star wars - When Qui-Gon flipped the die in his favor, didn't he follow the Dark Side?

In Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, Qui-Gon flipped the die on Tatooine using the Force. Isn't this deceit? By doing so, did Qui-Gon follow the Dark Side?

Answer

1. 
   

   Very few people would argue that it is wrong to cheat in order to free a slave. Or to put it differently, almost everyone would agree that slavery is so appallingly wrong that cheating in a game of chance (especially against a slave owner) is all but harmless in comparison.

   
   


2. 
   

   Watto was cheating too:

   
   

Watto used a chance cube he had with him to gamble with Qui-Gon Jinn on the outcome of the Boonta Eve Classic. After refusing to bet both Anakin Skywalker and his mother Shmi against Anakin Skywalker's Podracer, he offered to roll his chance cube to decide which slave would be wagered: blue for the boy, red for his mother. Qui-Gon Jinn used telekinesis to influence the fall of the chance cube to ensure that Anakin's freedom would be at stake. As Watto had weighted the die to land on red, and had five red spaces and one blue, to ensure winning such random tosses, Jinn's trick took him quite by surprise.
- Wookieepedia, citing the novelization of the film

And:

According to the script, the chance cube that Watto rolled with Qui-Gon was fixed to land on red. That's why he was so mad that Qui-Gon tampered with it to land on blue.
- IMDb

3. 
   

   Losing Anakin wouldn't materially hurt Watto much, but if Watto kept Anakin, it could hurt the galaxy, the Jedi, and everyone else (obviously, no one knew Anakin would turn out to be the worst thing ever).

   
   


4. 
   

   Although the Jedi hold the virtue of honesty in great esteem, they are allowed to bend the truth, cheat, and even lie if it serves the greater good and wasn't motivated by personal gain:

   
   

Practice Honesty

Honesty was the first responsibility that aspiring Jedi were taught. Jedi were permitted to stretch the truth if the situation required it of them, however this was to be done as sparingly as possible. An honest Jedi was always truthful with himself, his Master, and the Council.

- Wookieepedia

I can't imagine many people arguing that Obi Wan was a bad Jedi based solely on the act that he said "These aren't the droids you're looking for" when the droids in question were indeed exactly the ones the stormtroopers were looking for. Qui-Gon's situation isn't much different.

5. The Jedi are obliged to protect the weak from oppression.

Defend The Weak

Similarly, a Jedi was expected to defend the weak from those who oppressed them, ranging from small-scale suffering at the hands of an individual to large-scale enslavement of entire species.
- Wookieepedia

This would certainly seem to apply to Qui-Gon trying to free a child from slavery.

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In light of all of the above, we can say with some confidence that Qui-Gon didn't do anything wrong:

• 
  

  He was dealing with a slave owner, trying to free a slave

  
  


• 
  

  The slave owner was trying to cheat him to keep said slave

  
  
  


• 
  

  He was bound by oath to protect the weak from oppression, which presumably included slaves

  
  


• 
  

  The net gain to Anakin, the Jedi Order, and the galaxy was far greater than the net loss to Watto

  
  


• 
  

  He was under no obligation to be honest/fair, especially with an immoral, cheating slave owner who wasn't being honest/fair with him

  
  

His motives were good, not selfish; his methods were proportionate to those of his adversary, and measured; his goal was admirable, not malicious; the outcome was just, not unjust (ignoring the fact that Anakin became a monster decades later, which no one foresaw). None of this smacks of the Dark Side - quite the opposite.