There is an interesting conversation going on across a couple of blogs right now. PJ at PJ’s Big Adventure post an entry about how corrupt the Bible Belt states in the U.S. seem to be. (Wikipedia entry about the Bible Belt for those who don’t know much about it.) PJ muses that this paradox might have something to do with the negated statements in the 10 Commandments, making it into more of a To-Do list then a list of things to avoid. An interesting idea, but I wasn’t totally convinced. Maybe, since I am Canadian, it is because Texas and…
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I’d like to think that I am an ethical person. I try to do the right thing in any given situation, but I also occasionally do unethical like taking mild revenge at people who annoy me. (One co-worker drives me nuts sometimes, and I’ve gotten my revenge once or twice.) I also take advantage of grey areas in the law, and do things like download television documentaries. So, does this make me unethical? I think it does to a certain extent. Does this make me a bad Wiccan? Yes, I think it does to a certain extent as well. It can…
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I sometimes wonder about my honesty. I don’t think that I am dishonest, exactly. Rather, I have a very black and white view of the world, and when I’m not completely honest (even if it is in an effort to save someone’s feelings) I feel like I have failed. Strangely enough, I do tell a lot of little while lies, to grease the social wheels as it were. For example, when I went to the doctor last week, I told the people at my job that it was because of some problems with my knees (which I do have) rather…
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Today I read a very short piece about the ethics behind asking permission before performing a healing for someone. Actually, the essay doesn’t really explain the ethics, it just mentions that it is now a common belief that one must do this. I think that the requirement of asking permission comes from the idea of respecting other people’s Will. It may be that the person wishes to remain ill, for any number of reasons we may not be privy to, and to heal them would cause them a good deal of harm, mentally or physically. It can be argued that…
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I read a wonderful book this week which I am going to shamelessly plug. It is called When, Why… If, and is written by artist and Wiccan priestess Robin Wood. (Here’s a link to the area of her site listing her books and such.) It is a book about personal ethics, covering topics like love, honesty and harm. Ms. Wood has written an excellent book detailing her ideas about certain aspects of personal ethics. She has managed to create a book that is useful to both Wiccans and non-Wiccans alike. The questions she poses at the end of the chapters…
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With Mabon right around the corner, I’ve been inspired to do some fall cleaning. I’m a strange mix of pack rat and neat freak. Things get neatly filed away in drawers for a little while, then I go on a cleaning binge and get rid of it all. I’d sure save a lot of time and money if I skipped the step of buying things. Anyway, I came across a couple of old issues of Yoga Journal. One of them (Issue 167, June 2002) had an interesting article on the practice of satya, or truth. The general gist of the…