Physical TOTJO Temple in Texas Project

I know there have been a few topics regarding this idea, but many of those are either outdated or just kind of unrealistic. This post is mainly to propose a realistic temple for official totjo things only. This does not propose a site for all or even most operations to occur. This place would be where people participate in official ceremonies or official meet ups or other activities according to the council. It could even be the location of any official paperwork and what not. This would not be a temple of active participation (E.G. a weekly live sermon.) at least in its initial start.

This topic is not entirely made to discuss the official uses of this Temple, it is mainly to discuss the feasibility of this project to become a reality. Texas has the cheapest land and is the location at which TOTJO is an officially recognized church so this is why the first temple would be in Texas.

The significance of this idea is that many people do not take TOTJO seriously due to our purely online presence. They regard us as a forum rather than a church. This is often one of the most significant factors in people joining Jediism. With completion of this project, more membership will be here to help us bloom. You can also guarantee we will be on some news website or station. We will gain a mass of attention for atleast a short amount of time. This means before all plans go through, we should have a spot clean set up of the website and learning paths.

Finances


We currently have $174.94 in our Paypal account (17th Jan 2014).
We currently have $210.68 in our bank account (17th Jan 2014).

According to finances there is around $400. If we had a highly motivated fundraiser for this project we could potentially raise the funds for land in Texas.

Land for Sale in Texas:
Two competitively priced properties in texas at dirt cheap:
http://www.landwatch.com/Brewster-County-Texas-Farms-and-Ranches-for-sale/pid/289064861
This property is located in brewster county. $1,295 for 5 Acres. I have been in the area of this land in the summer time (2013) and it looks exactly like this picture. The Yearly estimated property tax would be about $440 a year according to their calculator. Link

http://www.landwatch.com/Brewster-County-Texas-Land-for-sale/pid/204929266
This property is priced at $2,300 for 10 acres. That comes out to only $230 per acre. This land is similar to that of the other property discussed.

This cheap of land is common in west texas because its hard to make money off cattle with this grass. They will sell their land because the taxes cause them to be wasting money.

The Temple itself is something I will not propose. I will leave that up to the community to make. Perhaps it could be in the shape of the logo or even made in a natural way. The cost of building a structure has so many variables I am unable to discuss. What is the purpose the temple serves, what symbolic ideas should it represent, what budget is available, What is the time frame it should serve as a temple?

Fundraiser:
If TOTJO did all of the planning and work required to get this ball rolling, it would be very feasible for this to be a reality in say one or two years. A Two year fundraising goal of $2,000 could truly make this a reality and I know I would donate to the cause. I am curious of what the council thinks of this idea. There will come a time when this project must be addressed and I personally think the planning stage is right now.

I believe that we should have a real temple and this isn't because the movie jedi had one but there would finally be a place for all jedi to come to and share their knowledge. But i do not really agree that this should be a place only for official things. Of corse ceremonies as kinghting someone are to be done here but i think it should be open to all jedi.

You're right. This topic does come up every now and again. Last time this came up, I very rudely and coldly shut the person down. And, quickly, others followed suit.

I don't wish to do the same to you. In this case, I'd ask you to really think about why a "temple" is necessary at THIS stage. Meditate on it.

I don't necessarily think it needs to be at this stage, but I understand that at some point there will be a time, so why not prepare for that time now? This post is an attempt to be as realistic as possible, and I do agree right now, we simply couldn't do it.

I can see both sides of why we are and why we are not ready at this stage. One reason against is that we are miniature in size. One reason for is that a lack of a physical temple could be the limiting factor on our size. Just being curious what sort of reasons against do you have connor?

JL13000: The day for that is lonngg away.

Besides the practical limitations of building a temple, the planning and organising etc, we don't actually need one. What would we use it for? Other than just having a Temple?

Sure we can use it to host Jedi gatherings, that might actually be a great way of using it, and we can use it to maybe hold training sessions etc or as a spiritual retreat for members of the public and other Jedi etc, hosting teaching seminars and so on. Those sorts of things are probably a great use of the land.

That being said we only have $400 in our bank account so we aren't even close to be able to afford this sort of thing. A fundraiser would also have to be justified and we would need a full plan in place for that.

The fastest way to encourage us to begin building a temple would either be a larger influx of donations or a donation of viable land itself. Not just 'land' either, you have to take into account such things as transport, sanitation, electricity, water, planning restrictions, the surrounding use for the land, future use of surrounding land, and not to mention variable weather conditions to make living there actually enjoyable etc.

Akkarin covered most of the reasons I would have listed.

I think that Jedi could use our own sacred ground, for sure. But, for now, while we are still in our formative years, let us connect in spirit so strongly that the land just happens. Things will fall into place when they are supposed to.

There are many things fighting against the idea, and what happens I'd it sounds like we are hanging up....

Take your proposal of west Texas, who is going to man it? Move there to maintain it?

It can't just sit empty, with the keys 3-4 hours away...

The progression will most likely be:

We will grow more dense, then we will have get togethers in parks, halls, and homes more and more frequently...

Then we will seek a existing building to rent, SOMEDAY, we will get there, but not soon, and this isxwhy the thoughts die...

At this juncture, owning land, even if given to us, where we have any kind of expense like the taxes, is difficult...

We still are not able to support the website on donations...

Its a long rroad, and there needs to be a progression...

We can't jump from learning to crawl to flying to the moon without the progressive growth...

As far as I see it, any kind of physical facility like this is typically only necessary and needed under the condition that there are a certain amount of population in the local area who all need it for official business purposes, whatever that may be.

If you can find several dozen+ people all in one town who have the time and money and official need for it, then that's where it would start. Otherwise, and until then, the presence of TOTJO is and will remain quite acceptably ubiquitous. As long as the scenario in the above paragraph is not currently the case, I don't personally see any necessity for an official location. Are we like a strictly defined corporation or are we a natural, global presence secure enough about ourselves to not have to need an official location to "represent us"? Are we a static business or are we an inspirational idea? Should we have our own single location(s) or should we appreciate any and every location in which we already preside? Just some questions that I ask myself when these kinds of threads appear.

As far as a place for things like processing paperwork go, if you'd like to consider that, then you could say Br. John's house is the "official office" of the church.

Akkarin wrote: What would we use it for? Other than just having a Temple?

We could put our weeed in there.


Isn't land in TX cheap because it's a drought, it's hot, there's no water, fracking is everywhere, etc?

But I believe the intiation of a physical temple would cause more members.
Consider the factors that influence whether someone is to join TOTJO:
Is this idea genuine?
Is there a large enough group of people invested into it?
Is expending my time towards this worth it?

The last factor is something that is just as important as the rest. You need to provide people with a sense of structure or a sense of reliability. That's what religion is about. Without something set in stone that will last through time people will be averse to it. We need a real sense of unity.

I do not think it is ready yet, but in a year or two this idea needs to get serious. And at that point if you are upset that there is a temple in texas and not your area, eventually we will reach to you. Be patient.