The Greater Jedi Order, and the Future... Or \"First Beaumontians: Chapter 1\"

Hear me, oh Jedi, and heed my words...

I want to clarify something I said about Br. John's ex-officio status and things potentially getting ugly with him stepping back... it has happened before, and will happen again. It's a cycle, a pendulum which swings back and forth in rhythm. It seems to swing to the side it is now whenever Br. John gets depressed or too angry. In that, I do feel for him... I wish he would become the Jedi I know exists within him somewhere. I do know Br. John... The TOTJO was, and is his baby so to speak. In that, I understand why he gets the way he does, at least on some level.

The Temple of the Jedi Force is in turn the offspring of the Temple of the Jedi Order, as is the Jedi Praxeum. Each site focuses on it's own direction, but ultimately we are united if nothing else than for the fact that we are all Jedi to varying degrees. \"Jediism is not an organized religion and followers of the Jedi path hold different opinions and views. However, they share a common 'belief' in the Force, and follow the rules of the Jedi code.\" In bringing Jediism to the forefront of the public world, we need to unite... not to become one site, but to become one voice. All true Jedi have a vested interest in what Jediism is, and what it becomes in the future. We need to look beyond the scope of websites and ego, and put aside our petty differences. All of us need to focus first and foremost on being Jedi, no matter what path within Jediism we follow. I urge you all to look at the bigger picture, the greater goal of the Jedi community as a whole. We are still in our infancy, especially compared to other world religions... but we need to move beyond crawling, and learn to walk. The Jedi Order could be so much more than it is if we would only unite in our common goals.

Yes... there is too much focus on empty online titles. There is too much focus on everyone trying to be the \"Grand Master\" of their respective \"Order\", which too often is only represented online. Websites and forums are good for fellowship, but they are not the pinnacle of what we can achieve... what we are meant to achieve. In the end, how many of us take our role in the Jedi Order offline? How many of us truly follow what we claim to when not in front of the computer screen? More of us need to focus on bringing the Jedi Order to the \"offline\" world as well. Some of us have taken, or are in the process of taking those first vital steps into the public world... often at the cost of personal ridicule. The more of us who take up the path of bringing the Jedi Order to the outside world, the less impact that ridicule will have on our community. It is time for us to show the world that we deserve to be taken seriously.

It is in service to the Jedi Order that I write this Epistle...

~Rev. Master Josh McNamara
A.K.A. Master Kyp

HERE HERE!!!! I AGREE %100 WITH THAT!!!!

This is an excellent letter and I should comment on a few point here but first I want to thank Master Kyp for the edits to the Jediism article at Wikipedia. I hope the Wikipedia gods don't delete or butcher his work up. It's taken years to finally get a proper reference in Wikipedia.

What Master Kyp says about cycles is Gospel. There's a pattern where Jediism sites start, grow, folks get caught up in fights about ranks, titles and then there's always more than a few petty tyrants and those who thrive on destruction where things self-destruct.

Look at the Jediism Way, now with a frozen forum, and it's founders letter for more about that. He's made it an archive.

Both Master Kyp and I are known to have a little bit of a temper when we get riled up about things and we've both come a long way in expelling that demon. Through experience and in my case probably the invention of Cymbalta we are better than we were two years ago. I'll not thrill you with the history here when it's available elsewhere but I'm glad we did not live to close to each other back then or it would not have been a case of making peace but of picking up pieces.

In this case I'm neither depressed nor angry but a wee bit exasperated. I expected the eventual cyclone and when it came I was prepared emotionally and tactically.

\"The Temple is falling apart.\" \"Nothing is getting done.\" \"There are many rumors.\" \"Woo Woo said this about Wee Wee and Dee Dee's been banned.\" Yadda Yadda Yadda or Yoda Yoda Yoda if you prefer.

The record shows that I put management in the hands of the college of cardinals. They in no way failed at this. With death's in families and military basic training and other unavoidable events many of them cold not be on active duty here and we lost some cohesion.

