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    Writing a paper pertaining to religion...looking for input

    The paper I'm writing is on a current event and how it affects me as a religious person.

    I chose to do it on the typhoon in the Philippines. I'm really focusing on two things:

    1) the question that always seems to come up: why would any deity allow tragedy like this to occur/why do bad things happen to good people

    2) that the typhoon was linked to global warming which is, in part, our fault as a whole. People are careless when it comes to our planet and we act like we can do whatever we want. We think we are in control. But we're not. Nature is more powerful than we are.

    Now.....the second part of the paper is where I'm having trouble. This part has to shed light on the event from the perspective of the 5 points of Wiccan belief:
    1) The Rede
    2) The law of return
    3) The ethic of self-responsibility (basically, when you mess up, nobody else is to blame except you)
    4) the ethic of constant improvement (seek to be ever growing in positive light)
    5) the ethic if attunement (the Self is divine, the Gods or other powers are Divine, The universe is Divine)


    I think it would be very helpful to get a different perspective on this subject

    #2
    Re: Writing a paper pertaining to religion...looking for input

    For #1, here's a bit of Taoist perspective: destruction and creation, as with many other opposite things (such as good and evil, etc.) cannot exist without each other. Destruction is often required for creation and vice versa.

    I'm sure this can help you somehow.

    Comment


      #3
      Re: Writing a paper pertaining to religion...looking for input

      Originally posted by Cobra View Post
      For #1, here's a bit of Taoist perspective: destruction and creation, as with many other opposite things (such as good and evil, etc.) cannot exist without each other. Destruction is often required for creation and vice versa.

      I'm sure this can help you somehow.
      I agree with this. In Australia the cycle of death/rebirth is so vividly apparent in the very nature of the land and fauna. Bushfires, though tragic and destructive for the inhabitants unlucky enough to dwell in their paths, are essential and contribute to the renewal of the native vegetation.

      I think that too much is placed in "Global Warming". While I'm sure that it exists, these kinds of events have been taking place for millions of years. It's just that when it affects large numbers of people, and lives and livings are lost, there seems to be an inclination to read more into it. It's nature.

      It seems as though you are asking for Wiccan-centric feedback, so I can't help you there. Not a Wiccan.

      Comment


        #4
        Re: Writing a paper pertaining to religion...looking for input

        Originally posted by Torey View Post
        It seems as though you are asking for Wiccan-centric feedback, so I can't help you there. Not a Wiccan.
        Yes, I consider myself Wiccan and this paper is very much related to that, I appreciate and enjoy input from all paths. It is a different perspective and gives me a fresh way of looking at things. Sort of a spark of inspiration on something I may have never thought of otherwise.

        I do appreciate the opinions given. Very helpful! Thanks.

        - - - Updated - - -

        I just want to mention this as well...

        What I seem to be getting stuck on is that by applying the 5 points above, I tend to go off pointing fingers. I don't want this to turn into the blame game, but it seems that by looking at things from the 5 points that someone has to be at fault.

        Comment


          #5
          Re: Writing a paper pertaining to religion...looking for input

          1) why assume a Deity (a non-human entity) has human understandings and feeling about what constitutes a "tragedy"?

          The rest I'll have to take a look at why I get home from work, but chew on the above and see where that gets you.
          "The doer alone learneth." -- Friedrich Nietzsche

          Comment


            #6
            Re: Writing a paper pertaining to religion...looking for input

            The paper I'm writing is on a current event and how it affects me as a religious person.

            I chose to do it on the typhoon in the Philippines. I'm really focusing on two things:

            1) the question that always seems to come up: why would any deity allow tragedy like this to occur/why do bad things happen to good people

            2) that the typhoon was linked to global warming which is, in part, our fault as a whole. People are careless when it comes to our planet and we act like we can do whatever we want. We think we are in control. But we're not. Nature is more powerful than we are.

            Now.....the second part of the paper is where I'm having trouble. This part has to shed light on the event from the perspective of the 5 points of Wiccan belief:
            1) The Rede
            2) The law of return
            3) The ethic of self-responsibility (basically, when you mess up, nobody else is to blame except you)
            4) the ethic of constant improvement (seek to be ever growing in positive light)
            5) the ethic if attunement (the Self is divine, the Gods or other powers are Divine, The universe is Divine)


            I think it would be very helpful to get a different perspective on this subject
            First you have to answer why people are considered to be good or bad? Then you would have to tell me why our own mistakes should not get us harmed. If I only ever tried to help people and animals and the earth and the stars...and then I stepped in front of a speeding car, should the people in the car die so that my goodness is saved? Typhoons are part of the earth, some are small, some are large and some may be larger yet. We humans are fragile beings. If we don't get out of the way of a typhoon, it's only doing what typhoons have been doing since long before we climbed down out of the trees and made up what is right and wrong. If there were deities, why should they try to stop what has always been just for us piddly humans?

