From whisper_spamkiller_@netins.net Mon Feb 8 01:07:16 1999 Date: 6 Feb 1999 04:55:22 GMT From: Whisper Newsgroups: alt.witchcraft, alt.pagan, alt.religion.wicca, alt.religion.all_worlds Subject: Re: Covenant of the Mithril Star > star_raven@my-dejanews.com wrote: > > > > Any idiot knows that there is no possible way you can follow the Rede > > and also eat meat. Any idiot knows that the harm you cause another > > living being will come back on you three fold. Any idiot knows that > > so called Pagans that teach otherwise are evil crowlean black magicians, > > satan worshipers and murders. And if you can't see the plain evil on > > the Mithril Star website, then you are a > > complete idiot. > Let us not fall into the Fundamentalist trap of mindless literalism. We need to have rules of conduct to keep us from falling into chaos and anarchy, but we also have to remember that it is a guide, not an absolute. Taken in absolute terms, the Rede *is* impossible to fulfill. If we allow ourselves to be beaten and/or killed rather than defending ourselves, does that not cause harm to ourselves? I feel we have a right to defend ourselves in a reasonable manner. If someone were to break into my house intending to do harm to me and mine, there is cold steel on one side of the house and hot lead on the other and I would feel entirely justified in using them to stop an attack, but not in violence for it's own sake. If you have reason to believe John Doe down the street is molesting children, should you look the other way knowing he would be unhappy (not to mention rather unpopular) in prison and ignore the far greater harm you do in allowing him to continue his "activities", or should you report him to the proper authorities? Everything we eat was alive at one time. Should we stop eating? There are those who will tell you they became vegetarian rather than harm an innocent animal. Now, I'm not putting down vegetarians, but what makes the life of a carrot any less important than the life of a cow? Is it because it doesn't have legs?? Maybe that's why we don't eat spiders, and woe to anyone who disturbs the sacred millipede!! Have we forgotten the Sacred Hunt? The Native American teaching is that the life of the animal you eat is a gift to you that you may live and should be taken with reverence and respect for the self sacrifice. Obviously, picking up a pound of hamburger at the super market is less than ideal (I wonder if the ceremonial slaughter of Kosher meats is an out-growth of this earlier tradition.), but that doesn't mean you can't honor the spirit of the animal for it's sacrifice. You can't breathe without harming those tiny little bacteria that just got sucked in and are now dying in your lungs. Should we stop breathing? As I write this, my fingers pound down on the keyboard, where billions of other microbes exist only to find themselves squashed beneath some big pink thing with massive ridges. As my heart beats, my central nervous system sends out electrical impulses which not only affect the magnetic field of the earth and every living thing on it, but send a pulse streaming through the quantum field, spreading throughout the universe like ripples in a pond. Somewhere in the vastness of the universe, one of these impulses will excite a single atom just enough to start a chain reaction leading up to a super nova. In theory, I've just incinerated an entire solar system and every living thing in it. I have just harmed these billions of lives and wiped them out. So, if we are to follow the Rede in absolute literal terms, we can't even breathe. I see the Rede as a human ethic, a reminder to treat others with respect and consideration and to take (or kill) only what we need. A "Golden Rule" as it were, an ideal to strive for. It reminds us that we should walk through this world and try to avoid intentionally hurting others, be them animal or human or plant. When it is unavoidable... be aware of the sacrifice, in the case of animals and plants you eat, and be aware of others as you do what you must. But it also applies to yourself...just as much if not more then to others. You should try not to hurt yourself in anyway. Emotionally, mentally, or physically. This is something that I try to be aware of everyday and is very important to me. Blessed be, Whisper We give birth to ideas, to relationships, to works of art, to hope, to peace, to children, and to each other. Allow the rhythms of Nature to whisper to you. Feel the waxing and waning of the moon, the changing of the leaves, the brewing of a storm, the flame of love. Accept the emotions these rhythms bring and dance with them. Teach me the wisdom of laughter and the blessings of tears. Teach me to love without expectation and to trust my intuition. Teach me to feed my soul. -- Unknown Dragon Oake Circle http://www.netins.net/showcase/dragonoake Chairman of the Mid-west Witches Alliance http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Olympus/9478