ATTN: COUNCIL; Updated Doctrine Proposal

I'd say the only thing you should believe is your experience of things, and as such a Jedi doctrine to be about how to better relate to the Force in various contexts. Not a religious doctrine of belief (dogmatic hive) but an organizational doctrine of guiding principles to align view and action in the myriad circumstances through time and space of its adherents. Training then is not in doctrinal adherence, but adherence as the connection of the Jedi to the Force IMO. With techniques etc devoted to exploring, refining, wielding, feeling, hearing, flowing etc etc. If you Co aider interpretation from those two contexts you might see one as casting rigidity and the other as flexibility. Those things often way differently depending on what a person values from a group association :blink: To me, flexibity in orientation to circumstance supports my connection to circumstance - which I find the most effective way to operate successfully.

Though Masks of Eternity addresses most of this view. PS only on Netflix till Nov 30 (locally at least).

Forgive me (and give me post citations) if I've missed something below, I haven't followed this closely.

While the Doctrine does need to change--or at least the explanations and exposition around it does--I'm not entirely sold on the idea.

Soon, I'll have a lot of free time to pore over this thread I've been actively ignoring, and give genuine feedback on a grander scale, but for now I admit that while change might be good, we have to decide reasons for that change first; anything else is backward.

Good day! The issue of changing doctrine is, of course, very important. Personally, I liked the document presented at the beginning of the topic.
I want to appeal to those who will participate in the vote - accept or reject these changes. Almost always, changes in some basic principles of the community lead to the fact that part of the participants leaves that community. Ask yourself: are you ready to take responsibility for the fact that someone (because of your decision) will leave here? I do not suggest everyone to write here - yes or no. Ask your soul.

Hopefully the picture I took comes out (I’m loading this from the phone). “Ubiquitous” was a definite winner...Divine, Sacred & Universal were all tied with 3 votes each. The others got 1 or 2 a piece.

So I guess we’re still not sure on the 2nd word. Though Universal & Ubiquitous share similar definitions.
From Merriam-Webster

Ubiquitous: existing or being everywhere at the same time : constantly encountered : widespread

Universal: 1) including or covering all or a whole collectively or distributively without limit or exception
2) a : present or occurring everywhere
b : existent or operative everywhere or under all conditions
3) a : embracing a major part or the greatest portion (as of humankind)
b : comprehensively broad and versatile a universal genius
4) a : affirming or denying something of all members of a class or of all values of a variable
b : denoting every member of a class
5) adapted or adjustable to meet varied requirements (as of use, shape, or size)

Surprising results. I voted for "Ubiquitous" - Personally I think it's an ugly word, but it's the only word on that list that comes close to encompassing our diverse interpretations of the force (with the exception of "universal" or "infinite", but using these words would be redundant).

"Divine" and "Sacred" have a religious connotation (or should I say spiritual?). Many members come from a religious background, and interpret the force as their respective deity; however, many members come from an agnostic or atheistic background. Words like "Divine" and "Sacred" may be a turn-off, and I don't think we'll be knocking down the wall between theism, deism, and atheism anytime soon. That leaves "Living" and "Metaphysical", neither of which were very popular. A stone is neither alive nor metaphysical, yet many members here often allude to stones in their interpretation of the force. That being said, I do have an emotional attachment to "living". Non-living forces give form and substances to life, which then returns to the non-living fold. Where do we draw the line? I am content to let it remain blurry.

Because of who I am, I would vote on whatever word (or combination of words) generated the most cohesion in the temple. I don't necessarily like that about myself. However, I respect the desire (and the need) to create a definition that can help people say: "This is us. This is what we believe. This is why our belief is separate from other beliefs." I've spent so much of my time here trying to blur lines and build bridges between belief systems, but maybe it's not the time for that. I'll have to think about it.


Can we move forward with only 10 votes? I don't know how many active members we have now, but it is still a very small reflection.

Given how the consensus, I do wonder if 2 words is necessary. Simply using one may suffice, and give people an option of assigning a second as they feel it fits for themselves.

Maybe we need a bigger sample size before drawing conclusions? Ideally get more knights and long term members to weigh in

Chances are good it still wouldn’t resolve the problem of how close these words are to each other in competition. We don’t have a lot of active members here. Let’s say another 10 weigh in, the results will most likely still remain that one word is still ahead of the others while the rest are neck and neck. One word may still be the best option.

If I may chime in here , where at Is this poll I could not find it on the polls part of the forum . Maybe if you put the poll on the poll forum here instead of a doc them you will get more people to answer . If it's about privacy or something then limit it to register temple members and not the open public . Or is the vote solely for council members ? If it is then I am sorry for interrupting .

I’ve never used the polls area of the forum...I didn’t even realize it existed, lol. If you believe that will get us more engagement, I’d really love to have more people weigh in.