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Contemporary witchcraft, faith, God, Life, Pagan, paganism, Religion and Spirituality, spirituality, Wicca, Wiccan Rede, Wiccan views of divinity, Witchcraft
The main tenet of the Wiccan faith is the Rede, shown above.
Basically? It means that as long as you are not harming anyone, including yourself, you are free to do what you wish in your life.
Imagine that. Freedom of choice. Freedom of will.
Freedoms that we now enjoy in our nation.
After the news on Sunday night, I know that many people rejoiced that one of the world’s most heinous terrorists had been stopped from ever harming another living soul. I was one of the people that found this to be welcome news.
But.
I also know that there are many people out there that find the idea of killing someone, even someone as evil as that man was (I don’t wish to give his name anymore space here, or anywhere, because names have power), to be just as wrong as what he did.
I disagree.
I do believe that you need to refrain from doing harm, to the best of your ability and knowledge.
When I do any magick, and when I teach people about the ethics of Wicca and Witchcraft, I teach them that they need to be mindful of the consequences their actions could have. They need to remember that all actions have results, and when you seek to change the world around you, you not only have to be aware of the changes you’re seeking to make, you also need to remember that everything you do, will affect others. Not always positively.
Responsibility.
You have to accept it for the things you do in your life.
And whether that man ever took any real responsibility for the horrible things he did, is debatable. I won’t debate them here, however.
He’s being judged by a power by far higher than anything that we humans could ever hope to be.
But, to get back to “An It Harm None”.
Yes, you should seek to avoid harming others.
But when the cost of not harming is greater by far, such as in leaving a man to run free, and allowing him to cause so many others to be harmed, or killed, on his orders… then something has to be done.
And yes, his followers may choose to follow in his footsteps.
But he won’t be making any new ones.
And his days of harming others….. are over.
I, for one, breathe a little easier today.
And, whether you believe in Allah, God, the Goddess, Buddha, or any of the other millions of names of God, Cosmic Karma, or whatever – Justice and Responsibility will always catch up with your actions. Whether it happens in this life or the next, it will come.
It has come for him.
“I have never wished a man dead, but I have read some obituaries with great pleasure.” — Mark Twain
Mark Twain truly said it best….
Well said dear!
I’ve been in a number of discussions with Pagans/Wiccans regarding “harm” and whether or not one should be a doormat as some of the more vocal “uber passivist” types would prefer. FWIW, I agree with all you’ve stated and I too breathe a little easier that the final judgement of that particular individual is near at last.
See, I could never be Wiccan because I’m way too vengeful and petty. So I went with voodoo with a side of T-Rexism.
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I’m sorry, but I believe child abusers, mass murderers, and others of their like have no place in society. They can’t be reformed, they can only be locked up. I don’t want to support them while they are locked up, so they need to go away. They serve no purpose on this earth.
Do not apologize. I feel the same. I know that many say “Ah, but what price that one human life?” I say… “Ah, but what about all the lives this one person destroyed?”