The Old Religion

Pagan Morality

Many people insist that you cannot be good without God or without Jesus. They claim that it is the purpose of religion to create standards of morality. They say without religion, there would be lawlessness, anarchy, and chaos. Certainly, religion can provide guidance and focus, and most religions do emphasize the same ideal of treating others well. What most people don't realize, however, is that morality comes not from religion, but from social contract. People treated others with respect because that made it easier for everybody to co-exist.

Pagans do have a moral code: "If it harms none, do what you want."This does allow great freedom, but it also demands great responsibility. "Harm" means harm of any sort: physical, emotional, psychological, etc. "None" means not anyone and not anything: no person, no animal, no plant, no plot of land, not yourself, no nothing. Of course, it's impossible to cause zero harm at all--life feeds on life, as even vegetarians will admit. Staying healthy involves killing germs, bacteria, and viruses. The key, then, is to cause as little harm as possible while living life to its fullest. Pagans also believe in a threefold law, which states that whatever energies a person sends out returns upon her (or him) three times over. It's kind of like "Instant Karma," in that the cause-and-effect happens in the here-and-now, in this lifetime. Rewards and punishments do not accumulate and wait until after you die. However, some Pagans do believe in re-incarnation, and the Karma that follows them reflects the general pattern of their previous life.

[In Memory of the Burning Times] [Never Again the Burning Times] [The Witches' Voice]

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