bby (1032 in the NEU) the Sith time and again rose to power through fear and violence and the use of the darkside of the force to enslave others and create monstrous beasts and weapons with the intent of ruling the galaxy. And when given power over the galaxy such as during Darth Vitiate's Sith Empire in 4981bby or Palpatine in 19bby or under various diverse sith lords from 2000-1000bby they ruled though the use of fear, violence, and the enslavement and torture of their citizens. In fact the time period of 2000-1000bby is called the Galactic Dark Ages due to the death, destruction, and loss of information that was caused by the Sith either infighting with each other, punishing those who opposed them, or trying to destroy what was left of the Republic. When the Republic chose to outlaw the Sith language and Sith artifacts (according to TROS and both canons) it wasn't just one ideology winning out over another it was the Republic protecting its self from a philosophy and ideology that had time and again led to war and destruction."If millions died in the process, so be it. The lives of most beings are of small consequence. The Jedi have failed to understand this. They are so busy saving lives and striving to keep the powers of the Force in balance that they have lost sight of the fact that sentient life is meant to evolve, not simply languish in contented stasis.” He paused to glance at Sidious. “No doubt the texts I’ve provided contain references to the so-called Potentium theory—that light and dark depend on the intention of the user. This is yet another perversion of the truth perpetrated by those who would keep us shackled to the Force. The power of water and the power of fire are entirely different. .... The Sith are not placid stars but singularities. Rather than burn with muted purpose, we warp space and time to twist the galaxy to our own design." -Darth PlagueisAnd unlike other philosophies what the Sith say isn't just mere rhetoric. They hold the power in their hands to turn ordinary animals and sentient into twisted war beasts. To enthrall others to their will and cast illusions powerful enough to mislead and even hurt others. The thing they worship isn't just some ambiguous entity with no effect on the physical world. Its a evil and corruption that lets them draw power from anger, pain, hate, lust, suffering, and all the other negative emotions that go along with it. Even the Sith Lords don't kid themselves about being able to use dark emotions in a positive way. They revel in what they can do. So its not just targeting a ideology who's words and beliefs don't hurt anyone or have no effect on the world. Its targeting a ideology who have real physical powers that allow them, even compels them, to corrupt defile and destroy for the sake of their own power and self interests."Someday in the distant future, the Republic would fall and the Jedi would perish, and the entire galaxy would bow down to a Dark Lord of the Sith. It was inevitable; it was the way of the dark side.."--Darth Bane" But Bane knew equality was a myth. The strong were meant to rule; the weak, to serve."-- Darth BaneAnd while the Jedi did not know about the Grand Plan to take over the galaxy through centuries of subterfuge, corruption of the senate, and building up two secret armies that is what Palpatine and his master and his masters master and so on and so forth had been doing for nearly a thousand years. Just looking back at the history of the Sith would allow the Jedi to see what dangers Palpatine being Chancellor would cause. Them knowing that he was the leader of the CIS as Darth Sidious and knowing that he was puppetting both wars was prof that he was no some "noble sith" and more than enough reason for Mace to declare that him being Sith was enough reason in its self to kill him. In fact if we look at the history of the Sith those who turned to the light were nine times out of ten either fallen jedi or new recruits. Those who were born or raised as a sith from a young age hardly ever turned from the Darkside (two in SWTOR and Vestara Khai)."“True power can come only to those who embrace the transformation. There can be no compromise. Mercy, compassion, loyalty: all these things will prevent you from claiming what is rightfully yours. Those who follow the dark side must cast aside these conceits. Those who do not—those who try to walk the path of moderation—will fail, dragged down by their own weakness.”"-- Darth RevanThe Jedi had spent over 25000 years protecting the Republic and its people. In all that time they didn't try to exterminate the Nighsisters, Sorcerers of Tund, Zeison Sha, Voss Mistics, Fallanasi, or other dark side or neutral force using groups. The Jennasari were the only group they ever went after because the jedi who founded it was using a Sith holocron to teach from and their fight with him led to the group being able to continue without going down the path to the darkside. The Jedi and the Republic did not have a problem with other force using groups existing in the galaxy. They didn't even go after dark side groups like the Sorcerers of Tund or the Prophets of the Darkside allowing them to live and exist on their own planet/system. So the Jedi are not one to take part in a petty vendetta against another group just because they don't share the same beliefs or because their beliefs run counter to the Jedi Orders. The targeting of the Sith for being Sith is due to the history of wars and attrocities committed by their order, their belief that venerates dark emotions and the mistreatment of others, and because of powers they use to harm, lie, and steal from others instead of defending and healing.While Sith falls into the area of being a religion/philosophy/ and species all in one (that being a reason why the Prophecy makes no sense unless its talking about specifically the Bane line of sith) Persecuting and criminalizing that group is more akin to persecuting/criminalizing a hate group/supremacist organization. Except in this case that group has magic powers that allows them to do horrible things to people.So yes Mace Windu is an asshole but the Jedi were perfectly in the right to arrest Palpatine for being a Sith (even again forgetting that they know he was also leading the CIS). Saying its religious persecution is overlooking what the sith are and what their history in the galaxy was. via /r/StarWars https://ift.tt/3naNEUn