NeoNote – “What I do is not up to you.”
Not what they wear, not who they live with, not what they eat, not what happens in the bedroom, not what they read, not how they do it, and not who they do it with.
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Personally I'd be willing to live and let live with Christians.
Sunday - 24Mar2019 Filed in: Quotes & Thinkums&Morality & Modern Life
❝❝Personally I'd be willing to live and let live with Christians. But that works two ways. If my beliefs don't control the actions and beliefs of monotheists, then theirs don't control mine. That means that the law must treat every faith (and even no faith) equally. Neither help nor hinder. No special consideration or privilege. But at the same time, some Christians act as if their religion must be raised above all others, even by those who do not practice it. Freedom of religion does not mean putting Christianity first. It means choice, even if that choice is one you do not agree with.❞❞
NeoNote — Politicos want problems they can stage-manage
Monday - 04Mar2019 Filed in: NeoNotes&Quotes & Thinkums
❝❝I know people don't want to hear this, but I am posting it anyway.NeoNotes are the selected comments that I made on other boards, in email, or in response to articles where I could not respond directly.
Maybe the fault isn't in the "Right" or "Left," but in the idea that other people's behavior must be controlled For Their Own Good and For the Good of Society. Rather than teaching people that freedom comes with responsibility, we condition people to obey the duly delegated Proper Authority for the sake of perpetuating the institution.
Politicos want problems they can stage-manage.
Personally I find progressives more intolerant than conservatives. Conservatives, once they accept the idea, are willing to live and let live even if they don't approve.
It's not conservatives telling me I can't watch a pretty girl. It's not conservatives telling me that I have to get permission before I can touch another. It's not conservatives who tell me my every personal interaction is subject to approval, ex post facto if political advantage can be had.
I know you personally don't think politics should be separated from faith, but when do I get to practice my faith without being subject to politics? Do I really need to consider the intersectional implications when I greet the dawn? When I see people whimpering in their safe spaces, why can't I tell them about the strong ones who gained power overcoming adversity? Do we really have to examine the psycho-sexual implications of a cup and dagger before using it?
I probably wasn't clear. When I was speaking of 'live and let live," I did not include the "leadership." I was talking about the people on the street. That's not to say that I don't encounter plenty of Christian conservatives who are determined to control everyone else because "God told them so." It's just that these days, there are more progressives convinced that they know what is best.
It's one reason why I annoy conservatives and progressives both. I don't accept that either has the Wisdom of the Ages and I don't think people should be controlled For Their Own Good.
On this site I tend to be more critical of liberal ideas because that's mostly who is here. I could point out that Wilson was responsible for the drug wars, that Obama took the surveillance state far beyond what his predecessor did, and that certain high profile politicos and celebrities (most of them Democrat) took sexual advantage while claiming to be feminist allies.
Or I could just point out that power corrupts, just as freedom without responsibility does, and that it's in our best interest to make sure that government and the self-appointed elites have as little power over us as possible. No matter how much we agree with the politico of the day, government power will be used against us.
If you can't trust your worst enemy with government power, why in the name of all the gods do you think you can trust your best friend?❞❞
Threatened
Sunday - 29Jul2018 Filed in: Quotes & Thinkums&Liberty
Celebrate
Sunday - 03Dec2017 Filed in: Quotes & Thinkums&Liberty
❝❝Celebrate your beliefs and cherish your faith. All I ask is the same. Just don't demand that my beliefs and actions are bound by yours. Live and let live.
What you believe isn't important to me. Your freedom to choose what to believe, that is vital. That is what I will defend.❞❞
— NeoWayland, A Pagan looks at “Christian America”
NeoNotes — Parity is the keystone
Wednesday - 26Jul2017 Filed in: Liberty&Free Markets
❝❝If I don't share your faith, I shouldn't be bound by it. If you don't share my faith, you shouldn't be bound by it.
This is parity. It can be derived from what Christians call the Golden Rule. It's also called the Ethic of Reciprocity and is arguably the keystone of Western Civilization besides being found in nearly every culture on Earth. Behavioral studies show that a rudimentary form exists in higher mammals. Fair is fair.
One of my "party tricks" is showing that you can build an entire moral, ethical, and legal system based on nothing but the Ethic of Reciprocity. No "Higher Law." No use of force except in defense. No one faith and no one group raised above all others never to be questioned.
Just treating each other as we would want to be treated. Nothing more, nothing less. Live and let live.❞❞
NeoNotes are the selected comments that I made on other boards, in email, or in response to articles where I could not respond directly.
from crux № 16 — My beliefs
Monday - 10Jul2017 Filed in: Morality & Modern Life&Politics
I want a government that is smaller than absolutely necessary.
I believe that people are perfectly capable of making their own choices and that society is the better if people do exactly that.
I believe that faith and religion can be a tremendous source of individual morality and a dangerous tyranny in society.
There is more but that will do for a start.
And there you go, presuming to speak for the Divine in regards to my fate.
I'm sure that makes you feel important. Worthy. Superior.
Do you think you would take offense if I did the same thing to you?
Or do you think your faith supersedes mine?
Just in case you've forgotten:
It always seems to come down to whose belief comes first, who presumes to speak for the Divine, and what happens when someone disagrees.
I think you're the first one here who asked me what I believe. You deserve a good answer. But this really isn't about me, it's about us finding common ground.
So to start with:
I call myself pagan because I don't have a better term. I'm polytheistic and pantheistic. On alternate Thursdays and every third Tuesday I might admit to being panetheistic with an animism bent as well. On the 13th of the month, I'll tell you (truthfully) that the label isn't really all that important, only the manifestation.
====================
My path involves recognizing and celebrating the natural cycles in ourselves, in the world around us, and in the worlds we touch in our dreams. I seek the Divine in human, Nature, and machine. I want to find the synthesis between mankind and ideas, between faith and technology, between what was and what will be.
I believe that all things have a Divine nature. Life is the universe's attempt to understand itself. I know that the totality of the universe is too vast for me to comprehend. So there are godmasks that I turn to for understanding, guidance, and strength when mine is not enough. I know that these godmasks are only representations and gateways to Divinity, not Divinity themselves.
I'll let you in on a secret.
I try to treat people online as they have treated me. I'm nice until someone shows they don't deserve it.
For life in general, I have three rules.
THE GOLDEN RULE - Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
THE SILVER RULE - Do for yourself at least as much as you do for others.
THE IRON RULE - Don't do for others what they can do for themselves.
I am totally for live and let live. It's the core of my most deeply held beliefs.
I really don't care about someone else's beliefs or politics unless they want to impose those on everyone else.
Going back to my original post on this thread, if the choice is between the absolute on the left side or the absolute on the right, I am going to pick freedom despite both.
I respectfully disagree with you on that.
There is a technopagan addendum to that.
"Any sufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology."
Personally I don't think the two are as far removed as it would seem.
I started keeping my crux files because I noticed I kept getting into the same discussions in comment threads on other people’s web sites. After a while it just made sense for me to organize my thoughts by topic. These are snippets. It’s not in any particular order, it’s just discussions I have again and again.
Return the favor
Monday - 26Jun2017 Filed in: Quotes & Thinkums&Morality & Modern Life
Better?
Friday - 10Jul2015 Filed in: Morality & Modern Life&Headlines
NeoNotes — I wish more people were.
❝❝I'm for live and let live.NeoNotes are the selected comments that I made on other boards, in email, or in response to articles where I could not respond directly.
I wish more people were.
You should live your life as you choose. Just don't expect me to celebrate it because it is your life after all. And don't go after your neighbor because of the lawn he planted or the socks he wears or where he spends his Tuesday nights.❞❞