            I am a forensic meteorologist, and no weather phenomenon is linked to global warming. The only thing that is linked to global warming is that the temperature of earth is rising. More than likely we will have stronger storms because of this, but we can't specifically link ANY storm to global warming. That's for the media and the lay person to do, science can only observe the evidence. We leave the fortune telling to the people with tarot cards and crystal balls. But yes, nature will always be more powerful than we are in the long run.

            I do not follow the rede as a religious law and I certainly don't believe that energy can come back to me. I wish it could because then I would unplug my fridge and the energy that keeps it cold will come back times three and keep my food colder without me needing as many solar panels.

            The ethics of self responsibility is basic in all mentally stable animal behavior. A stallion does not just walk up to another stallion and start beating on it. They do a great deal of posturing long before they fight. Wolves, otters, praying mantis', dolphins all do this. They have no spirituality to tell them to not just hurt another, it is hardwired into all mentally stable life forms. Life knows that if it does something to harm others then those others can turn around and harm them. While an injury may not kill them it may make it so they can not escape predators, hold their position in the group structure, or even move from place to place to gather food. It is only after humans began to create myths and legends that morphed into gods and goddesses did this simple premise become a complicated religious tenant.

            Constant improvement is not a human trait but a modern society trait. In fact as Europeans began to take over more and more land and the people who lived on this land, one of their biggest complaints of these people were how lazy they were. My S.O. is Navaho and their beliefs are that to have more than what you need is to lose track of what is important and to become evil. So these people worked until they had what they needed and then walked off the job to help the family in whatever projects they had. Even to this day the Navaho work ethic is considered to be lazy (by modern standards of 'work for me until you die') and many people go there to "help" them learn how to work the correct way.

            What are the ethics of attunement?

            I feel that most religious myths come from the fact that humans do not forgive mistakes very well. So if we do not know something instead of admitting that, we make it up as we go. 'Yeah...the flood came because God made it', not 'I have no idea why it flooded, let's study the phenomenon'. If I can convince the most people that what I made up is true, then I win. We are a group animal, vying for alpha within groups of ever increasing size. To survive we need to have enough people below us that will be sacrificed so that we can survive stress situations. No one wants to be the sacrificial omega by admitting that they have less knowledge than someone else (even if someone else's knowledge is made up).

            As you can see by my responses I am not Wiccan so much of what you have asked about is not part of my belief system. I am big on taking personal responsibility, so asking a god to help me or blaming a god for something I could have change is not something I am going to do. I hope you find the answers that bring you peace. The question of "Why do bad things happen to good people?" has been asked by many religions throughout time. I feel the one that can make up the answer that gives the most people peace will be the religion that will rule the species.

            Comment


              #7
              Re: Writing a paper pertaining to religion...looking for input

              Briar, that was a LOT of really great information! I hope I can address everything you mentioned, but I'm writing this from my phone and my fingers may fall off before I finish.

              I am all about personal responsibility! I work hard for the things I have. I don't expect anything to be handed to me, nor do I blame the God and Goddess when I mess up. The reason I chose to focus on "why bad things happen to good people" was to address a question I've heard throughout my whole life. Most people don't like admitting their mistakes and will look for a scapegoat. And most can't fathom that maybe there isn't anyone or anything to blame for whatever tragedy they are dealing with...I mean, it HAS to be someone else's fault, right?? Someone else has to be responsible for this or that...

              Now just for the record, I'm new to some of these concepts myself as far as putting a name to each one and making an effort to apply them to my own life. So with that said, please keep in mind that I may not explain what some of these are very well.

              1) The Rede - this one most people already know but it was explained a little bit different to me.....it doesn't mean that you can't do harm to anything ever. That's impossible. By just existing, we are causing harm to one thing or another. The way I understand is to do those things that cause no harm as you will.

              2) The Law of Return - another no-brainer. Although I don't personally tack on a multiplier, I do think that we get back what we put out.

              The way I see it, this means one of two things: either the human race is responsible for natural catastrophes by being neglectful of our planet and are being punished by the Gods because of it OR it is simply an act of nature, which does not specifically target "good people or bad people." People are just in the way when nature decides to do its thing. I think it's pretty easy for us to see what is really happening here, but sometimes when emotions get involved people don't see reality. They feel attacked for something they didn't deserve so they point fingers. That is what I chose to address. So maybe.....that is the Law of Return in action. Not that they are being struck down for misdeeds, but that they chose to ignore the truth of the situation and stayed in the path of the storm. Maybe not using your brain and ignoring reason is the REAL misdeed. Ahhhh! Something to ponder.

              3) The Ethic of Self-Responsibility - Like I said in my OP, you mess up and it's your own damn fault. I think I sort of touched on this already...