Then we had the phenomenon of the growth of the Fifth Rite. There was a great deal more interest in it than I'd imagined and it did come to dominate things and due to the secrecy of some of its teachings (for example I am forbidden to even tell you the Sith Oath) it naturally was very alluring.

People wanted it both ways and I understand. It deserved its own Order long ago but nobody wanted to loose the sense of community or their friends and what do we say about fear?

Umm Hmmm.

In the big picture we need both Jediism and Sithism to keep us from becomming to totally absorbed in one extreme or the other but at the end of the day one path or the other is going to be the right one for a particular person. It may take some time to realize which one too.

There are many that would have bet good money or even an arm or a leg that they'd never see both Master Kyp and I side by side working together like you see us now. (How about that Master Patty? )

Strife and Conflict in just the right dose does bring growth. Out of the Old TOTJO came TOTJF, The Jedi Praxeum and TOTS. All of them filling a need and adding richness to Jediism by their diversity. Different notes together making a harmony.

It is true that I have popelike authority over TOTJO. It's also true that I can give that power to exercise and abstain from interfering. If 'the council' or whatever y'all come up with were to do something that would be illegal or would seriously put The Order in danger (for example endorsing a political candidate or telling members who to vote for) I would have to countermand that and it would be right. That would cause us to lose our tax exempt status and it is illegal.

Short of some disaster experience has taught me that arbitrarily interfering in the natural order of things does me no good and The Order no good. It would really self-destruct then and I would loose all credibility and respect as a master / teacher / whatever.

I KNOW this because my arrogance in the past caused the Great Schism of the old TOTJO and many hurt feelings and other horrors.

Enough for now. The Introduction Class is a resounding success and I'm so busy mentoring that and researching new materials and the legal mumbo jumbo necessary for a real Force Academy that grants legal degrees ... I don't have time to be angry, depressed or anything else but be thankful for the wonderful and capable folks here who are well qualified to organize a good management system.

I do not like management and it does not like me. If I inherited a large retail store I'd be the best salesman in the house but I'd never dare try and manage it.

For those of you working on the organization team and for all those who criticized me or loved me for that matter - goggle up \"The Peter Principal\" and get back with me.

Between Master Patty and Master Kyp and several others who've been around since day one I won't be able to get out of hand without being snapped back into some sense ASAP so

May The Living Force Be With You All,

Br. John+
your faithful Sr. Pastor

In The Words of Arguably the Least Annoying Gungan in history
PEACE!!!! woooohooooo!

The future of the Jedi as a religion is a compelling issue. To make it an even more complex issue we have many different and varied groups. This problem for public acceptance arises from the many groups that tend to give us questionable credibility.

So where can we go from here? Forward, though we need to do it with caution and care. In my case I have told people I am an oath taking Jedi. I also have exercised care when that knowledge may not be received well. I admit that I have kept that information low key in my professional life.

We are at the infancy of developing a viable religion. If you look into history, Christianity was started in small groups and congregations for centuries until it became acceptable and mainstream. That is comparable to where we are now. We do have the advantage now of the web. The web is a communication tool for discussing and exploring our ideas and views. This will allow us to develop the final doctrine that could cover our entire religious base in years or decades rather than centuries.

In the immediate future I don’t have any good answers. I do know that as an individual, all I can do is be a good example to those in the world that I choose to tell. As time goes on I can expand the circle that knows. Over time more will know, see and understand where we come from and what it means to be Jedi. As more people become aware of us as none-crackpots, greater public acceptance will follow.

I would like to say I am brave enough to tell everyone that I am Jedi when to question comes up. The unfortunate realty is that there are situations that practicality makes me use the answer of agnostic. The other reality is that telling the wrong person can hurt our cause as well. If we can figure out a way for Jediism as a whole to separate ourselves from the questionable groups that color the public perception against us, it would go a long way for general acceptance.

For now we can only be who we are. Set the best example of Jedi we can. Let as many people as we can know what we are about.

MTFBWY A