Sunday, December 2, 2012

Wiccan Ethics: You be the Judge?

I've been reading some great articles that revolve around one concept of Wiccan ethics or another. Some are pretty basic and require knowledge of the Law of 3 or Karma. I will not be talking about these as there are whole books on the topic and you can read a little about that in my essay on the Good and Bad of Magic.

Instead, today I'd like to share with you 2 articles from the Aquarian Tabernacle that concern Wiccan Christian relations and the concept of judging.



I actually disdain Christian bashing among Pagans. I feel like putting people down because of their faith or beliefs is just as bad as persecution of witches. No, said witches are not burning the Christians per se, but the action is still wrong.
By bashing another's beliefs, we are not only creating conflict between two belief systems that already have a shaky history, but also making ourselves even more of the bad guys in the minds of many Christians. Why not uphold a higher concept of right living by being kind to another, regardless of their beliefs?



Another point I'd like to make is that Christians are not alone in killing others for their beliefs. History is filled with Christians being burned, hung, and nailed to crosses by Pagans for proclaiming their faith. How is this any different than the inquisition?

The 2 articles from the Aquarian Tabernacle are:

A Letter to Pope John Paul II after his apology on March 12, 2000 for the Inquisition and any harm it might have caused over the years. It is an acceptance of that apology and a request for forgiveness for any harm Pagans have caused toward the Catholic Church since. Its well written and I think it is a great step towards inter-faith relations.

The second is an article written by a Christian to other Christians and explaining, with biblical verse, how we all worship the same God and Wiccans and Christians alike are brothers and sisters of the same faith, no matter what we call our Deity. Being raised in the Christian Church and now a Pagan, I thought this was a very well documented article that really opened my heart.

I leave you with these articles and the hope that you will take the advice many Wiccans and Witches have given Christians over the years - Do Not Judge Others on What They Believe, Please. I know I'm not gonna get a lot of fans for this post and there will be many arguments against it. I only ask that you think about it.

Thank you,
HedgeWife

1 comment:

  1. Well said! Thank you. Many of my Christian friends tend to roll their eyes at me when I say this but for ME the scariest verse in the bible is Matthew 7:2 "For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." I often have to ask myself whether I am judging things/people by God's standards or my own and then whether I'd want to be judged by that standard. The measure of judgement is something I try to be very, very careful with.

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