Various awesome and cool religious convos
June 19th 2007 19:55
For those of you who don't know, let me spell it out:
I'm. Not. Christian. Or Hindu. Or Muslim. Or Jewish.
I'm something else. Something without a name; my religion just is, and it is a path which only I walk, and thus in my mind it needs no name. It has equal parts Shamanic and Ceremonial magic, and mixes Norse, Greek, Roman, and Egyptian myth in a very confusing yet simplistic manner if that makes any sense at all. I believe what I do because that is what I am called to. I do not think any one belief system is better or worse than another; I also do not think that mine is the only right way. I believe my path is only the right way for me. Noone else's is ever to be exactly alike, and thus I will not make it so.
Yesturday I went to the Pagan Pub Moot. A monthly thing I haven't missed more than a few times over the last two years. I enjoy it. There are cool people there. I ended up having a few conversations, but two very lengthy ethical/religious ones.
Both had Buddhist influences. One was largely about Buddhism and ethics and such, and the other mostly about ethics of population control. (But John, one of the people there, is very much a Bhuddist to some extent) It brought some very interesting concepts into mind which I have to think about, which I'll run by you now.
By Buddhist concept, the self is everything yet nothing at once; people are one with the gods, gods are the same as the people. We are all separate yet attached to everything, which is nothingness. What I seem and what I see is but a dream within a dream. It is the same as nothing, yet it is everything. Difficult to understand, but I got it. The only thing I could not agree with is that each person is but nothing.
Then it was said that yes, each person has a soul, or consciousness if you will, and that is all that is real about us. Everything else is just an extension of that consciousness. Yes, I can believe this. Gods, in my mind, are simply larger pieces of everything and yet nothing.
In the other one, we went from Buddhism and hunting to population control. Talking about the situations, not just in Africa, but everywhere. Spiros, a friend of mine and my mother's, believes that we should allow natural law to rule. Our ethics are closest.
I think that while humanity must have babies in order to survive, there should be a limit to the number of children you can have. The poorer you are-and this is not out of cruelty-the fewer the children. In China, their one child rule is only applied to something like 5% of the population, according to Spiros. And if you can pay the penalty, they're allowed.
What needs to be done is for us to enforce these limits, everywhere. We're killing the planet if we don't. Simple as that. We need to begin controlling just how many children are allowed, because the more there are the smaller their futures. Some cultures have completely devoured their environment, so we help them, right?
I don't know about that. I don't believe in helping them live to breed to further destroy their land and use up what little is left. We need a massive plague or something, to cut back the already huge population. And we need widespread birth control.
Helping destroy the planet by having many children is no reason for pride. Helping to save it by reducing your energy usage and not having too many children is a reason to be proud.
I'm. Not. Christian. Or Hindu. Or Muslim. Or Jewish.
I'm something else. Something without a name; my religion just is, and it is a path which only I walk, and thus in my mind it needs no name. It has equal parts Shamanic and Ceremonial magic, and mixes Norse, Greek, Roman, and Egyptian myth in a very confusing yet simplistic manner if that makes any sense at all. I believe what I do because that is what I am called to. I do not think any one belief system is better or worse than another; I also do not think that mine is the only right way. I believe my path is only the right way for me. Noone else's is ever to be exactly alike, and thus I will not make it so.
Yesturday I went to the Pagan Pub Moot. A monthly thing I haven't missed more than a few times over the last two years. I enjoy it. There are cool people there. I ended up having a few conversations, but two very lengthy ethical/religious ones.
Both had Buddhist influences. One was largely about Buddhism and ethics and such, and the other mostly about ethics of population control. (But John, one of the people there, is very much a Bhuddist to some extent) It brought some very interesting concepts into mind which I have to think about, which I'll run by you now.
By Buddhist concept, the self is everything yet nothing at once; people are one with the gods, gods are the same as the people. We are all separate yet attached to everything, which is nothingness. What I seem and what I see is but a dream within a dream. It is the same as nothing, yet it is everything. Difficult to understand, but I got it. The only thing I could not agree with is that each person is but nothing.
Then it was said that yes, each person has a soul, or consciousness if you will, and that is all that is real about us. Everything else is just an extension of that consciousness. Yes, I can believe this. Gods, in my mind, are simply larger pieces of everything and yet nothing.
In the other one, we went from Buddhism and hunting to population control. Talking about the situations, not just in Africa, but everywhere. Spiros, a friend of mine and my mother's, believes that we should allow natural law to rule. Our ethics are closest.
I think that while humanity must have babies in order to survive, there should be a limit to the number of children you can have. The poorer you are-and this is not out of cruelty-the fewer the children. In China, their one child rule is only applied to something like 5% of the population, according to Spiros. And if you can pay the penalty, they're allowed.
What needs to be done is for us to enforce these limits, everywhere. We're killing the planet if we don't. Simple as that. We need to begin controlling just how many children are allowed, because the more there are the smaller their futures. Some cultures have completely devoured their environment, so we help them, right?
I don't know about that. I don't believe in helping them live to breed to further destroy their land and use up what little is left. We need a massive plague or something, to cut back the already huge population. And we need widespread birth control.
Helping destroy the planet by having many children is no reason for pride. Helping to save it by reducing your energy usage and not having too many children is a reason to be proud.
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Comment by David
In my world? Planet Earth has no meaning without humans.
I would never sacrfiice the creation of another unique human soul for the sake of the 'oh-so-precious' planet.
How many amazing human beings would never have inhabited this planet if there was a one-child policy in every family?
Which begs the question. Are you an only child?
Comment by tlcorbin-raginravensview
Coffee Quip
A Global Citizen
Paranormal Paranormal
Is Why
Alaska Chronicle
Its that moral underpinning that keeps me from becoming a mass murderer, thief or politician. Without a common and easily identifiable code of morality, we have personal anarchy. That code guides my life and my interactions with society as a whole.
I am not convinced that your friends are true Buddhists, but that is isn't the point. The point to this; all life is precious and perhaps our world population is to large. And yes, our world situation is precarious.
But consider this. What a shameful act it would be if we accidentally extinguished the life of mankind's salvation. Plagues and natural disasters on a scale large enough to significantly reduce the worlds population is going to haunt every one of us. Are you ready for that?
Prayer and meditation: collective thoughts empowered with intention, use them wisely. They often carry the gift of life and death.
Raven
Comment by Dianna G
I Wish This Was 42
Fictional Worlds
Yes, I am an only child. I have many relatives who are not. I don't think that it's as large an issue here-but can we morally enforce it in one place and not the next?
~Dianna
Raven,
I doubt mankind still has civilization. Forgive me for cynicism, but I have little faith in that. I want mankind to have a future, and a better one than today-but there are sacrifices to be made during that time.
I am prepared for whatever consequences might come of such things. Without the Earth being safe, without the planet's health, humanity has nothing. It's not like we can colonize another planet, not yet anyway. Until we can, I think the wisest course of action is limiting children. By the force of law if that is what is necessary.
~Dianna