Why do people here feel unimportant?

Dechlain wrote: Yes, Adi. To me it speaks to a level of respect. Poor self-respect on the part of the person who posted. And poor respect for the rest of us on the part of the person who posted. To me, that makes me feel unimportant.

So... let me make sure I have this right. A swear word used by someone who was angry (and is also notoriously sweary to begin with) is more important to you than:

• Kit's feelings of trivialization by people who hold authority/rank here?
• People telling OB1Shinobi to shut up instead of engaging him on his points and discussing them?
• elizabeth being dismissed by people that are "dominant in the forums presently and ... made to feel that [she] should not be here"?
• Lykeios pointing out that members of this community have attitudes that don't befit their status, and that suggestions are often shot down out of hand?
• steamboat explaining that "we're petty, mean, cliquish, self-important, attached to tradition, afraid of change, and exclusive"?
• The various problems I listed in my post, such as cliquishness, nastiness, intolerance and poor settlement of disputes?

I asked a question because I did not know the answer. I said a retired Episcopalian Bishop is one of my hero's. I'm reading one of his books now. Yes Adi I thought you'd be able to answer the question but I directed the post generally to anyone who might know, anyone who had thoughts on Bishop Spong and thinking maybe I'd find someone else who was reading or had read the book. No apologies here. I did not intend to insult anyone or pick on anyone but was only seeking information and an interesting discussion.

I made a similar post on the Facebook group for Jedi Church (The Original) and nobody was offended at all.

I'm interested in talking to any Member or Guest about their beliefs and how they came to be and why they maintain them.

I was born in a Roman Catholic family and was raised in that religion so I'm familiar that area of Christianity.



So close to Jesus we have communion for leftovers.

Adi, I didn't say that. I answered the question about what makes ME feel unimportant.

Dechlain wrote: Adi, I didn't say that. I answered the question about what makes ME feel unimportant.

But the question I asked you was: in response to all of the concerns raised in this thread, me using a swear word ranks #1 above all of the other concerns? You said, in reply, yes.

That's the question I asked; if you misread it, sorry, but you did say yes.

Br. John wrote: I asked a question because I did not know the answer. I said a retired Episcopalian Bishop is one of my hero's. I'm reading one of his books now. Yes Adi I thought you'd be able to answer the question but I directed the post generally to anyone who might know, anyone who had thoughts on Bishop Spong and thinking maybe I'd find someone else who was reading or had read the book.

Would you really have asked people how they felt about John Shelby Spong, Bishop Emeritus of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark, in a thread about people feeling unimportant/unwelcome in the TOTJO if I hadn't mentioned my faith?

Adi wrote:

Dechlain wrote: .

That's the question I asked; if you misread it, sorry, but you did say yes.

I did misread your point, Adi. Sorry.

I feel unimportant for a couple of reasons.

1. When I was a knight, I tried to make changes for the better, and I got immensely chewed out for it by multiple people. People yelled at me via text and told me I was a bad person. These were higher ups, by the way. Council members. Strangely, though, I can't find that PM to quote the text from... I wonder if I deleted it for some reason. I felt I was doing the right thing at the time. Even if it wasn't, I didn't deserve the reaction I got.

It made me realize that I was unwelcome as a Knight because I was constantly wanting to change things to make them better.

And, unfortunately, nobody was willing to shovel the snow with me for more than a few minutes a week to make it happen. Things only happen if we work as a team, but that means the Temple has to become a priority. A part time job, if you will.

When I realized there were only a handful of people willing to do that, and I couldn't take on the burden on my own, I realized that this place is mostly "soft". We come, we think, and we move on with our day. We come, we post, we react, we argue, and then we go home.

But, that's not what I want in a Jedi group. I want a group of people where my HOME and what I put my blood/sweat/tears into is my Jedi friends. I want to dine with them. Cry with them. Tell stories. Live with them. Make changes every day with them.

No online site can do that. So, I decided to pull away from the websites and focus on my two offline groups (Colorado Jedi/Indy Jedi). One of which I run, the other I am a student of the person who runs it.

So, it's less that I feel unimportant, it's that I don't feel people take this site seriously enough.

2. It seems that keeping the status quo is more important than actually making changes. I have been a disruption to that. And, because of this, I have received many a PM about how I need to step back and just join the crowd.
Unacceptable. And, it makes me feel like my opinion is unimportant. It's not. Let me tell you.

I don't want to argue with people and get into a long drawn thread of redundancy ...but think about this.

People feel unimportant because the feel lonely.

Please reflect on this. I have.

No one wants to be alone and if they feel no one is responding or recognizing them they feel bad and alone.

Why do folks come here?

In my observation people coming here are looking for something, a connection, a force connection, and if they don't feel human connection, the living force, they feel alone, unimportant.

The very thing they are hoped for is to connect with us, a caring sensitive connected community. Feeling the force. Feeling connected to all of us.

IMHO We need to cultivate our guests/visitors to connect with us, in the spirit of the living force . We need to put our petty difference side and focus on what we have in common.

Why are we here? For our glory or to help others to feel connected.

Who's job is this ......all of ours.

Are we a community of people connected? A community of people that believe in connection. Are we helping others to connect or serving our own interest?

Adi wrote:

Br. John wrote: I asked a question because I did not know the answer. I said a retired Episcopalian Bishop is one of my hero's. I'm reading one of his books now. Yes Adi I thought you'd be able to answer the question but I directed the post generally to anyone who might know, anyone who had thoughts on Bishop Spong and thinking maybe I'd find someone else who was reading or had read the book.

Would you really have asked people how they felt about John Shelby Spong, Bishop Emeritus of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark, in a thread about people feeling unimportant/unwelcome in the TOTJO if I hadn't mentioned my faith?

Maybe not. But since you brought it up and it's a subject I'm interested in it promoted me to ask. Why on Earth are you threatened or persecuted by it? You used a term I did not know the meaning of so I asked?

Br. John wrote: Maybe not. But since you brought it up and it's a subject I'm interested in it promoted me to ask. Why on Earth are you threatened or persecuted by it? You used a term I did not know the meaning of so I asked?

Goodness, I'm not "threatened" or "persecuted" as much as "pissed off." And why is that? I can explain why: my very first post in this thread mentions how being an Episcopalian and not, say, a Unitarian Universalist, makes me something of a marked man around here. It's annoying to have to explain how I justify my faith almost any time I bring it up considering people who belong to other traditions, such as Buddhism, do not. Isn't this community's whole message that we're all like each other anyways, whether we're followers of the Buddha, followers of Christ, followers of someone else, or followers of no one?

Spong is one of the most controversial figures in all of Anglicanism — a deeply polarizing figure. Asking an Anglican what he/she thinks about him when that person has already said they're tired of their faith being treated like some kind of crazy anomaly is asking for trouble, and also deeply disrespectful of the point I was trying to make in my post. I don't preach here, I don't evangelize. Aside from when someone asked me for input on accepting/progressive Christian denominations almost a year ago, I've never once said to someone "you should try the Episcopal Church." I mentioned my faith and what does someone do? Laser in on it, exactly like I said! This is not the time or place, friend — this is a thread about people who feel marginalized in a community you founded.