              4) Constant improvement - How I'm thinking of this in terms of the paper topic is basically what was touched on by previous posters. When things like this happen, it seems bad at the time, but it takes some time to see the good that comes out of it. Destruction is a chance to rebuild and become even stronger - mentally, physically, spiritually or however you want to swing it.

              5) The Ethic of Attunement - The Self is divine, the God and Goddess (or whatever deities you are aligned with) are divine and the universe/nature is divine. All of this energy is connected and therefore we need to be respectful.

              It's slowly becoming clearer!

              Comment


                #8
                Re: Writing a paper pertaining to religion...looking for input

                I think we agree on most parts with a couple exceptions, though I don't quite understand what you mean by "The way I understand is to do those things that cause no harm as you will." I'm guess here, so tell me if I am wrong but does this mean as long as a person remains ignorant to the harm they are doing they are ok? Because every time a person manipulates energy they will do harm somewhere. So to follow the rede one would have to not practice magic.

                Since I practice magic multiple times a day, I could not follow this. Quick example: I needed a new greenhouse for an experiment on bee raising. I did a quick spell and four days later I won a $1000. gift certificate to Menards which bought the perfect greenhouse. When I did this I took away someone else's chance to win. They might have needed it to fix their furnace and keep their kids warm this winter so they would think my magic was harmful and unfair. My bees, however, are snug in their new winter home which is what I wanted.

                The law of returns is one of those things that when I discuss it I sound nasty so I try not to discuss it. Suffice it to say that if you need a religious punishment system (law of returns, karma, hell) to make sure you behave, you should have it. Be good or suffer. The only thing I would say is never force it on to another person. Such as if a child is raped, don't tell that child that they must have done something pretty bad to deserve it. The LoR is a religious concept that may be needed by many, but should not be forced on anyone anymore than telling someone they are going to hell.

                As I said before, I do believe that each person should take personal responsibility for themselves, but not for others. Worrying about others messing up, for me should only go as far as what I can do to take care of myself should these mess ups occurs. It should not be a judgment on their messing up.

                People screw up, welcome to being human. Sometimes people will pay for those mistakes, other times they may not pay for their mistakes and yet other times they may get rewarded for them (bad people sometimes get the best rewards). But that should not be my business. My business is what can I do. I have to admit, I don't always succeed in the goal of being non-judgmental of others, but I don't want to look at the people in the Philippines and say "they deserve to die in a typhoon" and I do not want to blame nature for it either. Typhoons happen.

                I live in Wisconsin, blizzards happen here. I try to make certain me and mine can survive them. I do not blame nature for bringing them. And I try very hard to not blame those that are hurt by them. Sometimes I mess up in the last part (why were those fools out driving in a blizzard?) but I am getting better. So my personal responsibility should stop with me and not bleed onto others. That way I don't waste my energy trying to change others (an impossible task) and instead I can focus all my energy at bettering myself. I'm working on being that kind of person.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Re: Writing a paper pertaining to religion...looking for input

                  Right, getting back to this, starting with #2.

                  2) that the typhoon was linked to global warming which is, in part, our fault as a whole. People are careless when it comes to our planet and we act like we can do whatever we want. We think we are in control. But we're not. Nature is more powerful than we are.
                  What facts do you have the the typhoon is linked to global warming? Or that global warming is our (humans) fault?

                  While I absolutely believe we have an impact on our environment (how can we not when we're decimating the rain forests and killing off species?) I think our impact is overblown and sensationalized since that's what gets headlines and research grants. And I think much of the environmental impact schools of thought suffer from a case of Excluded Middle fallacy; that the answer lies somewhere between "humans aren't responsible" and "humans are an evil, planet destroying species".

                  Now.....the second part of the paper is where I'm having trouble. This part has to shed light on the event from the perspective of the 5 points of Wiccan belief:
                  I really have no idea what you are looking for here. One, I'm not you and apparently this paper is supposed to be about how events effected you as a religious person. Two, I'm not Wiccan. Three, I have no idea why you have having trouble with this list of things, so I'm not sure how to help you.
                  "The doer alone learneth." -- Friedrich Nietzsche

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Re: Writing a paper pertaining to religion...looking for input

                    I failed to mention why I was writing this paper in the first place.

                    I stumbled across this website called the Church of Universal Eclectic Wicca and they have an online coven with different "degrees" of membership. I checked out their curriculum for training and it does provide a lot of structure and focus which I desprately need. Think about it as a college course in Wicca. And this paper is the entrance exam.

                    Anyway, the more I think about it, the more the whole "online coven" thing seems a little far-fetched. So....I'm dropping the whole idea. I do appreciate the all the input though and it certainly opened my mind to new ideas and new perspectives. I just can't bring myself to believe that an "online coven" can actually work.

                    So that's that.

                    Thanks again.

                    Comment

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