Physical TOTJO Temple in Texas Project

Zenchi wrote: I believe Alan was simply including the modernization of the Bushido as quite a few Individuals are beginning to integrate the principles and philosophy of the Samurai into their daily lives.

Cherry-picking bits that seem "cool" is not the same as adopting principles. When you disassemble a belief structure and only take the individual parts, you no longer have that belief system any more than a child picking the pecans off the top of the pie is eating pecan pie. This is not a modernization of bushido, it is the adoption of certain principles (that can be found in numerous non-bushido belief systems and codes of conduct) at the cost of bushido's wholeness. Which, incidentally, discards the all-important context in which the individual beliefs exist.

steamboat28 wrote:

Zenchi wrote: I believe Alan was simply including the modernization of the Bushido as quite a few Individuals are beginning to integrate the principles and philosophy of the Samurai into their daily lives.

Cherry-picking bits that seem "cool" is not the same as adopting principles. When you disassemble a belief structure and only take the individual parts, you no longer have that belief system any more than a child picking the pecans off the top of the pie is eating pecan pie. This is not a modernization of bushido, it is the adoption of certain principles (that can be found in numerous non-bushido belief systems and codes of conduct) at the cost of bushido's wholeness. Which, incidentally, discards the all-important context in which the individual beliefs exist.

It ultimately is a matter of taste and opinion. I personally view it as a form of evolution.

If adopting a set of beliefs and/or philosophies inspire people and they in turn are able to use it to make their lives better, more power to them.

Is it true Bushido? Of course not, anyone making such assumptions needs to spend more time studying it. I would hope any members who have spent a couple of months here would know better.

Jediism is an evolved amalgam of several different beliefs and philosophies, (as is Christianity) that doesn't make it any less meaningful for it's followers.

Things evolve, or they stagnate. Some may find that offensive in regards to paths like the Bushido, etc, but it is happening.

Some will fight it, some will attack it, others will see the value in adopting certain principles and beliefs that speak to them on some profound level and make it work for them...

666 wrote: well...
when I start working on cafepress and zazzle i found that "LucasFilm" or whatever is called, own the copyright of crazy things as the word "Jedi" and many others .

Maybe if someone really build a temple there is NO WAY to call it Temple of the Jedi Order
because copyright infringement, so ...

What is the point to have a temple, that can not carry our name?

in my opinion right now, we need to find first what are the LEGAL options to use our name.
or more crazy, try to find why " Jedi" is copyrighted, or worst, try to make "lucasFilm" release the rights of it.
Or even more crazy, go straight to George Lucas. ( maybe doesn't work, because now Disney own some of the rights)
Maybe we need to deal with Disney?

I know, there's money involved in this process too, but the only way to make something Legit/Legal, is to do it right.
and right now, looks impossible to use our name...
Maybe they allow this website just because we aren't big, and because we are just a few guys, and we don't make any money, and there is no presence in the real world.

Looks crazy, but ... it looks that we don't have the right to use even our temple name, outside here.
Maybe that is more important?
Maybe is more important to make this a recognized religion? ( some places/countries don't have a way to legalize a religion) and make release the "Jedi" word to be used freely.

What is the point to have a temple without our name?

I would like to interject on this point. You can't copyright a religion. Saying that the word Jedi is owned by any company is like saying that the Vatican own the rights to the word Christ. It doesn't work! Jediism, IS a recognised religion and therefore cannot be copyrighted or trade marked. (This is why you can set up a church anywhere and call yourself a Christian). If it were possible for you to legally own any part of the Christian religion, you could bet a pound to a penny that you would be paying royalties to the Vatican! That is a fact!

Its not copyrighting a religion...

Its trademarking a word....

http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4803:4nh945.2.6

I've been informed that my link expired....

http://www.uspto.gov/trademarks/index.jsp

Trademark search "Jedi"..

You can't trade mark it either. The owner of the Trade Mark didn't argue against a religion set in it's name. That religion is now legally recognised, therefore the Trade Mark can't operate. If the owner of the Trade Mark had disputed the religion in it's name then they would have president to dispute the word Jedi. Seeing as the former didn't happen the owner would be disqualified from attempting the later.

I'm no lawyer, lol...

I was informed as long as we are not "for profit" we were left alone...

Those sites, zazzle and cafe press are "for profit" sites...

For more info, I'll defer to Br. John, lol....

Jestor wrote: I'm no lawyer, lol...

I was informed as long as we are not "for profit" we were left alone...

Those sites, zazzle and cafe press are "for profit" sites...

For more info, I'll defer to Br. John, lol....

I see where the contradiction lies. The religion being NFP is allowed to generate income but not so much that it would be deemed a for profit enterprise.

From what I read of the Trademark, basically we can't sell anything with the name "Jedi" on it. If we were to have a physical temple, it could use the name "in theory".

The Owl wrote:

Jestor wrote: I'm no lawyer, lol...

I was informed as long as we are not "for profit" we were left alone...

Those sites, zazzle and cafe press are "for profit" sites...

For more info, I'll defer to Br. John, lol....

I see where the contradiction lies. The religion being NFP is allowed to generate income but not so much that it would be deemed a for profit enterprise.

Not quite, a non-profit organization is a corporation like many others, except that it has no shares and no shareholders. It isn't publicly traded, but it is held accountable to the public (anyone can request an accounting of TOTJO's financial holdings). Board members, directors, and officers of a non-profit cannot receive compensation, but managers, administrative staff, and such are allowed to receive decent salaries. Basically, a non-profit is headed by a board of volunteers.

Source: legal dictionary