A topic that is important to me, one that I have written about on my various blogs over the years (including caring for country, but also see here, here, here, here, here, here), is ethics.
In terms of Paganism, my main concerns include:
those who use any of the various healing techniques that seem to fall under the Pagan umbrella need to remember that:
- the laws of their nation/region apply to all they do (which most commonly boils down to do not make false or unsupportable claims [e.g., that you can cure an ailment], but you are also generally protected against assault, defamation, or religious discrimination),
- as do the spiritual ethics of Paganism - which includes not preventing people getting the treatment that would work best for them.
That last point generally means ensuring people are also getting conventional medicine, as that is often as good or better (especially vaccines, which are life saving) - and this will be a fairly short post, as I am feeling the side effects of an antibiotic which will clear an infection up fairly quickly.
I will also be getting some Reiki, to help cope with the side effects and the efficacy of the medication.
My decision about Reiki is influenced by having found it helpful for me in the past - but that does NOT mean it will help others, nor that it will always help me in future, much as conventional western medicines can and do have side effects that make them unsuitable for some people.
On that, there has been some good, promising research on a range of “weird stuff”, but most personal testimony lacks the rigour which would be provided by reading Dean I Radin’s “The Conscious Universe: The Scientific Truth of Psychic Phenomena” (Harper One (2010), first pub. Harper Collins (2009), ISBN 978 0062029096, Amazon).
I also note that there can be problems with conventional medicine - such as thalidomide, corporate influence, too much focus on quantitative data (including the loss of good bedside manner in too many cases), the contraindications listed for most medicines, the generalised approach to finding solutions rather than finding what is best for each person, and the effects of bigotry - especially sexism, racism, transphobia, etc - and arrogance;similarly, if you do readings (as many in the Pagan world do - Tarot and card oracles are quite popular), the same general principles apply (for more, see the links included above); and
discrimination is a problem is some parts of the Pagan world, as is spiritual bypassing and head-in-the-sand-itis around human rights, the problems of social class, and the valid need for political activism (see also here and here) as part of making this world a better place (including protecting the natural world which should, IMO, be a central part of Pagan practice) - and the current massive, widespread global problems are helping to cure some of that head-in-the-sand-itis.
The current world problems “feature” people who are perverting religion - which is nothing new (especially in neochristianity - with this recent analysis including significant religious criticism of the Russian Orthodox church in recent centuries), but it has rarely been seen to this extent, and is of particular concern where false religion is being used as an enabler.
Wherever and whenever that happens, it is the spiritual DUTY of all people who have progressive religious views to speak out against the wrongs being perpetrated under a false flag mislabelled "religion".
Political and human rights (including climate) activists may be people who are not religious (Quakers are a notable exception, with a long history of activism including abolition and peace), and thus may be prone to:
(a) wrongly thinking the noise they are hearing from reactionary religious people is the only or even a majority religious view, and
(b) will possibly not have the ability to counter reactionary religious arguments with correct, let alone progressive, religious arguments,
which is where we must step up - including by writing to politicians.
There are a few examples of people doing exactly that, including, from the Pagan world, the Activist Witch, Kelly-Ann Maddox, and the Grumpy Old Crone, and, from the Christian world, Rev Ed Trevors and Dan McClellan.
One of the important principles about my choice of spiritual path over the years has always been:
how will the world be a better place for me walking this path?
Being ethical and an activist is a key part of that for me.
This was also a specific question when I was interviewed on Paganism for "Harmony in Diversity" Series 7, Episodes 8 and 9 (see here and here), and will be a part of my planned interviews with people about their spiritual paths.
On that, my current draft starting template for questions for those interviews is:
Would you introduce yourself please
What religious/spiritual path do you identify with? Could you tell us a little about that, and how you came to be on it? Not having any such path is also a valid answer.
What strengths does that path give you?
What challenges does that path have?
Have you been on any other paths? If so, could you tell us a little about those, and how you came to be where you are now?
Do you have an interest in making the world a better place, and, if yes, do your religious/spiritual beliefs influence/enable that in any way?
Do you have any particular thoughts on the current state of world that you wish to discuss?
Are there actions you would like to see people take on any of these? Are your suggestions informed by your religious/spiritual path?
Are there matters we, as individuals and as groups up to and including the entire species, avoid looking at that we should? If yes, do you have any suggestions on those?
Do you consider that the world can achieve a sustainable, genuine peace, and, if yes, how?
Religion and spirituality have been criticised at times for a number of controversial aspects, such as abuse of power, discrimination, enabling the maintenance of current social structures, hypocrisy / lack of genuineness, ideological fixation with dogma, inability to change, proselytising, an actual or perceived conflict with science / change / less common aspects of life (such as psychism), and so forth. Are there any such issues you have been concerned with? If yes, how have you addressed those?
What else would you like to say?
Who else would you like to hear an interview with?
I still have some administration to set up (mostly off SubStack), so those interviews are still a few weeks away.
And that will be a convenient point for me to end this post.