ATTN: COUNCIL; Updated Doctrine Proposal

I dont think it reads a bit simple..
I happen to think it is clearer in the new proposed form.
But then I have always liked things more straightforward in its wording.
The mystery and wonder comes in applying what we take from and use in life.

It's difficult to explain. It seems to lose some of the essence.

I'd like to draw your attention to the second part of my statement. The mystery can be rediscovered with reverance

OB1Shinobi wrote: I dont know if this is answering your question in the way that you meant it when you asked but my understanding from what ive seen so far is that 1) this isnt an effort to change the doctrine, only to streamline it. And 2) the benefits are an increase in clarity and a reduction of redundancy.

——- —-

If im wrong, could someone please explain how/why i’m wrong and If im correct, could someone please explain how/why im correct?

It appears to me that based on the first paragraph this is neither an effort to merely streamline nor to reduce redudancy. It starts off by redefining jediism (which members have long maintained is a religion) as a school of thought (bit of a mouthful when compared to 'religion'), presumably with the end goal of reclassifying it as a subset of jedi realism. It also adds a divine attribute to the Force which is not the totjo way and a major shift in policy.

Changing the definition back to the original "Jediism is a religion based on the observance of the Force" from "religious school of thought" would definitely make it less of a mouthful. I don't see a problem with changing that, or even just keeping the original write up. As you'll recall, I was not the one to propose an edit on that, I only proposed a renaming of the Creed to "Jedi Affirmations", an introduction to the Jedi Code, and streamlining the two documents into one so we could compare the three and choose one.

As for the edit suggested by Zealot to axe metaphysical and replace it with "Divine". I actually think that pulls it more outside the realm of Jedi Realism and across the line into Jediism. It also goes to the heart of the discussion that was had in the "Is Reiki a Force Power?" thread a couple of weeks ago.

When that discussion occurred, we saw a lot of people get upset that anyone would equate alternative healing methods like that to using the Force (I also note that some in the "against" camp noted they could see it being used for calming someone down, but not for legit healing). It would seem that the ToTJO environment is more against Metaphysical studies (of which Reiki, Telepathy, and the like fall into) than they would the idea that something is divine.

Divine also has a lot more connotations than simply a "deity". In many new-age cultures, Humans have their own internal divinity.

So... um, jediism or jedi realism or force jediism... what do all these mean? And will the doctrine say that reike cant be force healing here? I'm very confused??? This is a star wars jedi religion place that some actually believe in the "miracles" of the jedi or , well not sure. It doesnt have to be supernatural right? Just like science we dont get yet?

The distinctions are as follows:

Force Realist- an overall term that describes anyone who follows a religion, philosophy or way of life inspired primarily by Star Wars (Sithism, Sith Realism, Jedi Realism, Jediism, Baran Do, Dark Jedi, Jensaari, Mando, and many more historical/current systems that have been explored in the real life community)

Pragmatic Jedi- which at best I can only describe as Atheist-leaning Jedi. They don't really acknowledge the supernatural nature of the Force, but instead look at it as more of a metaphor.

Jedi Realism- Treats the Jedi Path as a way of life, and believe the Force is something tangible. In truth, there are many who would define Jedi Realism as "Dual-Faith", and Jediism as being it's own religion. Anyone that identifies as a Christian Jedi, Wiccan Jedi, Norse Jedi, etc would be considered Jedi Realists.

Jediism- TotJO, however, doesn't have a distinction between Jedi Realism and Jediism, as we consider those with dual-faith to be followers of Jediism. But those which do draw hard lines between the two may best describe Jediism as more an Agnostic faith. Meaning that the Force is some form of higher power alone- but what it is, is part of the mystery Jedi explore- never hammering down a concrete "it is God", "it is Ashe", "it is Magick", "it is Chi", "it's like the Gaia Hypothesis", etc. They may use these terms or analogies, but it is more to help describe what they understand of the Force, rather than saying it "IS" this.