Paganism & Morality

[Darkdale]

As pagans, we all have the liberty to adopt our own moral gods and our own relationships with the gods. As a pagan, what do you feel is the foundation of your moral life and does your relationship with the gods play a role in that foundation?

 

[Fluffy]

The foundation of my moral life is experience. My deities are also based on the same foundation and affect and are affected by my ethical system but are mostly exclusive.

However, I do not understand why a pagan as the liberty to adopt their own moral gods and relationships with those gods. Surely it is this liberty that makes them pagan, not the other way around.

 

[Pardus]

I find the lack of dogmatic rules makes for a more moral person.

As my old high priestess had said to her, "You are a witch, but you are the most christian person i have met".

 

[Solon]

Industrial Society has collectively killed billions of Animals and Trees [ Remember -plant and animal species developed over a period of millions of years]

It has also killed most of Water and Air [ Please note - polluting Water and Air is equivalent to killing Water and Air ]

The soil was not fertile when the earth was created. It became fertile - very slowly - over a period of millions of years. And look what man has done - He has covered millions and millions of hectares of land with cement and concrete. All the land that has been covered with cement and concrete has been killed.

The morals were good before this time, when nature was revered, a man had need of nothing but to revere nature and follow his gods, Egypt was the model the world failed to follow. Morals were destroyed by dogma, and the rise of the Nazerine.

 

[Darkdale]

I find the lack of dogmatic rules makes for a more moral person.

As my old high priestess had said to her, "You are a witch, but you are the most christian person i have met".

1. Did she mean that as a compliment or an insult?

2. I love your signature. Serenity/Firefly is... there are no words that do it justice.

 

[Pardus]

1. Did she mean that as a compliment or an insult?

It was said to her by christian friends, it was meant as a compliment.

2. I love your signature. Serenity/Firefly is... there are no words that do it justice.

I know, that scene had stunned for like 30 seconds (hence the expression in my sig), he has a way of making those characters come alive.

 

[Granny Beth]

I find the lack of dogmatic rules makes for a more moral person.

As my old high priestess had said to her, "You are a witch, but you are the most christian person i have met".

*laughs* I like that. I agree. You have to think a lot harder about morality when all you have is " do what thou wilt, an' it harm none". Especially if you believe in karma. :woohoo:

 

[Darkdale]

*laughs* I like that. I agree. You have to think a lot harder about morality when all you have is " do what thou wilt, an' it harm none". Especially if you believe in karma. :woohoo:

Well, I don't buy into karma, or the Rede. But I think you are right about the amount of thought that goes into our moral code. Without anyone to tell us what is right and wrong, we have to figure it out for ourselves. Personally, my outlook is heavily influenced by the Norse Lore and by philosophers like Ayn Rand, David Hume and Friedrich Nietzsche, but ultimately it is based on my own experience.

 

[Vigdisdotter]

As a pagan, what do you feel is the foundation of your moral life and does your relationship with the gods play a role in that foundation?

It's an old thread I know, but I wanted to reply.

The answer is, no. I had a strong foundation for morality long before I became a theist. Though I do thing that my morality had a lot to do with WHY I got involved with the path I did.

 

[BFD_Zayl]

hmmm... well yes i guess that the gods morals play a part in my religion. i hold honor,valor,respect, and family in the highest regard. much like thor, tyr, odin, and pretty much all the aesir do. Darkdale should know this.

 

[Darkdale]

It's an old thread I know, but I wanted to reply.

The answer is, no. I had a strong foundation for morality long before I became a theist. Though I do thing that my morality had a lot to do with WHY I got involved with the path I did.

I see what you are saying here, and I agree completely, but the gods do embody morality, honor and courage and family. There is a relationship between the two.

 

[Draka]

My "morals" have nothing to do with my religion or gods. These are things that I was raised with. A respect of things garnered from childhood. Ethics and respect were instilled in me as a child. I credit my parents with that. Religion was never forced in my childhood home. It really was a non-issue. My mother's side of the family was Catholic...but she was/is more pagan in nature I guess then Catholic. And morals were just the rights and wrongs of how to treat others, including nature. As to my beliefs, they came later and grew with and alongside my ethical and moral standing.