Thoughts on Ethics and Philosophy

We have met the enemy...and he is us.
-Pogo 

And must I now begin to doubt?
Who never doubted all those years?
My heart is stone and still it trembles.
The world I have known is lost in shadow.
Is he from heaven or from hell?
And does he know
That, granting me my life today,
This man has killed me, even so?
-Les Miserables

The following page is a place for me to thump my viewpoints and philosophies in areas that I choose (and without Death interfering...har, har, har)...(and the picture on the left is a portrait of me Doom drew...let's all give her a hand, everyone!)

Freedom and Responsibility...the Search for Self

We begin life as children...but we do not remain so. The soul cannot remain in bonds. Too often people lock themselves into private prisons, allow themselves to be dominated, their thoughts stolen or repressed. Bonds placed upon the soul by others only have meaning when the bonded allows them to. Each of us is completely, totally free...restrictions exist only within the mind. However, our society seems to encourage clinging, helplessness, submissiveness...and it encourages us to build walls around ourselves. Our subconscious, the inspirational cauldron, becomes the id, a pit of strange urges and instincts that must be repressed in the name of "civilization." People are not to trust their own judgment, for they are faulty--they must ignore the Self, the wisdom within, and place their trust in some external source that has the sole qualification of appearing to have all the answers.

Freedom is frightening to those straight-jacketed within such a confining definition of reality. If you do not trust yourself, you cannot possibly accept responsibility for your actions, and you become a vessel of someone or something else's voice. It is indeed a more comfortable and non-threatening ride...though not a very stimulating one. Taking responsibility, living in freedom, requires the courage to see, the strength to speak, and the compassion to feel. It puts you face to face with aspects of the Self, the long-denied unconscious, that are seldom likable. It presents the risk of (*gasp*) making mistakes...of stumbling, of coming up against taboos, personal and societal...and of breaking beyond one's previous limits. A shell-shock to one's comfortable sense of the way things are.

There is no freedom within submission...only within exploration. Our bodies and minds belong to ourselves, not to any other individuals, be they spouses, parents, leaders, or messiahs, or ideals, whatever religion or cause may demand them. One must remember that all is connected, and the divine shines within everything...every creature, being, and person is "God" in a very real sense. No one can take that from you...nor can you take that from anyone. To Pagans, this belief of responsibility and freedom is expressed succinctly: "If it harms none, do what you will." Respect must extend to others, to others' ideals, to the Earth...but it begins with trust and reverence for the Self, of course. This respect cannot be forced by law or dogma...it either develops or it doesn't.

Religion and Faith

Faith is necessary...religion is not. You might not admit it, but nothing in existence can be truly proven, nothing in reality is objective, nothing is as it seems. Thus, every assumption you make, every opinion you hold, based upon faith rather than a truth that cannot be touched, your principles and morals founded upon ideals and beliefs. Every breath you draw is an act of faith, every thought that takes form an act of trust in yourself. Faith is the path you choose in life...intrinsically spiritual but not necessarily religious. It is as necessary as eating and sleeping...without it, without faith in yourself and what you hold dear, what is the point of life?

Faith is the ultimate expression of individuality and personal freedom. Religion, if it is chosen, should only strengthen and reinforce what is already there. Too often, however, it becomes a perversion of faith rather than a symbol of it. Too often individuality is swallowed in the name of religion, the Self put under siege, the colorful and infinitely varied soul forced into the rigid mold, into the exact shape required for "salvation." We become creatures of habit instead of creatures of thought and conscience, going through the motions of devotion without true inspiration. There is no one, true, generic religion, guaranteed to all...because there is no one, true, generic type of individual, no perfection on the material plane to model oneself after.

So why bother? We are not sheep being herded blindly towards a day of judgment. Truth is within...and what works for you...works, no strings attached, no "damnation" sure to follow because you do not match some impossible ideal. The only visions you should follow are your own, even if they lead you down wild and thorny paths.

This rambling is unfinished!

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